Pseudotropheus demasoni ‘Pombo rocks’

Pseudotropheus demasoni ‘Pombo rocks’


In the past I have kept and bred Pseudotropheus demasoni. These little fish, for those who haven’t kept them, are a true pleasure to keep, very entertaining to watch and would come close to the most aggressive Mbuna I’ve kept. I have lost several fish to aggression, but with the numbers I keep now, it seems well dispersed. I have witnessed 2cm fish, play fighting for territory and showing full adult color.

These fish are Lake Malawi Mbuna. These particular fish are found at Pombo Rocks. They are a shallow water fish, usually found no deeper then 5 meters. They are algae graziers and are tend to occupy one boulder. In the wild females tend to hide more between the boulders, but I have not found this to be the case in the Aquarium.

The fish in the photo above is my dominate male. These fish don’t grow big Males get to around 7cm and females a little smaller. Sexing is difficult, although, I have found that the baring in females tends to get lighter through the belly. Females can be as aggressive as the males. I watched a holding female chase all fish away from her hiding spot one night, which was the dead center of the tank. It was as if she never had a mouthful. Even the dominate male would not go near her.

I currently am keeping seventeen fish in a four foot 200L tank. The tank is set up to the typical water conditions. Ph is around 7.8, Gh 9 and Kh 12. The tank gets filter by a 1200LPh external canister and has a 36 inch air stone along the back wall to increase circulation. I do fortnightly water changes of 50%.

The back wall is covered in rocks stacked about half way up the tank. Luckily for me only one male has taken his territory at one end of the tank and the rest of the tank is used by the remanding fish. I do have some anubius and java fern in the tank and have found the holding females like to hide under the leaves of these.

Fish eat mostly Vege flake twice a day. This is supplemented with spirulina flake, vege wafers, lettuce, blanched cucumber, wrigglers when I have them and my home made food. My home made recipe is peas, spinach, a handful of flake food, (for the added vitamins and minerals), a box of marinara mix, 1 white fish fillet, spirulina and agar agar. They are vegetarians, but I have feed some amounts a foods containing meat and haven’t had any problems, they only get the home made food once a week.

These fish seam to spawn quite easily, but getting to hold has been my biggest problem they always seem to do this at night. I have never watched them spawn. I have found there is nothing that triggers them to do it. They do spawn again, around 21 days after releasing fry.

When fry emerge from their mother’s mouth, they have some color and their vertical black bars are showing. Fry are kept in a fry saver for 21 days then released back into the tank. I raise them on HBH fry bites and then Vege flake. Fry that are kept in too small a space, for too long seem to kill each other. I found that out the hard way. Now my fry get released into the main tank, at around 1.5-2cm. The larger fish don’t seem to be bothered by the small fry.

All-in-all these fish are a great fish to keep provided they are kept the right way. I have heard some sad stories from people who have lost nearly all their fish through aggression. These fish need lots of caves and hiding spots. They like plenty of current in the water and, like all fish need good water and quality food. Provided these things are met then you shouldn’t have any problem with them.