Malawi Butterfly
aulonocara jacobfreibergi

It belongs to the family Chichlidae

Click here to learn what a cichlid is.

Cost: $5-45, tank-bred youngsters are the cheaper of the price range, wild adults are what cost more.

Short Bio: The Malawi Butterfly cichlid combines color with an elegance of form that is not commonly seen in Malawi Butterfly cichlid. Because if this, most Malawi Butterfly cichlids are not kept with appropriate tank mates, meaning that it’s not seen at its best.

Origin:
Lake Malawi, East Africa

Size:
Males and Females both get up to 3 1/3 inches ( 8.5 cm).

Sexual distinctions:
Plain and simple, the males are colorful and the females are not colorful.

Tank conditions:
The minimum tank measurements should be 36 x 12 x 18 inches (90 x 30 x 45 cm).
Temperature 77-79 degrees Fahrenheit (25-26 Celsius)
The water should be moderately hard and alkaline (Ph 7.6 +). The water should also be well aerated and minimal nitrogenous compounds.

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The tank should be decorated with open sand at the front of the tank, and rock caves at the back. This will replicate the wild habitat of the Malawi Butterfly cichlid, which is a cave home that opens to sandy to sandy bottoms. There is not limit to the number of Malawi Butterfly cichlids that you can keep in a tank, just make sure that each male is given 18 inches (45 cm) of tank length. The Malawi Butterfly cichlids are bottom-dwellers.

Food:
The natural diet consist of aquatic invertebrates, so the best things to be fed frozen foods. You can feed dried food, but be careful, too much dried food my lead to “Malawi Bloat.”

Behavior:
A peaceful cichlid.

Breeding:
The Malawi Butterfly cichlid is a mouth brood, and like most mouthbrooders, if kept in the correct conditions, is easy to breed. But, unfortunately, many will keep the Malawi Butterfly cichlid with the aggressive, rock dwelling, Malawi Mbuna. Not only with the Malawi Butterfly not breed, it will not thrive. DO NOT mix with other Aulonocara species or hybridization will occur.

Here is a video of a Male Malawi Butterfly Cichlid. If you have a hard time following which one the camera is focusing in on wait until around 25 seconds, the Malawi is singled out pretty good and the camera zooms in on him.