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[font color="#000080"]Hi all, I just want to know some general peacock info as i'm thinking about keeping these fish, such as:[/font]
[font color="#008000"]how large do they grow
How fast do they grow
What do you feed them
How old do they get
what other fish make good tank mates
What type of enviroment do they like, etc[/font]
[font color="#000080"]Thanks everyone in advance[/font]





Last edited by PJ at 25-Nov-2004 00:49

1. how large do they grow
most males get to be around 6 or 7 inches, but it's not uncommon for them to grow as large as 8 or 9 inches. Females peacock cichlids tend to stay smaller.

2.How fast do they grow
it depends on how big their tank is and how much they are fed. if a large tank and a varied diet is given, they can grow up to 3 or 4 inches in a matter of 4 or 5 months.

3.What do you feed them
peacock cichlids are omnivorous, meaning they'll eat most of everything that's given to them. Compared to most omnivorous cichlids though, peacocks should be fed more protein foods such as shrimp, worms, and small fish. Although, Vegetables and sprinlina flakes/pellets can be supplemented. A basic cichlid flake food or pellet food should be the main staple of it's diet though. Again, VARIETY IS BEST

4.How old do they get
they have a life span of about 10 years or more.

5.what other fish make good tank mates
most synodontis catfishes make good bottom feeders. Other large lake malawi cichlids make good tank makes too, such as Venustus cichlids. It's arguable but most people don't recommend housing peacock cichlids with mbuna cichlids because of their diet and size differences. It's kinda like, "damn if you do, damn if you don't"

6.What type of enviroment do they like
because they enjoy digging, they prefer a sand or small gravel bottom. Caves and rocks should make up most of their decorations as well. In my experience, Peacock cichlids tend to enjoy swimming in the open more than most lake malawi cichlids, therefore, a lot of open swimming space is needed.


hope that helps

Peacocks are a good choice for color and personalilties

First most get 4.5 to 6 inches some (jacobfreibergi) 7, not 8 or 9. Some haps like the red empress(Protomelas taeniolatus ) are sometimes mistaken for peacocks and they reach 8-9 but not peacocks.

If you mix and match species of males and females they will cross-breed. This is frowned upon by most, not all though. It is recommended to keep to single species when mixing sexes or to keep all males peacocks. For show tanks most usually house just males of the different peacock species anyway. The females of all the peacock species are drab, brown color. When mixing males try to avoid mixing identical males.

Other haps are good tank mates. A varied diet and quality diet is important to bring out the best colors.

Last edited by openwater at 26-Nov-2004 17:07

Last edited by openwater at 26-Nov-2004 17:10

[font color="#000080"]Thankyou betahex & openwater for all the info, that certainly did help

I want to keep these fish now, would you recommend an all male tank or a male/female tank to start with?

Also you said that people don't recommend keeping haps/peacocks with mbunas, does that apply to all mbunas, e.g Electric Yellows?

Thanks again for your help

Electric yellow will work out fine, they are more omnivorous than most mbuna and thus can have more protein.

I have electric yellows ,red zebra's and a pair of Ps greshakie with my peacocks and a electric blue Hap all with no problems.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

"The females of all the peacock species are drab, brown color."

Not all females are drab brown. In the case of my Aulonocara Maisoni they are gray/silver with black bars. And while not as colorful as the males i do not find them to be drab.

Bdadawg

if you keep more than one male in the tank,only the dominant male peacock will color up to his full potential.so keep that in mind.

I'll take that info in notice.

Thanks everyone for the replies

go for all male. if you get mixed males and females of different species you get hybrids which is bad.

even though there will be a dominant male who will have the best colors, all males will show their colors and you can have a great looking tank.

i like haps as tankmates. mbunas are generally too rowdy, i've even got an electric yellow i've had to relocate due to his anger issues....

Last edited by everweird at 15-Dec-2004 22:12

Yeah i've decided that im going to keep 2 males.

Even if 1 male does'nt show his full colour it will still be alot more colourfull than a female.

What size is the tank.

Keeping just two males may be difficult. I would not recommended it as the dominate male will bully the other to death. Generally you need a tank big enough to support at least, very minimum three, but I would suggest at least four in a tank to help spread out aggression. These are my views on the situation and I never had luck keeping just two in a tank.

A mean and aggressive electric yellow. That's weird


Last edited by openwater at 15-Dec-2004 22:39

The tank will be bigger enough to house 10 more. It's a 125g.
I don't want to many fish in the tank as I may have some breeding plans for the future.

Click Here For my stocking thread.

[font color="#C00000"]Anyway this is my final stocking list for my 125g[/font][font color="#008000"]
2 Fronts
2-4 A.Calvus
? peacocks
6 Electric yellows
and possibly a BN or two.[/font]


I guess i can probably fit 1 or 2 more into the current stocking list with the other fish.








Last edited by PJ at 15-Dec-2004 23:19