Above: In the picture, a young premium quality Brilliant Snow White Socolofi Mbuna Cichlid is swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us snapped this picture.

Comments: Socolofi is a blue Mbuna Cichlid fish that naturally occurs in Lake Malawi.

Probably an albino, like the one in the picture above, occurs very rarely in Lake Malawi.

When an albino occurs in tank raised fish, the breeder usually keeps it and tries to breed more albinos, and that's where most albino fish originate. Not as wild fish.

Origin: Mbunas are a large family of Cichlid fish that originally lived only in Lake Malawi in East Africa .

But now they live in aquariums all over the world. There are several species of Mbunas for sale in this store.

Maximum Size: In aquariums this fish can grow to be about 5" long, including their tails, which makes it one of the biggest Mbuna Cichlids.

Behaviors: Snow White Socolofi Mbunas are usually very aggressive fish and from time to time males have long energetic battles.

All Mbunas also spend a lot of their time digging and moving the aquarium gravel to create caves.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include other Mbuna species and Synodontis Catfish.

Click here for more about Synodontis Catfish.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: Mbunas live best from about 75 to 80-degrees F. with 78 being perhaps ideal.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Pellets is best to feed to Mbunas. Smaller sized pellets when young, and larger sized pellets when bigger, is the ideal food for these fish.

Do not feed them meaty foods or worms, or they may get Malawi Bloat.

Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.

Water Conditions: Lake Malawi has hard alkaline water and that is best for all the fish, who's ancestors lived there.

But these fish can adapt to most types of water, and so as usual it's best not to try to change the pH or alkalinity.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: Mbunas like this Snow White Socolofi Mbuna, will eventually need to live in an aquarium with at least 80-gallons of water.

Each Mbuna will need at least 5-gallons of water, and Mbunas live best in an aquarium with at least 15 other Mbunas of about the same size.

Decor: Mbunas do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel.

Live plants are beautiful and improve the water quality, but Mbunas will usually dig plants up, so most Mbuna aquariums do not have live plants.

Mbunas love rocks and rocky caves.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

Most 80-gallon aquariums have room along the back for two Penguin 350B Filters, and this is sort of a minimal Mbuna Aquarium set up.

Better is a 120, 150, or 200-gallon aquarium with as many Penguin 350B Filters as will fit across the back.

Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range. Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Mbunas can live for several years. Keep the water conditions excellent and feed them premium foods, and they will most likely breed and produce the next generation of fish for your aquarium.

Gender: It's difficult to tell males from females, when they're small, but easy when they are mature, because the males develop longer fins and bigger more distinct egg-spots on their fins.

Breeding: Snow White Socolofi Mbunas and all Mbunas are mouthbrooders. A female lays eggs, a male fertilizes the eggs, and the female picks up the eggs in her mouth.

She'll brood them for about 3-weeks, then release them in the aquarium. They are miniature versions of their mother and very cute!

Click here to read more about breeding mouthbrooders. the aquarium.

Click here for a lot more about breeding various tropical fish in aquariums.

Popularity: Since the 1960s Snow White Socolofi Mbunas and other Mbunas from Lake Malawi have been very popular fish.

Names: The scientific name for Snow White Socolofi is Chindongo socolofi, named to honor our friend Ross Socolof, who passed away in 2009.

Variations: There are also two other varieties of the regular Socolofi. One variety has a solid bright blue dorsal (top) fin.

Click here to see a picture of that variety.

The other variety has a black line through its blue dorsal fin.

Click here to see a picture of that variety.

Click here for a lot more information about keeping and caring for Mbunas, including a picture gallery.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.

DrTom - 12/28/2014