Protomelas taeniolatus (often sold under various trade names: Haplochromis Red Empress, Red Empress or Spindle Hap) is a utaka

Utaka

right|thumb|Red empress cichlid, which lives in the utaka niche of lake Malawi, AfricaUtaka is the term used for open water-dwelling cichlids found in Lake Malawi, the most diverse source of cichlids in the world of amateur aquaria...

 cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

 in Eastern Africa. The fish is popular in the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 hobby due to the bright rainbow-like colors of adult males and its relatively peaceful temperament. Juvenile and female P. taeniolatus, like many Haplochromines, do not display bright coloration.
The Red Empress is widely distributed in Lake Malawi and occurs in sediment free, rocky habitats in depths of less than 10 meters. It mainly feeds on algea growing on the rock surfaces, but also on a variety of small invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s. Males can reach a size of up to 19 cm.

Home Aquarium

Due to the attractive colors of the male, these fish are used in the freshwater home aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 to add variety and color. When kept in captivity

Captivity (animal)

Animals that live under human care are in captivity. Captivity can be used as a generalizing term to describe the keeping of either domesticated animals or wild animals. This may include for example farms, private homes and zoos...

 they usually grow to around 15 cm (6 inches) and should be kept in at least a 55 gallon tank. They prefer a pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

level of 8.2 and a temperature of 26-28 °C (82.4 °F).

Territory

The Protomelas taeniolatus is generally a peaceful fish until breeding time. At this time the male will guard quite a large amount of territory and chase away any fish that enters his 'lair'. The males are mostly aggressive to each other unless in a large area of water. When the breeding time is over he will, again, allow any fish to enter his territory and will not guard it