Sam Borstein's Cichlid Page


Pseudotropheus sp. "acei"

Acei
Synonyms: Gephyrochromis sp. "acei", Pseudotropheus acei

Pseudotropheus acei
Above: A male yellow tail Pseudotropheus sp. "acei". Photo by Sam Borstein.

Meaning of Name:

Genus- Pseudotropheus= False Tropheus (Latin).

Intro:

Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" is an undescribed and extremely popular Lake Malawi mouthbrooder. It is debated if this fish is a member of Pseudotropheus or if it is a member of Gephyrochromis, mostly due to its feeding habits. Typically in the aquarium trade and taxonomically, this fish is regarded as a Pseudotropheus.

This fish is very similar to the fish Gephyrochromis moori and Gephyrochromis lawsi. This fish also occurs in many location varients:

Distribution:

Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" is found in open water at many locations in Lake Malawi sometimes around sunken logs which they feed upon.

Size, Maturity, and Sexual Dimorphism:

Size: Males- 5 inches, Females- 3.5 inches
Maturity: 1.5 inches
Sexual Dimorphism: Males are larger than females. Both sexes have intense coloration; which makes it an ideal fish for the aquarium trade.

Holding Acei
Above: A young, holding female Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" msuli. Photo by Sam Borstein.

Care:

Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" poses no problems when it comes to keeping it. The fish is peaceful and non-territiorial. The fish does need swimming space because it is open water. Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" is nice in the sense that it will swim in the upper two-thirds of the tank, which many mbuna won't do.

This fish is best kept with docile cichlids. One combo that works well and looks great is keeping the fish with Electric yellow Cichlids (Labidochromis caeruleus). This offers great color contrast and plenty of activity to a tank.

Water conditions acceptable for this fish are pH of 7.0 to 8.5 and temperatures from 76F to 82F.

Diet:

In the wild this fish feeds upon algae that grows on sunken logs. They roam the open water in large schools searching for such feeding territories. In the aquarium, Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" will accept anything, but a high quality veggie flake should be part fo the diet.

Breeding:

Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" is pretty easy to breed. The fish breed young and once started are hard to stop. Males display to females and then breeding commences in typical Pseudotropheus fashion. The fish are good holders and a full term is a bout 18-20 days.

The fry are small and cdepending on the size of the female can number in a dozen to 60. The fry grow fast, especially on baby brine shrimp and by half an inch are already getting a purple sheen to them. By an inch, the fins start turning yellow.

Conclusion:

Pseudotropheus sp. "acei" is one of my favorite mbuna. Personally, I think the yellow tail variaety is much nicer looking, but it seems that the white tail variety has more popularity currently. This fish is beautiful, peaceful, and easy to breed. I recommend it to anyone who wants to start with mbuna or anyone who has yet to keep this species and considers themselves a Malawi fanatic.

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