Red Top Zebra Cichlid
The Red Top Zebra Cichlid is from Lake Malawi. This is one of the most beautiful cichlids. The male is colorful with a yellow dorsal fin. The females are more dull cream colored. This is a pretty calm African cichlid and it grows up to 5 inches. The Red Top Zebra Cichlid loves a rocky bottom so I would advice you to setup your aquarium with many rocks and hideouts.
Care Sheet:
The Red Top Zebra should be kept in water with pH of 7.5 to 8.5 and a hardness of 10 to 20 dH. The temperature of the water should be around 75 to 80. I would recommend doing a water change once a week for about 15 %. Feed the Red Top Zebras normal cichlid flake food, shrimps, mussels and frozen food. Stay away from bloodworms since this can cause stomach problems for this cichlid. The Red Top Zebra Cichlid can live for up to 8-10 years so you can expect it to be part of your life for quiet a while.
Buying the Red Top Zebra Cichlid:
Surprisingly these cichlids are sold very cheap online. When you see how beautiful it is you expect it to cost a lot, but that’s not the case. Below I have listed a few good alternatives if you want to buy one of these.
Breeding:
To breed the Red Top Zebra Cichlids you will need 1 male and 2 female. Try feed them with as much live food as possible to stimulate them. The male when then pick a female and spawn with her. He will try to show off and dance and impress her. Then hopefully the female will deposit her eggs on a rock. Male fertilizes the eggs and the female will take care of the eggs for 3 weeks until the babies are released. After this period the female will need rest and food since she can’t eat while caring for her babies. It might be good to keep the female in her own tank when she has the babies.
Good luck with your Red Top Zebra Cichlids.