GREGMAN

Hi guys: Thought I might try something out of the norm. I was at the dollar store ans spotted these birdhouses ceramic on sale. My peacocks love to have thier own "caves". They all moved into thier own new condos. It worked so well I though I would share it. Not a traditional set up....but it does look cool. Greg

Competition. 1 male with 3-6 females. The female OB will color up anyway. If the male has another sub-dominant male in there he will strut his colors even more. Fresh 20% water changes every week or 2 and NLS food. Don`t worry when they start to breed they will be coming out your ears.

I have 5 male peacock tanks. It is a balancing act. Important to change the tank rocks around when adding more fish. They will concentrate on claiming turf as opposed to fighting. Having a couple larger peacocks that will establish themselves as tank bosses will help keep the peace. Mbuna SEEM TO BE TROUBLE MAKERS IN A PEACOCK TANK. Also female peacocks will raise hell with the males. Go males only, be prepared to have another male tank or 2 so you can find the right balance. Do not put 2 of the same males together. That is fine with a breeding group only. My tanks are all finally peaceful. 1 large peacock show tank, 1 3-4" juvi show tank, 1 smaller peacock tank, 1 mixed peacock tank...you need to be able to remove a problem fish and try him in another tank of peacocks. For males you really need at least 2 or 3 tanks to juggle. Greg

I have 5 male peacock tanks. It is a balancing act. Important to change the tank rocks around when adding more fish. They will concentrate on claiming turf as opposed to fighting. Having a couple larger peacocks that will establish themselves as tank bosses will help keep the peace. Mbuna SEEM TO BE TROUBLE MAKERS IN A PEACOCK TANK. Also female peacocks will raise hell with the males. Go males only, be prepared to have another male tank or 2 so you can find the right balance. Do not put 2 of the same males together. That is fine with a breeding group only. My tanks are all finally peaceful. 1 large peacock show tank, 1 3-4" juvi show tank, 1 smaller peacock tank, 1 mixed peacock tank...you need to be able to remove a problem fish and try him in another tank of peacocks. For males you really need at least 2 or 3 tanks to juggle. Greg

There is no set rule . However if you are combining males and females in a 125 gallon. I would not go more than 3 groups. The males will want to claim territory for them and thier females. Too many groups will probably be a big mistake. Start with 3 males and thier chicks and see how that goes. Make sure there are caves and hideaways the they can make home. The males will chase the females and they too need places of refuge.

Looks good, I would not add plants. If you decide to put a few in. I have a suggestion. If you go to Michael`s or and hobby store you can buy silk plants. Get a couple you like and hang them from the top down. Just 1 branch It creates a nice look. Your Africans generally don`t eat plants, but love to uproot them! Besides the rocks look great and you can see the fish. Just look at adding a couple "shade" leafy branches at the top. 2 OR 3 OF THESE BRANCHES that hang from the top and tuck behind the rocks would give you that green. Here is a small picture of one of my Peacock tanks, you can see the silk branch in the back. They were aprox. $2.00 each. Greg

Looks good, I would not add plants. I f you decide to put a few in. I have a suggestion. If you go to Michael`s or and hobby store you can buy silk plants. Get a couple you like and hang them from the top down. I creates a nice look. Your Africans generally don`t eat plants, but love to uproot them! Besides the rocks look great and you can see the fish. Just look at adding a couple "shade" leafy brancks at the top. Greg

I have ruby reds and blood red rubensens. This fish is quite a bit larger,

mixing fish isn't always easy, but isn't a problem usually providing u do some research first,,, many cichlids share the same water requirements and are fine as long as nobody else in the tank looks like them.. i have no problem mixing lakes providing relative 'peace' is maintained Awesome thanks. I hope the RED EMPRESS YOU TRADED ME FOR IS DOING WELL, THE RUBY RED IS FINE NOW. HE WAS AT ONE POINT READY FOR THE BAR-B-Q!

You can try a water change syphon (keep it above the gravel. Might work well to get them out. You can place your fry in a small netted holding cage that hangs on the inside of your tank. Mom will not pick them up. After a fairly short period the fry will become food to her too. Finish your water change. And get them in a little holding cage in the same tank. Greg P.S. This is only my humble opinion. Memebers like FAIRDEAL ( Howard and many others ) certainly will be helpful to you. Best of luck Greg P.P.S. I you don`t find the fry. The parents will start to breed often and you can wait for more. Or I you want to try some fry I have a new brood of OB Peacocks and would be happy to give you a few to get started.

Demasoni in with Peacocks is in my humble opinion asking for trouble. Adding any females into a male tank is trouble as your Dolfins will want to defend territory. I have several all male tanks that are all Malawi Peacocks and Haps. The tanks are peaceful. However, do not put 2 males of the same species in with each other they will fight for dominance.Having said that. You can put a divider in the tank and have some females in there. It will cause the males to go full color. I have 1 tank (40 gallon ) that I put my 2 line bred Blood reds Rubensens in. I put up a divider. Because these fish are so pretty I wanted them colored up. They can see each other. I added 1 smaller female and she is small enough to swim through the divider. This has worked out great as I have full colors and 2 males the same in 1 tank. You could do the same and put your mbuna if you decide to keep them. If you want to know about a cheap and effective divider let me know! I thing k keeping the Yellows and dolfins would be the way to go. Should you decide to go all peacocks. Let me know I can give you some free just get you rolling. Or call me we can talk about a better arrangement for your tank. Keep in mind, I am not the great guru. But I do have several Peacock tanks and it took some work to make peace, have color and be able to still let some breed. All the very best. Greg

Be very careful in having demasoni and Peacocks! I find they don`t mix at all!!! The Demasoni are very aggressive and don`t make good play mates for Peacocks.