Just thought I would put a little comment that I think these guys would be a great starter fish for anyone looking to get into cichlids. They are the fish I started with and kept them in a peaceful community tank for quite a while. The only reason I gave them their own tank was that the 6 fish I obtained all paired up and they were spawning, so they got their own tank. Great to watch the colour change through the mating and the spawn and then caring for the eggs/wrigglers/fry. Great little fist cichlid in my opinion.
I bought a pair of these as my first cichlid species 6 months ago. They are behaving nicely towards my guppies and apple snail. I like the way they change their colors in courtship from one minute to the next: they may start gray, turn sky blue, then dark purple. I'm hoping they will eventually breed, as they seem to be easy keepers and content in my 85 liter planted tank.
