Bulbous mouthbrooder - Cyrtocara moorii - DNZ single specimen

Another great representative from Lake Malawi is the bulge-headed mouthbrooder, Cyrtocara moori, also known as Haplochromis moori or Cyrtocara mo orei. In its habitat, bulge-headed mouthbrooders tend to colonize the rocky shallow water areas. These beautiful and quite large growing cichlids are not only interesting for Malawi enthusiasts, they look especially good in a Malawi tank!

You will receive our Cyrtocara moori in pairs as German offspring!

Bulge-headed mouthbrooders show the high back with flat sides typical for perches. Their lateral line is curved upwards. Only in the adult age they form the conspicuous bulge head, which both sexes show equally. They grow to between 20-25 cm, with females, as is so often the case, not quite reaching that size. On a gray ground color they show a turquoise coloration. The fins are translucent light blue, males also develop a sail-like extended anal fin, that of the females is rather more inconspicuous.

Breeding is possible in the aquarium. The bumphead mouthbrooders lay their eggs in the aquarium, from where they are picked up by the female with her mouth and incubated.

Since Cyrtocara moorii can behave very "harshly" within its species, its aquarium should have a very good infrastructure, so that the lower ranking animals can avoid each other. Especially stone structures offer places of retreat, form territory markings and protect against permanent visual contact. Due to their size and their distinct social structure, an aquarium of 450 liters or more is recommended. The substrate can be a fine to medium-grained Sand can be used. Since the animals are herbivores, a planting with bitter tasting Anubias for example is possible. Their water values are optimally at soft to medium hard 9-20 °dGH, as well as a pH value between 7.0 and 8.5.

Internally, bulbous-headed brooders are in some places real badasses, the socialization is therefore recommended in pairs or in a harem with a clear surplus of females. However, it is peaceful towards other fish, so that other peaceful Malawi species can be socialized. Invertebrates, however, are rather not suitable.

Cyrtocara moori are herbivores, which nibble off algae and growth in their habitat and also ingest its microfauna. In the aquarium they can be fed well with special flake food or granulated food for herbivorous chichlids. Occasionally they can also be fed scalded Vegetable chips or Algae leaves they also like spirulina very much. From time to time they can be given fine live or frozen food, such as Daphniacyclops or Artemia.

Our food recommendation: NatureHolic Cichfeed is a great staple food for all carnivorous cichlids in the aquarium, perfectly meeting their dietary requirements. The tasty pearls are also very well eaten by larger cichlids. Thanks to their soft texture, NatureHolic Cichfeed food pearls are gentle on the mouth and can be eaten very well by the fish.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend when keeping fish the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.