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The Ophthamotilapia Ventralis , originates
from Lake
Tanganyika, Africa. Its male have a blue, dark-blue or black body, with long ventral fins with yellow ends, but in our aquarium our
Ventralis is bright blue in colour. The females are usually silver-grey in
colour.
They like tanks with plenty of swimming space & sand.
The females usually school together, while the males create
territories, by building bowers in the sand, where they attract
the females into, to fertilize their eggs. They are mouth
brooders, the female will spawn & takes the unfertilized
eggs into her mouth. The male will then attract the females with
their yellow tips on their ventral fins, which is mistaken as
eggs by the females. When the females follow closely behind the
male, the males releases its sperm to fertilize the eggs. The
females will swim back into the swarm and incubate the eggs for
about 3 weeks, before releasing the fry.
The males often loose their blue colors if something is wrong
with the water. Good filtration is essential. These fish are peaceful, but they are
best kept in cichlid tanks, with other cichlids of similar size.
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