there are bright blue spots in the unpaired fins. The dorsal has a wide bright red band running from the first ray about three quarters of the way back along the fin, and is trimmed in black. The back edge of the anal fin is bright red. The lips are bright blue, and a black line runs from the rear of the lips through the eye to the center of the operculum. The ventral fins are gold, blue, and black. The smaller female, by comparison, is plain golden brown with a bit of blue spangling on her flanks, sometimes into the fins. This subdued coloration allows her to blend in with the background while brooding.
you with all of the unique behavior that
makes mouthbrooding cichlids so popular,
with none of the other associated drawbacks
such as the aforementioned tearing-up and
eating of plants, killing of rivals for mating
territory, etc.
They will eat just about any of the
commonly offered aquarium fare, such as
flakes, pellets, and freeze-dried or frozen
foods. As these little cichlids are primarily
carnivores, these prepared foods should be
shrimp-, krill-, or worm-based. To really
make them glow, the hobbyist should add
some live foods two or three times a week;
this will replicate their wild diet of insects
and crustaceans. They will also take newly
strong currents, so the filter should not
be churning the water. A gentle flow that
turns the tank volume over a couple of
times an hour should be sufficient.
In the wild, collectors report that P. m.
victoriae spend little time in open water
and are most often found by running
nets up under overhanging grass along
the banks where the fish apparently
feel most comfortable. This is also the
area where, due to the amount of cover
available, their natural diet—insects,
their larvae, and small crustaceans—
would be most abundant.
hatched and adult brine shrimp, Daphnia,
Moina, small amphipods (Gammarus and
their relatives), fruit flies, flour beetles and
their larvae, whiteworms, blackworms,
Grindal worms, and seasonal live foods
like glassworms, mosquito larvae, and
bloodworms.
They don’t seem to be too demanding
when it comes to water parameters,
assuming that extremes are avoided. If you
look at their distribution, it is over waters
of varying parameters (hard and basic to
soft and acidic), so this adaptability is
expected. Keeping the parameters stable
is more important than hitting an exact
number, so maintain the filter regularly
and do frequent, large water changes. The
more you change the water, the happier
the fish will be. Temperatures should
be maintained in the mid to upper 70s.
Also, most of the areas where they are
found in the wild are out of the way of
The male P. m. victoriae performs a circular dance in his spawning pit.
Breeding
When dwarf Victoria mouthbrooders are
set up in a planted tank and given proper
water changes with lots of appropriate
meaty foods, they will do what comes
naturally—it won’t be long before you see
spawning activity, or females holding eggs
in their buccal pouches.
It is best to keep several females to a
single male, which is often referred to as
harem spawning. The practical reason for
this is to minimize stress on the fish. Males
will spawn with any and every ripe female
in the tank if possible. When kept in pairs,
the male will keep harassing the female
even after she is holding, and eventually she
will be so stressed that she will succumb to
disease or, even worse, she’ll spawn again
as soon as she releases the fry. Since she
doesn’t eat while holding eggs or fry, she’ll
quickly starve to death.
On the other hand, if they are kept in
multiple male groups, the males will spend
most of their time displaying for rival
males, and they will never get around to
courting the females. In the small confines
of the aquarium, there just isn’t enough
room for multiple males to set up their
own territories. While actual damage is
rare, it’s still a bad idea to put that much
stress on the fish. And either way, you won’t
get many fry, if any, unless you can set up
a fairly large planted tank such that each
male can claim a territory out of the line
of sight of other males, as described later
in this article. Learn from the experience
of those who have worked with them
successfully before, and keep them in a
single-male harem group, especially in a
smaller tank.
Captive Care
Their adaptation to a planted habitat
makes these fish perfect residents for the
planted aquarium. They are also a peaceful
species that gets along well with other fish,
and they don’t tear up plants like the larger,
more boisterous cichlids might. Give them
a tank that is 10 gallons or larger, planted
heavily, but with a small clearing. The male
will use this to dig a spawning pit that he
will use as a “dance floor,” and he’ll reward
THE SPAWNING EVENT
Spawning behavior is fascinating to
watch. The males clear a small dance floor
or spawning pit in an area of clear gravel or
sand. With my males, this is usually about
3 to 4 inches in diameter. I don’t know if
that is a normal size, or just the size my
particular males preferred to make. They
don’t dig downward, but rather hollow
the pit out by circling around repeatedly
in increasingly wider circles, flicking and
patting with their bodies and tails. When
construction is finished, they put on their
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www.tfhmagazine.com
September 2008
