The kribensis cichlid (Pelvicachromis pulcher), also known as the king cichlid, is the most popular dwarf cichlid from Central Africa. In the wild, it colonizes large areas in the Niger River basin. It is mainly bred in the hobby. Like so many dwarf cichlids, P. pulcher is also polychromatic, i.e. it occurs in different color […]
The dwarf cichlids of the Pelvicachromis genus, in the form of P. pulcher, are the most popular cichlids from Africa. They are colorful, relatively peaceful, adaptable and have a very interesting family life. Pelvicachromis have a mother-father family in which the more colorful female is responsible for caring for the spawn laid in a cave […]
The yellow color variety of the species P. pulcher comes from southwestern Nigeria, where it is collected west of the Niger Delta in the Ethiop River area. The additional color designations yellow, red and green refer to the gill covers in P. pulcher, they all get red bellies. In all Pelvicachromis, females are considerably more […]
After many years we received again this beautiful pastel colored dwarf cichlid from Guinea. Only in 2009 the species, which belongs to a group of species popularly also called king cichlids, was scientifically determined, before it was known in the hobby as “Pevicachromis sp. aff. roloffi Blue Fin”. The females of this species show – […]
Since a long time we received again a Congo import. Beside many other interesting fishes and novelties also the good old acquaintance Nanochromis parilus was among them. These beautiful, assertive dwarf cichlids are very common in the region around the capital Kinshasa. It is astonishing that they were described by science only in 1976. In […]
Benitochromis are closely related to the Pelvicachromis species and can be compared regarding the aquarium biology quite good with these peaceful and colorful cichlids. In contrast to Pelvicachromis, which are cave brooders, Benitochromis are biparental, ovophilous mouthbrooders. This means that both parents take care for eggs and fry; eggs and fry are given from parent […]
Breeding forms are like certain foods: you like them – or not. But it is a fact that the aquarium hobby, like all other areas of domestic animal and plant care, cannot get along without breeding forms. The albino of the krib, Pelvicachromis pulcher, is a breeding form whose charm is not obvious at […]
We obtained these beautiful and extremely rarely offered dwarf cichlids as bycatches with other fishes from the Congo. Congochromis sabinae was prior to its scientific description known under a number of trade names: C. sp. „Bloody Mary“, C. sp. „Gemena“, C. sp. „Bamanja“ or C. sp. „Makoua, all of them also in the combination with […]
Prior to its scientific description this species as been known in the hobby under the names of Pelvicachromis sp. „Bandi1“ or „Guinea“. The species can be always easily recognized by the black tailspot of the female. Usally the female has only one black spot in the dorsal fin; the fact that the photomodel from our […]
The maybe rarest of all dwarf cichlids of the genus Pelvicachromis is P. roloffi. So we are very glad that in our current import from Guinea some specimens were included. This species depicts in almost all different moods a clearly visible, horizontal band. The females are – as usual in Pelvicachromis – the more colorful […]
Finally we were able again to organize an import of – inter alia – dwarf cichlids from Guinea. Formerly all these fish were placed in the genus Pelvicachromis, but the species humilis, signatus, and rubrolabiatus have been transferred to the newly described genus Wallaceochromis in 2016. The naming of the different local populations of these […]
We can cvurrently offer a very small number of German bred specimens of a top rarity among the cichlids of western Africa: Benitochromis nigrodorsalis. This species has been described scientifically only in 2001. It originates from Cameroon and the island of Fernando Poo. Prior to the scientific descrption the fish was known as „Chromidotilapia finleyi […]
The yellow sport of Pelvicachromis pulcher originates from southwest Nigeria. Here they are collected west of the Niger delta in the area of the Ethiop river. The names Yellow, Red or Green for the different sports of P. pulcher refers to the colour of the opercles; all of them get a red belly at times. […]
Dwarf cichlids from western Africa are bit out of fashion currently. Nobody knows a real good reason why, as usual in fashion. However, anyone who sees the gorgeous Pelvicachromis taeniatus “Nigeria Red” we can offer right now as German bred ones, will become crazy for a new fashion immediately and place a tank with these […]
In this very attractive variety both sexes have a bright yellow basic colour. In males, the caudal fin is spotted, ventral fins and anal fin are red. An unique feature for this form is the eye. The upper half of the iris is bright red in males and brass in females! For our customers: the […]
This variety has the following characteristics: in males, the caudal fin is yellow without any pattern, the ventral fin blue and the dorsal fin has a red border. The horizontal stripe seems to be composed of spots. The dorsal fin of the female is bright yellow and has black spots in the upper backward part […]
Our current import from Guinea contains five different species/morphs of the relationship of Pelvicachromis humilis. They all have in common that the males can reach a maximum length of 12 cm. Females always stay smaller. The latter are the more colorful animals, there is always a clearly marked sexual dichromatism. During mating and displaying the […]
Finally we were able to organize an importation from Guinea once again! It contains a number of varieties from the Pelvicachromis-humilis-complex (Liberia Red, Dighiya, Sierra Leone, Falesade, P. signatus), the rare P. roloffi, beautiful Hemichromis (H. cristatus, H. letourneauxi, H. sp. Guinea II), some rare species of Polypterus (P. ansorgii, P. buettikoferi, P. palmas), and […]
Once more a change of names of well-known aquarium fishes appeared. The different forms of Pewlvicachromis taeniatus have been regarded for decades as mere colour varieties of the very same biological species. But now a new study has been published which laces almost all “varieties” from Cameroon under the taxon Pelvicachromis kribensis. Only one “variety” […]
We have some wild collected specimens of Benitochromis riomuniensis from Cameroon in stock. Benitochromis is closely related to the Pelvicachromis species and can be compared regarding the aquarium biology quite good with these peaceful and colorful cichlids. In contrast to Pelvicachromis, which are cave brooders, Benitochromis are biparental, ovophilous mouthbrooders. This means that both parents […]
Currently we can offer a great number of wild collected varieties of P. taeniatus from different localities in Cameroon. The local variety from Bipindi is characterized by a high degree of yellow colours, the females get a wonderful blue belly when displaying. For our customers: the fish have code 562702 on our stocklist. Please note […]
Finally we were able once more to import this pretty dwarf cichlid (males become 7-8 cm long, females stay 15-25% smaller) from Nigeria. Before its official description under the name of P. silviae the species has been known by hobbyists for about 40 years as Pelvicachromis sp. aff. subocellatus. For our customers: the fish have […]
The political situation in Guinea is not stable at all. So it is very difficult to organize an importation from there. But now we were successful once more and we proudly present to you some of the ornamental fish species from Guinea: Aplocheilichthys normani A single specimen of that lampeye is a quite drab creature, […]
Just in: fantastic German bred specimens of this dwarf cichlid. The fish are in top condition and have a perfect size. For our customers: the fish have code 562303 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Text & photo: Frank Schäfer
This is another, very nice dwarf cichlid from western Africa, available even with the name of the collecting site. We have fully grown and wonderful coloured specimens in stock. For our customers: the fish have code 560363 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in very limited numbers only! […]
This beautiful sport of P. humilis is available only very occassionally. We received them in an ideal size (5-8 cm). They have already very nice colours! For our customers: the fish have code 559554 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in limited numbers only! Lexikon: Pelvicachromis: the Latin […]
Dwarf cichlids from western Africa are bit out of fashion currently. Nobody knows a real good reason why, as usual in fashion. However, anyone who sees the gorgeous Pelvicachromis taeniatus “Nigeria Red” we can offer right now as German bred ones, will become crazy for a new fashion immediately and place a tank with these […]
Once more we have obtained a very limited number of superb, large, German bred specimens of this wonderful cichlid. For our customers: the animals have code 562304 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
We recently received this beautiful dwarf cichlid from Guinea. The species is a close relative of P. humilis and was known in the hobby as P. sp. “Bandi 1” before its scientific description. Maximum size in males is around 10 cm, females stay always smaller. As in almost all Pelvicachromis there is an extreme sexual […]
This is another, extreme beautiful variety of that gorgeous dwarf cichlid from Western Africa: Pelvicachromis taeniatus “Nigeria Yellow”. Initially the animal originates from the surroundings of the Nigerian city of Lagos, but we have in stock fully grown adult bred ones. The bright golden breast and the very long finnage make Pelvicachromis taeniatus “Nigeria Yellow” […]
November 2005: From Guinea the import of a still undescribed Pelvicachromis species surprised us. This species seems to mediate within the genus Pelvicachromis between P. roloffi and P. rubrolabiatus, since it carries characteristics of both species. Particularly the name giving bright blue-green dorsal fin of females is noticeable. Maintenance in pairs is appropriate, in larger […]
From Pelvicachromis taeniatus are numerous variants and local forms existing in the western parts of Africa. One of the most beautiful variants is surely Pelvicachromis taeniatus „Lokundje “(a river in the south of Cameroon). At the moment we can offer very beautiful breds from the same breeder as the already introduced Apistogramma agassizi „Fire Red […]
