Electric Blue Cichlid

This fish which sounds more like an international music group is arrayed in eye-catching colours of vibrant blue and lustrous yellow. Lovely to behold, they are spread across Lake Malawi, especially Taiwan Reef, Chinyankwazi and Chinyamwezi Islands.

The scientific name is Sciaenochromis fryeri and the family is Cichlidae, belonging to the Aferican class.

The Electric Blue is a metallic Columbia blue fish whose dorsal fin is marked by a white edge while the top of the caudal fin and the bottom of the pectoral fins are likewise coloured. The bottom of the anal fin is tinged with a deep golden yellow.

This fish is a piscivore meaning- fish eater but more on that will follow later. For the benefit of professional cichlidiots, there have been two genera which have been more vexing than perhaps any others throughout the piscine world, Cichlasoma and Haplochromis. Both these and the Malawian genus Pseudotropheus have undergone noticeably radical changes in the past decade. Thus, this fish, once known as Haplochromis ahli, has been reclassified, first as S. ahli and then, upon further examination, it became known as S. fryeri.

Coming back to the Electric Blue Cichlid, they are lacustrine fish that live in waters of high pH and hardness. They live between 10 and 40 meters deep. Thus, they are virtually uninfluenced by both water pressure and photosensitivity and will do well in a standard Malawi tank.

More on Aquarium Care
  • Food
In the wild, these are piscivores, but they'll eat a lot of commercially prepared meaty foods, supplemented by live foods and meaty foods as well.

  • Water Temperature
75-79 degrees Fahrenheit (24-26 degrees Celsius).

  • Water Chemistry
Hard water, dH of 10-11, pH: 7.5-9.0.

  • Behaviour
They are not as aggressive as many of the other Malawian cichlids, though these can be very aggressive as they are piscivores in the wild. Any fry released in a tank of S. fryeri is likely to be eaten quickly. They also guard their hunting territory with some ferocity, so territorial demarcation in the form of aquarium decor is a must.

  • Sexing:
Females are smaller, grey, and have a soft blue sheen rather than the electric blue of the male.



Breeding: These fish mouth brood. Malawian mouth brooders usually fertilize the eggs in the female's mouth, but the eggs of S. fryeri are often laid under rocks in the wild, while males make nests in aquaria. Three weeks after mouth brooding starts, the fry are released.

A separate breeding tank might be necessary to successfully raise more than a small number of fry, but removing the female while she is holding will result in her spitting the fry and them being eaten.

Dominant males spawn with anyone and everyone that they can and then leave the females to hold the eggs elsewhere.