Star Sapphires

Tanzania Star Sapphires are unique in that when they start to mature, they start getting white speckles resembling a sapphire along the sides of their body and head. These do take time to develop. Typically these fish have to be at the very least 1 to 1 1/2 years old, but could be as long as 3 years before you actually see the sapphires. Obviously, the bigger the fish is the more sapphires you will see show up. Don’t be surprised if a 4 inch fish comes in without sapphires on them. These fish are found in Lake Malawi, and deep rocky habitats. They are mildly aggressive and grow to a very nice size of 8 to 9 inches. Preferable water temperature is between 74 and 84°F with a pH of 7.4 and 8.4. And they do like hard waters.