Geo. Origin: Lakes Victoria, Nabugabo, Kyoga and various rivers
Habitat: Offshore locales, over muddy bottoms
Diet: Herbivore
Gender Differences: Dimorphic
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Temperament: Peaceful
Conspecific Temperament: Mildly Aggressive
Maximum Size: 12"
Temperature: 74-78°F
pH: 7.2-8.6
Water Hardness: Hard
Difficulty: 3
Comments:
Oreochromis esculentus is believed to be extinct from Lake Victoria. This is a large, robust feeder. An aquarium 100+ gallons is recommended. It feeds on the diatomaceous ooze from the mud in the wild and is a susbstrate spawner.
Pronunciation: Refer to our Pronunciation Key for an explanation of the phonetic symbols.
Habitat: This is the primary location where the cichlid is found and is a generalization. This does not mean a fish cannot be found in other habitats.
Diet: Many cichlids specialize in eating one type of food; notwithstanding, some of these specialized feeders are flexible and can be opportunistic feeders.
Temperament: This describes the overall demeanor of a cichlid toward other tankmates that are of a different species. Consider that there is variability in temperament due to various factors, including aquarium size, tankmates of similar appearance, stocking levels, and order of introduction. There may even be some variability among individual specimens.
Conspecific Temperament: This describes the overall demeanor of a cichlid toward other tank- mates of the same species. Consider that there is variability in temperament due to such factors as aquarium size, stocking levels and order of introduction. There may even be some variability among individual specimens.
Maximum Size: This is in regards to total length (including the tail) of typical aquarium specimens. Wild specimens may not attain this size, or may in fact grow larger than aquarium raised individuals due to various factors. Also consider that this is the typical maximum size and there are exceptional individuals that will exceed it.
Difficulty:
This measure is a relative value, comparing a single species against all
other cichlids.
This only accounts for maintanence in the aquarium and not breeding
considerations.
1 = easy and forgiving, 5 = extremely challenging.
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