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Encyclopedia / African Cichlids / Red empress
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Variations

1 kinds · tap one for a closer look

Red empress

Protomelas taeniolatus · Taeniolatus, Fire blue hap, Empress red, Protomelas taeniolatus

Moderately aggressive; best in a roomy tank with peaceful haps.

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17 cmAdult size ✓
24–28 °CTemperature ✓
7.8–8.6pH ✓
205 LSmallest tank ✓
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Tank mates
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Not recommended
  • White cloud mountain minnow needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while Red empress is tropical.
  • Rift lake cichlids like red empress need hard, alkaline water and a busy, cichlid-only tank.
Not recommended
  • They need different temperatures (24–28 °C vs 10–22 °C). No setting suits both.
  • Rift lake cichlids like red empress need hard, alkaline water and a busy, cichlid-only tank.
Not recommended
  • Oscar is aggressive and will bully peaceful red empress.
  • Rift lake cichlids like red empress need hard, alkaline water and a busy, cichlid-only tank.
With conditions
  • Rift lake cichlids like red empress need hard, alkaline water and a busy, cichlid-only tank.
  • Only a narrow temperature range suits both: 24–25 °C.
With conditions
  • Rift lake cichlids like red empress need hard, alkaline water and a busy, cichlid-only tank.
  • Their pH needs don't quite meet (7.8–8.6 vs 4.5–7). Aim between the two and keep it steady.
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible

59 species in our list are a good match.

Facts checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026. ✓ means a source backs it; ? means no reliable source yet. See sources

Care and water

Hardness ✓10–25 dGH
Group size ✓5 or more
Temperament ✓Peaceful
Swims at ?All levels
Care level ✓Moderate
Diet Omnivore
Lifespan ?Unknown
Size in shops 5–8 cm
Growth Medium

Behavior

Moderately aggressive; best in a roomy tank with peaceful haps.

Food

Mostly vegetable food: spirulina flakes and pellets, with a little small frozen food. Avoid krill and chopped fish, which can make it ill.

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Male or female

The male is larger and much more colourful than the female and has extended dorsal, anal and pelvic fins.

Health

Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.

Breeding

Maternal mouthbrooder (harem) · Moderate

Maternal mouthbrooder best spawned as a harem; the male makes a temporary territory on a flat rock or a pit in the sand and the female carries the eggs for about 3 weeks before releasing free-swimming fry.

Pairing

One male with 3-5 females in a large tank with open sand; males guard a sand scrape or cave.

Setup

400+ L tank with a sand floor, rockwork with caves and open swimming space, hard alkaline water (pH 7.8-8.6) and strong filtration.

What starts it

Large water changes, varied protein foods and a dominant male displaying in a sand nest or cave.

Eggs

The female carries the eggs for about 3 weeks.

Raising the fry

The female releases fry after about 3 weeks. Feed crushed flake and newly hatched brine shrimp; sort by size often as fry grow unevenly and larger siblings eat smaller ones.

Common mistakes
  • Tank too small for adults
  • Keeping with small fish that become food
  • Not sorting fry by size
Full breeding guide, day-by-day plan and simulator →

Where it lives in the wild

RegionLake Malawi
Rivers and lakesLake Malawi (rocky coasts)
HabitatRocky shores, often near sand
Native rangeAbout 300 km across
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The story of the red empress

A popular Lake Malawi hap whose adult males show bright rainbow colours; several colour forms (e.g. Red Empress, Super Red Empress, Blue Fire) exist.

Trewavas described this species in 1935, originally in Haplochromis. The 'red empress' trade name refers to colourful males of several forms. It grazes soft algae and the tiny animals living in it.

First described by Ethelwynn Trewavas in 1935.

  • Males of the Red Empress form show red, blue and yellow together.
  • It feeds by plucking soft algae and small animals from rocks.
  • Several distinct colour forms are traded under different locality names.

Sources

15 facts checked with sources