History of the Labidochromis Caeruleus It is specifically the electric yellow morphology Labidochromis caeruleus that has gained popularity in Malawi tanks and this is thanks to its colour being brighter than other morphologies. It therefore seems very hard to think that at the time of first discovery in 1956 by Geoffrey Fryer, Labidochromis caeruleus was a fairly dull blue fish, not yellow in any way, hence “caeruleus” meaning “blue” in Latin. At Nkhoso Point the population is white! The yellow population is found on the North-east coast of the Lake Malawi. Labidochromis caeruleus first left the lake in the the 80s when Norman Edwards, one of the main fish exporters of Lake Malawi at the time, sent a pair to Stig Jansson, a Swedish importer. Stig then passed the pair to Pierre Brichard who was able to successfully breed the pair and begin selling them. This was the start of their rapid increase in popularity. He managed to breed some 20,000 fish in just 6 years, which is good going, in 1986 they were made available to the public to buy, at what one could imagine would have been a steep price tag. Grant, the original discoverer of the yellow morph, didn’t see a pair of these captive bred Labidochromis caeruleus until 1986 at which point he decided to breed his own at Kambiri although his efforts were destroyed when an earthquake took out his breeding ponds. Those few fish that survived were sent to Gary Kratochval in America. Labidochromis caeruleus is therefore highly inbred and many of the fish found in an aquarium store labelled as Labidochromis caeruleus are likely to be descendants of the pair sent in 1980 although new blood lines have since been introduced. Brichard’s efforts have not only resulted in these beautiful fish playing a part in many Malawi Cichlid tanks, but have also proven that success can be had in line breeding fish. Keeping Labidochromis caeruleus Stepping away from the history books to look at this fantastic fish in more detail, Labidochromis caeruleus can reach approximately 4 – 5 inches maximum, females usually no longer than 3 inches. Males have distinctive black anal and dorsal fins which is more pronounced in dominant males. Females don’t develop pronounced black fins and they are also much paler in colour. As far as cichlids go, Labidochromis caeruleus is rather peaceful but still incompatible with your typical community tank species. They prefer an aquarium with plenty of rocks with a fine sand substrate. Lake Malawi is a vast lake with very clean water. For this reason your Malawi aquarium should be very well filtered, preferably using an external filter. To make this equation a little harder, cichlids produce a lot of waste with Labidochromis caeruleus being no exception and this requires greater water turnover. At least 4 times tank volume per hour is recommended for any fish tank so aim for 5 to 6 as a minimum. Good surface agitation will help provide your Cichlids with the oxygen rich water they prefer. Feeding and Breeding Labidochromis caeruleus requires more vegetables in its diet than other tropical fish. Although not as big a sufferer as many other mbuna, failing to provide for this particular need can lead to Malawi bloat, something that’s easier to prevent that cure. Whilst you still need to give your Cichlids enough protein, supplement it with vegetable-based flake foods and lettuce. Breeding Labidochromis caeruleus is relatively straightforward. Aim for a female : male ration of 2:1 and provide plenty of caves either with rocks, broken pots or anything else that’s safe to put in an aquarium. Labidochromis caeruleus can breed from about 6 months old. Once ready to breed, the male will select a suitable site and beckon females over to his chosen spot. They will deposit their eggs for him to fertilise. The female picks the eggs up in her buccal cavity (Labidochromis caeruleus are mouth brooders). Whilst brooding a female can go for up to a month without eating leaving them exhausted. They also exhibit parental care after the eggs hatch and are unlikely to eat their own fry, unless food in in short supply. It isn’t common to see large fry numbers so don’t feel disappointed if your Electric Yellow Labs aren’t churning out as many as your livebearers.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:47:35 +0000
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