Character/behavior
Calm species. You can keep them as a pair, but more females is not a problem. Do not keep with similar species (many other Protomelas species). The combination with Otopharynx tetrastigma is also not always successful.
Characteristics
Both the male and the female have a horizontal stripe running down the middle of the body. The male has a sea blue-green head (I don’t know if that is a color but I couldn’t describe it otherwise). The female is uniformly gray. There is a difference in both color and shape of the head between wild-caught and captive-bred
Diet
Protomelas similis is a herbivore that eats the leaves of higher plants such as vallisneria aethiopica (quoted from back to nature malawichlids) in the lake. In the aquarium, any food is accepted.
The aquarium
Provide some free swimming space. The species likes to stay a little higher in the tank. They are not particularly keen on swimming but do not keep them in an aquarium that is too small given their size.
Minimum number of liters and length
The aquarium must contain at least 400 liters and have a side length of 150 cm, more is always better.
Author
Nicky Jeup
Copyright images
Nicky Jeup
