fish_geek Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Saw some peacock cichlids in the lfs the other day. When I last had a freshwater tank these fish were not available. Does anyone have any experience keeping this cichlid? Edited January 14, 2009 by fish_geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Here are a few articles about peacock cichlids to get you started. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php Its kind of hard to sum up the care of an entire group of cichlids but here are some quick notes. They are a african cichlid from lake malawi. They prefer higher ph, our tap water is good enough. They can be fairly aggressive but are one of the more "peaceful" african cichlids. They do best kept in a tank of other peacocks or other african cichlids of similar temperament. They are polygamous mouthbrooders, which means they should be kept in ratios of 1 male to multiple females, or in an all male tank. Female peacocks are all a drab brown color and you shouldn't mix species as once they are mixed you won't be able to tell the females apart. So if you plan on breeding you can only keep 1 species/ tank. The females hold the eggs/fry in her mouth for 3-4 weeks. Peacock care is similar to other malawi cichlids. So reaserch malawi cichlids as well as peacocks. The hardest thing with an african tank is tankmate selection and dealing with aggression issues. Edited January 14, 2009 by degrassi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Saw some peacock cichlids in the lfs the other day. When I last had a freshwater tank these fish were not available. Does anyone have any experience keeping this cichlid? There is a world of expierence on this Forum... ask a question and it will usually be answer quickly... Many of us have or have kept peacocks in the past.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish_geek Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Here are a few articles about peacock cichlids to get you started.http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php Its kind of hard to sum up the care of an entire group of cichlids but here are some quick notes. They are a african cichlid from lake malawi. They prefer higher ph, our tap water is good enough. They can be fairly aggressive but are one of the more "peaceful" african cichlids. They do best kept in a tank of other peacocks or other african cichlids of similar temperament. They are polygamous mouthbrooders, which means they should be kept in ratios of 1 male to multiple females, or in an all male tank. Female peacocks are all a drab brown color and you shouldn't mix species as once they are mixed you won't be able to tell the females apart. So if you plan on breeding you can only keep 1 species/ tank. The females hold the eggs/fry in her mouth for 3-4 weeks. Peacock care is similar to other malawi cichlids. So reaserch malawi cichlids as well as peacocks. The hardest thing with an african tank is tankmate selection and dealing with aggression issues. My apologies, I should have specified "Peacock Bass" Cichlid, not the African Peacock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 My apologies, I should have specified "Peacock Bass" Cichlid, not the African Peacock. Alrighty, never mind then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmaan. Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID CICHLA lol. i want to get cichla one day. i would now but i don't have the tanks to keep them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rED O Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I don't know much about them but I do know they get huge. I would say you need a 250 gallon plus tank for these monsters. I know hybrid on this site has experience with them, he might give you some advice and point you in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 What exactly do you want to know i raised Peacock bass from 2 inches to 18 inches Tems and O's. They eat alot specially if there not trained off of live foods. They grow to extreme sizes 24" and need alarge set up. my 220 gal hardly handled them. but wow nice colors...just ask if you have any specific questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish_geek Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 What exactly do you want to know i raised Peacock bass from 2 inches to 18 inches Tems and O's. They eat alot specially if there not trained off of live foods. They grow to extreme sizes 24" and need alarge set up. my 220 gal hardly handled them. but wow nice colors...just ask if you have any specific questionsI guess my major concern was if they are a realistic occupant of an aquarium at all, but it sounds like it can be done in a large system. How are they with other aggressive fish of the same size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Mahe Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 What exactly do you want to know i raised Peacock bass from 2 inches to 18 inches Tems and O's. They eat alot specially if there not trained off of live foods. They grow to extreme sizes 24" and need alarge set up. my 220 gal hardly handled them. but wow nice colors...just ask if you have any specific questionsI guess my major concern was if they are a realistic occupant of an aquarium at all, but it sounds like it can be done in a large system. How are they with other aggressive fish of the same size? Im no expert but I thought they were really agressive feeders, but not overly agressive to other large fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudy Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 I kept a few over the years. They are not aggressive at all to other fish but will eat them if they can. Having said that I find them the worst creatures of habit you can own. If they are trained on dead chances are they won't eat anything live. If they are trained on one food, they will only eat that one food. Get big and fast. They are incredibly cool to watch, have incredibly cool colors and feeding time? Bring a towel.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) I totally agree with Rudy theres nothing like a 4-5 foot wave comming out of a tank at feeding time....lol and i have never seen anything more than a push from the nose at any other fish. they can really eat like tons and grow suprisingly fast. Your tank would need a large filtration system for waste. Take a look i bumped up an old thread on peacock bass and Datnoids for ya Edited January 15, 2009 by CORVETTE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabidMoleMan Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 I have several monoculus and ocellaris right now (tems get much to large for me lol), they are very friendly and I must say at a young age if you hand feed them then you should be able to get them to eat many different things, mine eat food sticks, feeders, bloodworms... they are personable to, kind like oscars... what lfs was this and what did they look like and what size... did they have a singe horizontal line through their body or 3 vertical stripes/ spots... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish_geek Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 I have several monoculus and ocellaris right now (tems get much to large for me lol), they are very friendly and I must say at a young age if you hand feed them then you should be able to get them to eat many different things, mine eat food sticks, feeders, bloodworms... they are personable to, kind like oscars... what lfs was this and what did they look like and what size... did they have a singe horizontal line through their body or 3 vertical stripes/ spots... They were at Big Al's when I was there two weeks ago. I can't remember the details as to there lines and stripes sorry. But they were labelled as Ocellaris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Aquagiant has a tank of them right now also. Boom :boom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.