Since we dont talk about he malawi petros a lot i might as well start a topic about them. The Petros of malawi are a species of mbuna called Petrotilapia. They are mouthbrooders just like any mbuna. They are very similar to Petrochromis in many ways, their facial features, eating habits, and aggression. There are Several types of Petrotilapia. I am currently keeping Petrotilapia sp. small blue. The male Petrotilapia sp. small blue turn blue and the female stay a nice orange color. They female can produce more than 30 fry a spawn, all though mine havent yet. I hope i can get people to join in on this discussion, looking forward to hearing people's comments.

here is a pic of my male







This post has been edited by petrotrophlover: Jul 20 2010, 09:18 PM

he is turning blue ATM

Nice topic! I have to admit, I don't know alot about these cichlids... but it's always interesting to learn about new fishes

How long have you had yours?
How large do they get?
How do they differ from other mbuna?

I will see if Larry Johnson from our sister site... ACF would have some time to stop in and comment on these fish. I know he's busy but it would be interesting to see if he has anything to add... maybe he even has some pics of them from his many dives at the lake

Link to his section of ACF:
http://africancichlidforum.com/forums/index.php?showforum=48


Thanks for sharing ptl

i have mine for a couple of weeks, i got them from wet spot tropical fish. they get up to 7", but the small blues get up to 5".
the are different from other mbuna because, they are feeding all the time in the lake, they also develop large mouths like petrochromis.

I have kept the small blues; as well as the Tridentigers. The Tridents get about 7 inches or more and are every bit as agressive as The Petros from Tanganyika. I have had both spawn for me. That was about 15 years ago or more. I do not currently keep these but I am interested if anyone has either for sale. I currenty keep Trophs & Petrochromis.

Tom[

do you know how big your spawns were from the small blue?

I think they were between 15 - 35 when full grown Before that when smaller, the first few spawns were around 10-12

Tom








This post has been edited by cichlidomaha: Jul 21 2010, 06:07 AM

10-15 thats a good sized spawn for a first time.






This post has been edited by petrotrophlover: Jul 21 2010, 11:48 AM

That's all I need to hear!






This post has been edited by Mr. Johnson: Jul 21 2010, 11:55 AM

here is another variant of petrotilapia i would like to keep

Petrotilapia sp. yellow chin

the picture is not mine BTW