Blue And Red Couple For Your Aquarium: How To Breed Aulonocara Hansbaenschi

Aulonocara hansbaenschi

Description: Males are a bright blue fish with a red band behind the gill plate. Females keep their juvenile grey color.
Common Names: Red Shoulder, and Red Flush, Aulonocara stuartgranti Chiofu is what the hansbaenschi from Chiofu Bay is being sold as.
Locations Collected From: Chiofu Bay, Metangula, and south of Chiloele.
Approximate Size: 4 – 4.5 inches with females smaller.
Food: Not picky, ate everything I offered from pellets to flake to live foods.
Water Conditions: Fairly tolerant of a range in pH from 7.5 – 8.5 and a temperature range of 75 – 82 degrees F.
Breeding Behavior: Mouthbrooder. They have spawns that range from 35 – 40 fry per spawn for adult females. Better to keep more than one female for each male. Males are aggressive towards females around spawning time. Rock work is recommended to give the females a place to hide and make the fish more comfortable in the aquarium. As with all Aulonocara it is better to keep the different species separated to avoid any cross breeding.
Tankmates: Can be kept with calmer Mbuna and Utaka species. Can also be kept with some Victorians and Tanganyikans. I kept mine in with Protomelas fenestratus, Placidochromis electra, Labidochromis caeruleus, Haplochromis obliquidens, and Neolamprologus cylindricus without problems.

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