All fish / Cichlidae

Electra Blue Hap

Placidochromis electra

Also known as deep-water hap, deepwater hap, electra, electric blue hap, blue electra, haplochromis electra, electra superblue, placidochromis electra likoma, super blue electra, プラキドクロミス・エレクトラ, 电光蓝, 电光蓝慈鲷

Males are a bright powder blue with a few dark vertical bars and a dark band running between the eyes, while females and young fish are silvery with darker bars. In the wild it sifts sand for small invertebrates, often near Lake Malawi's sand flats and the burrows of the large Taeniolethrinops. Aquarists keep it because it is one of the calmer Malawi haps, so it suits mixed Utaka and peacock tanks.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

16 cm

Temperature

24 to 27 °C

pH

7.6 to 8.6

Smallest tank

300 litres

Keep as

One male with three or more females

Diet

Omnivore: quality cichlid pellets, frozen mysis, brine shrimp and krill, with some vegetable matter

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

8 to 10 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Lake Malawi (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania)

Breeding

A maternal mouthbrooder. The female carries eggs and fry in her mouth for about three weeks before releasing them. Spawning happens readily in a well-fed group with one male and several females.

Good to know

Too gentle to live with aggressive mbuna, but it will eat small fish and fry. Keep it in hard, alkaline water with plenty of open sand, and do not house it with other similarly blue haps, because they may hybridise.