Rock-Dwelling Mbuna Cichlid – Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlid

Description

Metriaclima callainos, Pseudotropheus Zebras

The “Cobalt Blue Zebra” is one of the dozens of other Pseudotropheus Zebras, which have recently been reclassified & given their own genus: Metriaclima. Males have a soft fluorescent blue ground color, without any vertical bars, & have about 5 egg-spots on their anal fin. Females are a little lighter shade of blue, almost grayish-blue. Adult males reach lengths of 4-5 inches; females are a little smaller than males. They are principally vegetarians, needing lots of vegetable matter in their diet. This Mbuna does best in a tank 55-gallons or larger. In the wild, they are found in rocky habitats at depths between 1 and 25 meters, near the northwest coast of Lake Malawi, from Kande Island to Ngara, & have also been found along the Northeast coast between Ikombe and the Ruhuhu River. The Cobalt Blue will do best in a cichlid community aquarium with numerous rocks and caves with a sandy bottom and plenty of places to set up territories.