Taiwan Reef Hap

Remarks: The Taiwan reef hap is a fairly peaceful cichlid compared to the majority from Lake Malawi. They also are one of the most colorful with their bright yellow bodies, rich red ventral and anal fins, sapphire blue heads and backs, and a white edge along the top of their dorsal fins. This coloration is absolutely incredible in person as pictures alone do not do these fish justice with showing their beautiful rainbow colors. It should be noted that they can take some time to mature and show their colors as is typical of their genus which includes tangerine tigers and red empress. This means one needs to be patient when it comes to seeing the full potential of these fish, but it is well worth the wait.   In the wild, Taiwan reef haps actually have algae make up a large part of their diet as they graze on the many rocks in their natural habitat. However, they are still omnivores so in captivity, their diet should be varied but with a lower protein content. Similar to other mostly herbivorous species, feeding a diet too high in protein can cause the fish to develop bloat. Another thing to keep in mind to be successful with this colorful species is they don't tolerate poor water quality. If water quality starts decline, they will usually be the first to show symptoms. This can actually be a good thing as the Taiwan reef hap showing bright colors and looking healthy will let you know that water quality is most likely good. If water changes are kept up and plenty of filtration is used, their sensitivity should not be too much of a worry and rather a helpful indictor.  To make the Taiwan reef hap an even better cichlid, they are very prolific and will usually ignore their fry once they are free swimming making them a very easy to breed species. With how amazing the males look, especially in the presence of females, they make it worth it to have the duller females around in a breeding group. However, if you do not want to have them in a species only tank, they do well with similarly sized peacocks and haps. Taiwan reef haps tend to be fairly mellow but can defend themselves if they need to so they can be a perfect addition to an all male peacock/hap show tank.