Origin and distribution of the Snow Cichlid:

Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, and Lake Victoria in Africa | artificially improved variety.

Morphological characteristics:

Adult Snow Cichlids have a body length of 12-26 cm. The body is pure white with no other colors. The eyes are red; the male has yellow egg-shaped spots on the anal fin.

The temperament is relatively mild and easily startled. It feeds quite aggressively and is omnivorous. Breeding is easy | but it is relatively prone to internal organ diseases.

Key points for selection

When selecting, pay attention to the appearance: the fins should be intact, the body shape well-proportioned, and the colors vivid. When selecting adult fish, if the back is somewhat curved or there are even some black spots on the body, such a fish is certainly very old and should not be purchased. Next, pay attention to its health condition: choose fish that swim freely and are active in the water, with no external injuries, red spots, or similar issues on the body surface.

Types of food

As herbivorous fish, the key to their good survival is that plant-based bait must be supplemented, especially for some specific herbivorous species.

Mixed keeping index

Fish species suitable for mixed keeping: Ahl's Cichlid, Blood Red Cichlid, and Prince Cichlid.

Keeping adaptability index: Easy to keep.

Breeding method

It is easy to breed in an aquarium. Mouthbrooding, with a small egg count, ranging from a dozen to several dozen. The hatched fry need to be taken out of the female's mouth in time, otherwise they are easily eaten by other fish.

Fry grow very quickly, so the supply of bait must be very sufficient, and the water must be changed frequently to keep the water clean. Live bait is most beneficial to the growth of fry. Do not feed artificial bait too early, so as not to affect the growth of the fry. When the fry grow to about 4 cm in body length, artificial bait can be added, mainly flake bait and fine pellet bait, but the food intake of the fry needs to be slightly controlled to prevent them from becoming too fat, which would affect their later growth rate and body shape.

Keeping method

Because the waters of its place of origin are unique, such as water with relatively high pH and hardness, and the water contains many aquatic plants, algae, plankton, snails, and so on, this fish needs to live and breed in a living environment with relatively high pH and hardness. Aquarium keeping requirements: water hardness: 9-19 dH; pH value 8-9; water temperature; artificial lighting for 8-10 hours per day is sufficient, the lighting intensity should be moderate, and the lighting schedule should be turned on early and turned off late. It is best to have 2-3 hours of sunlight exposure every day, but do not expose it to strong sunlight for too long.

Water changes and cleaning

Use an aquarium that is not too large for keeping, as that makes water changes and filter cleaning less laborious. This fish needs one water change per week; use a hose to carefully siphon out dirt from corners and crevices, with the water amount not exceeding 1/4 of the total water volume.