Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" "Chimwalani Reef"

Chimwalani Reefcheem-wah-LAH-nee REEF (approx.)

The fish

How this cichlid is built, and everything about how it lives, eats and breeds, is shared with the species — this page doesn't repeat it.

Read the full Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" account →

Specific to Chimwalani Reef

  • Collection locality & coordinates
  • Local coloration — best judged from the living-fish photo
  • Kept as a single-provenance line, never crossed with other collection points

Care facts below are the species' — shared with Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth7–49 ft2–15 m
DietUnusual for an mbuna: picks loose algae, diatoms and organic material from wood/plant debris and forages in open water, closer to plankton-picking than rock-scraping
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooderroughly 20–40 eggs depending on female size
Sexual dimorphismYesMales more saturated blue with yellow-tinted dorsal and caudal fins; females and juveniles paler with less contrasting fins.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chimwalani Reef population

Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" "Chimwalani Reef" is the Chimwalani Reef population of Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chimwalani Reef fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" — widely traded as the "Yellow-tail acei" — is one of the best-known undescribed mbuna in the aquarium hobby, despite never having received a formal scientific description. It is recorded along a stretch of the central-western Malawian shore from Msuli Point in the north to Senga Bay and Luwala Reef further south. Unusually for an mbuna, "Acei" feeds mainly in midwater rather than scraping rock, has an elongated, comparatively slender body, and is one of the more tolerant, group-friendly mbuna kept in the trade. No authority, FishBase record, or IUCN status attaches to the name.

Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" "Chimwalani Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus species database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Pseudotropheus genus profile
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)