Ruby Red Peacocks

[wandj]

Hi.

I like the look of the Ruby Red Peacock and might use them as my first African. Just like most people around here, I seem to have perfect water for them. A guy I correspond with in BC said he sees them at Walmart all the time. So this means they are very common?

Are they a good choice?

I want to try breeding them and I would like a species that is popular enough that I can sell off the fry.

Any thoughts?

I need a species that is somewhat mild (I only have as big as a 45gal for them) and no bigger than 4 inches.

[Vallisneria]

In my experience ruby red peacocks are one of the more docile peacocks. A small breeding group would do well in a 45g. They are fairly common, big al's usually has a tank full of them(but i would try to not buy peacocks from there, look for a breeder).

Might want to ask around the edmonton aquarium club to see if anyone breeds them. I used to have a breeding group that i got from from the ACE auction. Not sure if anyone is still breeding them though.

ALso when it comes to breeding red peacocks make sure you find the best looking bunch you can. You want a fish that is actually red, not the light orange you normal see around nowadays. IF you are breeding them breed to improve the line, not just to sell fry to the stores.

Have you ever bred fish before?

[wandj]

Yes, I have had junk from Big Als before and thank you for warning me. (I still don't know what to do with these retarded Blue Jack Dempseys).

And yes, I would really like great stock. I am already trying to work out a deal on one. Thanks for the tip on the orange colortation being inferior. It's hard to find that info out. The books I bought don't say anything about that.

And yes, I bred fish. I worked with Rainbowfish, which I think are quite difficult. I raised a batch of Pagwis' from a mop. I got over a hundred that grew to 1.5 inches before I sold the whole group. (I also gave quite a few away) So I have worked with fry food, baby brine, microworms, etc. I have microworms culturing all the time just in case....

Because I DO like to breed fish, my only condition is that they are saleable. That is why I got out of Rainbows....no market. And I don't feel good about feeding fry to predators or "flushing them". So hopefully this species is popular enough in the pet stores that I won't have to worry about that. I plan on keeping back the best and doing what you suggest.....improving the line. Of course, I will find out which traits are most desireable in my future research. I won't worry too much about that until I have some of these fish. So yes, I want to avoid junk and I promise not to buy from Big Als.

Edited December 6, 2005 by wandj

[Vallisneria]

So hopefully this species is popular enough in the pet stores that I won't have to worry about that

See with africans thats kind of tricky. The popular species are often harder to sell then ones that are more rare. Since africans breed so easily there are tons of "home breeders" trying to sell their fry to the fish stores, so often they won't take them. Thats why if you want to breed for the purpose of selling the fry you might want to ask the stores what species they are looking for. With ruby reds you might not have problems finding buyers for your fry but i used to breed Rusties(a very common mbuna) and ended up just giving away my fry since no stores wanted them.

[wandj]

Val, you're so right.

There are a lot of people breeding fish here on this forum. I would like to ask you all what you do with your fry? Save for putting some in a Club auction, what do you do with them all?

Please tell me you don't kill them.

That is what I'm trying to avoid buy picking a species the stores will take.

I actually asked someone in the Edmonton Club if we the members could set up a "fish list" and the stores would buy our stock. Never heard back.

Guess it's every man for himself?

[dunl]

Val's right, too hard to pick a species and seel them to one store. You need to have variety for these.

Now, if you're looking to sell every fish you breed, you might try bristlenose plecos. Seems to be a good market for those.

Please tell me you don't kill them.

I don't usually, but if there is no reason to raise the fry....I just let them spit in the main tank. With my fish as hungry as I keep them, there has only been about 2 or 3 survive in the past couple of years to adulthood. I teach all day, and never actually see the "killing field".

[RD.]

I want to try breeding them and I would like a species that is popular enough that I can sell off the fry.

Any thoughts?

My 2 cents worth, forget about selling Aulonocara to pet stores, unless you plan on growing them out long enough for the males to be showing good color, which usually won't happen with multiple males in one small tank.

In that size of tank, my advice would be to breed one of the more popular smaller Mbuna, such as yellow labs or demasoni. Both of those species, if high quality, will always sell well at pet stores.

[dunl]

Another note on the ruby reds....I belive Gold's in Calgary has had them, and they have been one of their cheaper peacocks. For good quality peacocks to be at rock bottom prices, the demand probably isn't that high, but Albert could correct me if I'm wrong.

[Vallisneria]

Please tell me you don't kill them

I do what Dunl does. If i dont' want to raise up the fry i just let the females spit in the main tank. Usually most of the fry are taken care of, with only a couple surviving.

But if you plan on breeding, sooner or later you will have to cull fry. Whether it be for poor coloring or deformities. Unless you plan on keeping any less then sellable fry for yourself. I just throw any fry back into the main tank and let nature take its course. Its not one of my favorite parts of the hobby

[African_Fever]

I definitely have to agree with Neil on raising peacocks. Even though ruby reds do colour up much faster than many others, you're still stuck with a fish that only half of them ever colour up, and they don't get colour until usually 2-3". Mbuna are nice b/c they colour up much faster, and often both sexes have good colour.

My advice, pick a fish you like the looks of, and that isn't in every single petstore (unless it's say, WC yellow labs ). Hopefully you'll be able to sell the first couple spawns, but it's amazing how quickly you can flood a market once you get some fish going. Even with all of my Malawi breeding stock being WC (I used to think there was more of a market for F1's), with my Mel. cyaneorhabdos I'm running into a situation where I'm basically dumping my fish into the Medicine Hat market b/c a friend owns the LFS and will take all I give him (especially with the colour they have). Not what I was looking for, but I still do enjoy raising the fry just for the 'fun' of it.

[wandj]

Thanks everyone.

It's so hard picking a species that will fit the bill eh?

I realize culling is actually natural. And I know it has to be done with inferior stock and I would never sell or even give what I thought was junk away. I sure don't like getting junk and would never pass it on to someone else. I just hope to have a species that I can at least get some into the stores.

Poor stock example, I happen to have purchased a few "bulldog" Zebra plecos. I paid full price as I didn't notice the deformity at the time. These fish should not have been sold to me or should have been discounted. So I will never sell or even give them away to anyone else. (They have a tank of their own)

Anyway, I just find it hard to put a lot of effort into raising a batch of fry only to let them perish.

I think I will have to euthanize most of my "retarded" Blue JD's. Why have I not done it already? Why am I still giving them tank space and feeding them?

See what I mean?

Well, thanks for the input guys. I will do some more thinking about this. I don't want to be stuck with the "Rainbowfish" problem again.

And I would love to be able to give, trade or sell them to people here on this forum and be proud of my work. :beer:

Edited December 6, 2005 by wandj

[tc51]

I teach all day, and never actually see the "killing field".

Unless you happen to have a video camera and a couple of hybrid fish in the tank.

Tom

[RD.]

oops

-roll-

[dunl]

Okay, yeah.....that one time was pure "sport".

[wandj]

My Ruby's are here!

I just picked them up and they are acclimatizing in my tanks right now!

They are gorgeous! They are very big! Book says they get 5 inches, and I think if you include the tail, there are 2 males that are 4 inches and the rest of the fish are about 3 inches. I did take pics, but I have a film cam. patience.

The males are very colorful.

Now, I have the 3 females in a 20 gal Q tank and each male has his own 20 gal Q tank.

I was going to put all of them in a 48gal tank with lots of decor, fine gravel bottom. It is a long, skinny tank so it has a bigger footprint than a reg tank.

Can I put all these fish in this tank? I am only concerned with aggressiveness, not water quality because as lots of you know, I have a semi-automatic water changing fish room.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice? If I am successfull breeding these guys, you can bet anyone interested will be able to own a Ruby Red Peacock.

Besides NLS, can anyone tell me what else I should feed them? I heard of the dreaded Malawi Bloat and I would like to avoid that.