Care and Breeding of the Rusty Cichlid
A Colorful Freshwater Fish from Lake Malawi in Africa
Oct 2, 2008
The Rusty Cichlid, also called Iodotropheus sprengerae in Latin, is one of the most beautiful Mbuna-type cichlids. It is native to Lake Malawi, one of the Great Lakes in the Rift Valley of Africa.
As its name suggests, this cichlid has a beautiful rust color with a purplish hue to it. The Rusty Cichlid is very peaceful and should not be kept with larger cichlids or aggressive ones.
The Rusty Cichlid can reach a size of three inches and would do well in an aquarium of its own. The life span of the Rusty Cichlid is between two and five years.
They are a very amusing species of fish to watch in their daily activities and very interesting to watch if you happen to catch them in breeding mode.
Aquarium Requirements for the Rusty Cichlid
Most African cichlids either stay at the top or middle or bottom of an aquarium but the Rusty Cichlid swims in all locations in an aquarium.
To create the perfect living space for these fish, you should have lots of rocks and caves as well as driftwood for them to play around and hide. Unlike most African cichlids, plants can even be used in a tank with a Rusty Cichlid. These fish do very little damage to plants and love to play hide and seek in them.
The pH in an African cichlid tank should be around 7.5 to 8.2. The water temperature should be around 82 degrees and well-filtered. Rusty Cichlids will eat flake food, pellets, very small live food like brine shrimp and most frozen foods. They are far from being picky eaters.
Breeding Rusty Cichlids
The breeding habits of a Rusty Cichlid are the same as 90% of all mouth brooders in Africa. After a breeding pit is dug, the female will swim around in small circles just above the pit, and on every pass will drop some eggs into the pit. The male swims around in small circles just above the pit.
After the female drops the egg, he will release a small load of sperm to fertilize the egg. On the next pass, the female picks the egg up in her mouth and then releases another egg to get fertilized. This process keeps repeating until 15 to 20 eggs have been released and picked up.
The female stores the eggs for up till 18 days in her throat. When the fry are hatched, the female stores them in her mouth until they are big enough to come out of her mouth on their own. During this whole process, the female will not eat but will start eating about three to four days after the fry stay out of her mouth. Rusty Cichlids tend to their fry until they are large enough to fend for themselves.
For the first four to five days after release, the fry will live off their egg sacks and grow fast until they are big enough to eat ground flake or pellets.
After each batch of fry is hatched, give the female a two week break (or even longer) in another tank away from males where she can replenish her strength to get ready for breeding again. It’s not good to have the female constantly breeding because it’s very hard on her system and you run the risk of losing her.
Rusty Cichlids are easy to keep and their non-aggressive nature makes them a popular cichlid for aquariums. Just don’t mix them with other cichlids that are larger and aggressive.
Related Articles:
Mouth Brooding African Cichlids
Redhead Cichlid Care and Breeding
Cichlid Compatibility in Aquariums
 |
