Electric Blue Cichlid – Proper Care and Feeding

The purpose of the article is to give you some information on Electric Blue Cichlid – Proper Care and Feeding. Electric blue cichlids belong to a species of carnivorous cichlid that is found in Malawi. Because of its bright blue hue and active nature as well as being a hardy fish is it a favorite fish to breed among more and more hobbyists these days. Electric blue cichlids live up to a maximum of ten years if they are taken care of and fed properly.

Gender Of Electric Blue Cichlids

The easiest way to identify the gender of electric blue cichlids is by its color. Male electric blue cichlids are metallic blue in color whereas the female gender has a soft blue glow that is non-metallic. The females also have a bit of golden yellow below their anal fin. Apart from the color, another way to tell them apart is from their physiology. The female electric blue cichlids have a more sleek body shaped almost like a bullet and have a wider edging on both the pectoral as well as the dorsal fins.

Aquarium Conditions For Electric Blue Cichlids

Electric blue cichlids need an aquarium with lots of room to swim in, preferably larger than 70 gallons. When first introducing the fish to a new environment, always allow the water to settle at room temperature first before placing them in to reduce the shock. You will also need to remember that electric blue cichlids originate from a warm climate so set the fish tank heater to between 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

In terms of water acidity, the pH level should be kept ideally between 7.5 to 9 as well as a maintaining the water hardness between ten to twelve dGH. This can be properly maintained using a freshwater test kit.

If you are planning to putting plants in the aquarium, avoid plastic ones and choose plants that are tough such as Java Fern or Java Moss. Electric blue cichlids have a habit of uprooting tall plants that grow more than a couple of inches in height.

If you want your cichlids to settle in fast and comfortably, you will need to mimic the habitat from which they came from, meaning rocks with little caves and crevices that they can hide in. This will make them feel safer and les threatened. The ideal substrate for this type of fish is gravel.

You can place a few electric blue cichlids in one tank as well as Malawian cichlids of other species. They will get along fine as long as the tank is large enough but try to avoid putting much smaller fish. You need to remember that electric blue cichlids are carnivorous and even if they do not eat the smaller fish, they will harass them to death.

Feeding Electric Blue Cichlids

You should only feed electric blue cichlids with live feed such as feeder guppies. If you really cannot find live feed, then as an alternative you can also use frozen or freeze dried blood worms or brine shrimp even though these are not really ideal. Cichlid pellets should only be use as supplemental food when necessary and should never be treated as their main food diet.

When feeding electric blue cichlids, only do so once or at the maximum twice a day and ensure that the amount of food you feed them is sufficient to be consumed within five minutes. All excess food needs to be removed from the aquarium water after five minutes to ensure that it does not rot and mess up the chemistry of the water.

Electric blue cichlids are hardy fish that is easy to care for as long as you follow these simple steps in aquarium maintenance and feeding. Do it right and you will have fish bright strumming electric blue cichlids that you can enjoy watching for many years.