Sexually active males behave aggressively toward one another and will attempt to defend a breeding territory against other species. Like other Malawi cichlids, P. electra requires moderately hard, alkaline water to prosper, and is very intolerant of dissolved waste build-up in its aquarium. Assuming the operation of an efficient filtration system and the willingness to change up to 75 percent of the tank's water volume every 10 to 14 days, this deep water hap is not difficult to maintain in captivity. Following the pattern of other cichlids native to Lake Malawi, P. electra is an advanced maternal mouthbrooder. A single pair will also live compatibly in a community of behaviorally comparable Malawi cichlids, and can usually be expected to spawn successfully in such a setting.
Males often hassle females for a day or two after spawning.
It is thus a good idea to provide the female with several refuges to which she can retreat once spawning is completed. Females are usually reliable parents. The incubation period lasts 21 days at 83 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Like most haplochromine cichlids, isolated female deep water haps will care for the fry long after their initial release from the mother's mouth, but the usual practice is to separate mother and young as soon as the latter are fully mobile. Newly mobile fry can take Artemia nauplii and finely powdered prepared foods for their initial meal.