Astatotilapia nubila
- Common name: Also called nubilus
- Location and Lake collected from: The populations around Anchor Island are the most common location found in the hobby. This species has a wide distribution throughout the area.
- Approximate size: 3.5 – 4 inches
- Food: Mine have eaten flake, brine shrimp, daphnia, spirulina, mosquito larvae, pellet and took care of a small snail problem in their tank.
- pH: 7.5 – 8.3
- Temperature: 75 – 82 degrees F.
- Breeding behavior: Mouthbrooder. Males start to develop adult coloration when they reach a size of about 1.5 inches. Males claim a territory and aggressively defend it. They also chase the females so multiple females for each male is recommended. Based on my experience, only one male should be kept per tank. Females should have rocks to hide in. Females brood for 15 – 21 days with a brood size between 40 – 50 fry for an adult female.
- Care of the Fry: The fry can eat crushed flake food and baby brine shrimp. They do well with several small feedings a day. Hap. nubila fry is not picky about their water conditions. Most spawns can be kept in a 20-gallon tank up to an inch in size. The fry is sexually mature at about 13 weeks post-release and has also been known to spawn at a small size of 1.5 inches and produce 5 – 10 fry.
- Tankmates: I have kept mine in with Labidochromis caeruleus, Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt, Labidochromis sp. Mbamba, Psuedotropheus aurora, Psuedotropheus greshakei, Psuedotropheus zebra “Chilumba”, Iodotropheus sprengerae “Rusty”, Julidochromis dickfeldi, Julidochromis marlieri, Neolamprologus tretocephalus, Neolamprologus sexfasciatus, and Altolamprologus calvus without problems.
- Tank size: I kept 1 male and 9 females in a 40 gallon cube (24x24x18) tank.