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Yesterday, I introduced 3 new cichlids into my 40 gallon mbuna tank to replace venustus I got rid of. They are all about 3 inches in length and as big as most of the other cichlids in my tank (another venustus, sunshine peacock, and red empress). The cichlids seem to be doing fine, somewhat active...however, my sunshine peacock doesn't seem to be moving around the tank much; in fact, he hangs out on the bottom in the corner, mostly. Sure, it's only the second day, but he hasn't eaten anything yet. What's the best way to get him to eat and liven up?

Tell us more about your setup.
What kind of new cichlids did you put into the tank?
And are they all males?

One thing to note, the fish you have listed are not mbuna. They are more omnivore and carnivore than they are herbivore. The name mbuna relates to the fish in the lake that are most herbivore to omnivore. Mbuna in nature, mostly feed off the aufwuchs, or the algae growing on the rocks. They get their limited protein from the small critters living within the algae.

One way to tell many of the mbuna from others (this is not for all of them though) is the shape of their mouth or the shape of their lips. Most Malawi cichlids with down-turned mouths, such as the Labeotropheus, are mbunas. A larger group with a slightly downturned mouth is the Cynotilapia, mostly known as the afras. Some more genus are the Metriaclima, Melanochromis, Pseudotropheus, and there are more. Then there are those with the very large lips, which they use to create a seal around the algae and litterly such it off. As they are more rarer in the hobby, I can't think of the names of any right now. But these you will know when you see them. They have the appearance that someone just injected botox into their lips.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Not sure of the sex of my fish, I don't think that most of them are big enough to tell.
BTW, I thought mbuna was a reference to malawi cichlids in general...Here is a list of the cichlids I have in the tank:
6 Peacocks (2 O.B., one Red empress, one strawberry, one sunshine, one black one-not sure what he is)
1-Venustus Nibochromis
1-Cobalt Blue
1-Deep Water Hap
1-Blue Johanni
1-Blue Dolphin
1-VC-10
1-Sciaenochromis Ahli
1-Electric Yellow
1-Green Terror (yes I know this is a S.A.-I'm experimenting)
1-Rusty? (She's?) Purple with orange fins - when agressive she lightens her color and looks to be a pale violet with vertical strips, otherwise purple with slightly orange fins
And! A hi-fin pleco...
This is an overstocked (obviously) 40 gallon with pleanty of rock formations and some plants.
Also, my nitate seemed way too high when i checked on it today. My tank was about due it's Bi-weekly 35% water change that I do and it's nitrate was at 160 ppm! I immediately changed the water and gravel vac-ed it really well. The filter is pretty clean. Are these nitrate levels normal for an overstocked tank after 2 weeks? Should i change it weekly? Do the plants remove nitrate from the water at all (when they're healthy)?
Feedback is appreciated...Thanks in Advance.

P.S. The peacock is doing a lil better, just not as aggressive of an eater yet.

An hour after my water change and adding amquel and nitrate shows up the same...how can this be? I am using jungle brand test strips and nitrate tested to the same (40 ppm) in my 10 gallon as well...

From the over stock of your tank, I am very suprised that the nitrates are not very much higher. As for the Amquel addative, this only bonds with nitrites and ammonia, it does not remove it. It will still register on test strips and other test kits. It has to be removed.

I really hope you are planning on getting more tanks, as those fish will surely perish under those conditions in such a small tank. Several of those you have listed get a foot long or bigger.

In a 40 gal tank, you should not have more than about 4-6 of the cichlids you have listed there. And several of them not at all. The venustus will not only outgrow that tank, but if it is a male, when it becomes larger it will most likely kill all the other fish in such a tiny tank for it. Venustus should have nothing less than a 150 gal tank. The johanni will also become way to aggressive when it matures (if it is a male). It too will most likely kill off the other fish in that tank. You have 17 fish there that grow to be a minimum of 5 inches, and a max of 18 inches or more.

The high fin pleco gets over a foot long as well, and grows pretty quickly for a pleco.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but you are way way over stocked in that tank. Those fish are going to suffer very badly if you don't get rid of most of them, or at least get more tanks large enough for them.

As many fish as you have in that tank, all your levels will probably be topping out on a daily basis, including ammonia and nitrites. The ammonia is gonna be the killer in that tank though. Fish cannot tolerate high levels at all of ammonia.

Sorry, but I fear I cannot help you any more than this, at this time. As your situation is far beyond my capabilities.

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There is always a bigger fish...