# Metriaclima estherae 'Minos Reef' O(orange)



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Dominant male

IMG_0709 by Adam James K, on Flickr

IMG_0642 by Adam James K, on Flickr

Sub-dominant male

IMG_0710 by Adam James K, on Flickr

IMG_0671 by Adam James K, on Flickr

Mouthbrooding female

IMG_0623 by Adam James K, on Flickr

IMG_0624 by Adam James K, on Flickr

And one more blurry photo!

IMG_0673 by Adam James K, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

awesome! the photos look so perfect that they hardly look real--looks like its' out of a book or something? beautiful fish


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## Michael_S (Aug 18, 2013)

The yellow/orange outline on the dominate male's fins is remarkable. Nice pictures Iggy.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thanks guys!

They were the only fish I would classify as an impulse buy. Afterwards, I thought about how stupid this was, and it limited what I could stock. Like fish I was interested in- M. Msobo, Membe Deep, etc. Now that they've grown out a bit, I'm not upset any longer. Just wish I had a couple more females...

The dominant male is the 'tank boss' and a very kind ruler. Hope he stays that way! Only time he flips out is when he wants some lovin'. He claims the whole middle of a 6' tank. By the next day he's back to being Mr. Chill.


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## Lifetime Journeyman (Sep 26, 2013)

Great looking dom. male! Egg spots galore and nice coloring. Very good pics.


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## albita (Oct 12, 2013)

Gorgeous pics!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Appreciate the compliments. Still fumbling my way through using this camera.


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Such beauties!! I wanna share a couple of my minos reef male to add to your thread,maybe it will spawn a bunch of estherea pics. I know the species is common,but that comes with good reason.They're great looking cichlids







Plus one of the Ladies!!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Great looking fish Chi!


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Thanks Iggy!! yours also look great!! I love this species!!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Got some decent footage of a spawn. Not completely in focus, but you get the idea...

The info in the video was compliled from cichlidae.com, Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat by Ad Konings and the article on this site as well(http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/met_estherae.php). Please let me know if I am incorrect in anything I talk about in the video. And please try to look past the excessive amount of 'ums' I say  Watch in 1080p...


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## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

Those look awesome!! I have a wild group of Met. Estherae "Choifu" coming in next week. This makes me even more excited to see them! Awesome fish man!!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sweet man. Are there orange/red females at Choifu Bay? I couldn't find any photos of them. I hope you post some pics after they settle in...


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## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

I'll post pics for sure. The males are powder blue and the females are pale yellow.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Nice. Looking forward to them...


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

Loved the video! is that an auratus that keeps swimming in, trying to get a closer look?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thanks. It's a tank I put together with aggressive species in mind. Built it around Melanochromis Chipokae. Got some advice on them on the forum here. Wanted to try some of the over the top fish reputation wise. I really like the look of Chipokae. Loaded up on females or fish that look like females. Added my M. Pyrsonotos fry I raised and 2 other species. The Estherae were thrown in since I couldn't sell them or house them anymore(within reason). There's 10 total and it's female heavy. I kept them with Pyrsonotos for over 9 months without crossbreeding in the past and don't see it happening here. The tank is an experiment kind of and I don't think 5 of these species is a long term thing, but enjoying the Estherae once again nonetheless.


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