The White Tail Acei (Pseudotropheus acei “ngara”) is a shoaling Mbuna cichlid found in the Ngara and Karonga areas of Africa’s Lake Malawi, that is closely related to the Orange Top Moori (Gephyrochromis moorii).
All Acei have vivid, bright colors that are generally blue to deep purples and violets that become darker and more electric blue around the face of the fish. The fins of all species range from cream to sunshine yellow, which makes them an outstanding-looking fish in any aquarium.
In the wild, several varieties of Pseudotropheus sp. “Acei” exist throughout Lake Malawi but the most common form sold in tropical fish-keeping shops is the variety from the Nkhata Bay and Bandawe area. These cichlids are colored a sparkly dark blue and have yellow fins.
White Tail Acei prefer living among sandy, rock-filled shorelines that are easily accessible to sunken logs, tree roots, and bogwood. They have flat, cuspid-like teeth that allow them to feed on crustaceans and harvest epixylic or epilithic algae from submerged bogwood, logs, tree roots, and rocks. In their natural rocky bottomed habitat, they prefer living in smaller groups of 3 to 10 individuals however, schools of 30 to 50 or more fish are commonly found surrounding large logs or sunken bogwood.