In the wild, Kribensis thrive in the slow-moving waters of West African rivers and streams, particularly in Nigeria and Cameroon. They prefer habitats with dense vegetation, sandy substrates, and plenty of hiding spots among rocks and driftwood. Understanding their natural environment is crucial for replicating these conditions in captivity, ensuring they feel secure and exhibit their natural behaviors

In the wild, The Mikrogeophagus ramirezi can be found inhabiting a variety of environments such as blackwater river canals to clearwater flooded savannas. You will often find them living happily alongside other fish like Apistogramma and tetra species.

Very quickly it was apparent to me that I needed to keep these animals in an appropriate sized aquarium due to their nature and overall size they got and luckily enough for me I scored my first "big" aquarium not long after I started looking.

Males of this species can get up to 30cm in length and are very girthy a fully developed male with end up growing a magnificent cranial hump, it is said the bigger the hump the stronger the fish. Females tend to stay a bit smaller around the 20cm mark and do not get as dominant of a cranial hump.

The German Ram has to be one of the nicest looking dwarf cichlids available within our hobby here in New Zealand. With its beautiful blue shimmer, golden face and rainbow tones throughout its fin, I can say without doubt it was one fish that never stuck around long in our shop and for good reason.

Without a word of a lie, these tropical fish are amazing.  I have had a couple of groups in the past and I have never found them overly aggressive which is nice for a Malawi Cichlid