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When a female is ready to spawn, she will enter his territory and begin to aggressively interact with the male until she releases a couple of eggs into the gravel nest or on a flat rock. When the male is ready to breed, his colorsīecome enhanced and he will establish a territory in the tank. To achieve the best results, its best to keep one male with three or more females. The Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlid is a maternal mouth brooder that build nests in the bottom substrate from small rocks when they are ready to breed. In a 75 to 100 gallon tank, a grouping of 10 or more mbunas is recommended to spread out aggressive behavior. They are usually too aggressive to keep with Peacock Cichlids and Haplochromis. They are compatible with Auratus, Johanni, Kenyi, Lemon Yellow, Orange Blotch, Pindani, Red Zebra and only the Synodontis Catfish species. In general, because of their aggressiveness, Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlids should only be kept with other Mbunas. Many tropical fish keeping enthusiasts use a laterite based substrate to help maintain the necessary high pH and alkalinity required for keeping these cichlids, but clean water and proper pH are extremely important in maintaining healthy mbuna aquariums. Optimal conditions for keeping Metriaclima callainos is a water temperature of 75 to 80 degrees, and a pH balance as close to 9.0 as possible. Like all mbuna, Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlids enjoy having plants in their tank, but because they constantly rearrange the substrate will uproot them and eventually have them as part of their diet. They also need plenty of room for swimming, so a 55 gallon or larger tank is mandatory. There are several other African zebra color variations that include the Red or Cherry Zebra (which is colored red/orange), the Pearl Zebra (which is a pearl white color), and the Orange Blotch Zebra (OB), which has black blotches on a pink orange background.Ĭobalt Blue Zebra Cichlids are a long lived, relatively semi aggressive species, that do best in community aquariums with a dark sandy bottom, plenty of small loose rocks or gravel for burrowing, and enough rocks, caves, and tunnels for the fish to set up separate territories. Male Pearl Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlid (Metriaclima callainos)