Male Peacock Display Tank

[peanut2110]

Hi everyone, I sent this out yesterday under what I thought was the Cichlid corner but I must have been in the Welcome area when I hit "new topic"! Anyway, I have done a quick copy and paste as I would like to know what your thoughts are with regards to stocking rates etc. Even if the answer is "wait til later" it would be good to know how many adult sized peacocks would be suitable for my new tank so I know what I'm aiming for in the future... Cheers.

I have been reading a lot of really good info on this forum so I thought it was about time I joined and started participating in the discussion! Well at least asking some questions anyway!

I have kept tropial fish for a while but only recently decided I felt confident enough to set up a tank for cichlids - the fish I have always wanted to keep! I love their colours and their personalities altho I'm not into bloodshed and carnage so opted for the more pecaeful haps and peacocks.

Current set up is 180L tank with in-built filtration plus addl Eheim cannister filter. Aragonite sand for substrate, some crushed oyster shell in the cannister filter along with the noodles etc and pumice rock (boiled and cooled so it sinks) for the caves with a couple of small pieces of driftwood as well. PH 7.8, ammonia and nitrates 0ppm.

Fish so far are 1 x Maleri red (9-10cm), 1 x A. Baenschi (7-8cm), 1 x A. Chilumba (5-6cm), 2 x P, Electra (4-5cm) and 1 x chinese algae eater.

Next year once the new house is built, I will be upgrading to a 400-500L tank (yet to decide whether I will go with a purpose built tank or one of the Juwel aquariums - perhaps a future discussion topic?!) so my question at this point in time is, should I stick with the fish I have until I get the new tank or knowing it's coming, can I get some more fish now? You know what it's like - you always want more!

I have done lots of reading on the web and get conflicting advice about whether one should overcrowd the haps and peacocks in the same way it is suggested you do so for mbuna. I would definitely like to get some more lovely boys for my display tank but not if the current tank is too small and it risks upsetting the fish I already have.

So far peace has reigned supreme with only the odd chase here and there but it's usually the same ones doing the chasing (the Baenshi and the slightly larger Electra) and the same ones being chased (the Chilumba and the slightly smaller Electra). So I guess I'm also wondering if 3 or 4 more fish would help those guys who are getting chased a bit.

Anyway, that's quite enough from me for now! I look forward to receiving some helpful advice from some of you fellow - but very much more experienced - cichlid lovers out there! Thanks.

[babyfish]

What shape is the 180 ltr tank, the longer the better if you want to add more. The more hidey holes the better. Your Chilumba is a smaller peacock and probably most likely to be most submissive. The dominant Electra is bound to chase his subordinate. I do think there is something to be said in letting these sort of fish grow up together, getting used to each other if you are wanting the most colour out them all.

[nimbochromis_freak]

hay there

The set up sounds Mint

Ul learn as you go along.

Great selection of fish too!!!

[peanut2110]

Thanks for your comments! The tank is one of those tall ones (which I regretted almost instantly as I am one of the vertically challenged and the bottom of the tank is a bit awkward to get to without half drowning myself!) I was limited by the available space I had in our current house but I didn't want to have to wait any longer to start enjoying these fish!

One of the websites I found suggested you should keep 12-15 young haps/peacocks in a 30-40 gallon tank and then move them into a bigger tank as they grow. The ultimate tank at adult maturity was suggested as being 90 gallons. The inference being it was better to get all the fish within a reasonably short space of time and let them grow up together.

What do you think? Would 12-15 peacocks in a 400ltr tank be too many? I don't think I have ever seen a tank that size with that many in it personally - there always seem to be just a few...

[ryanjury]

That would be a cool tank, you could stick more fish than that in there if you wanted to others like yellows and demasoni too..

[Freakyfish]

It will depend on the dimensions of your tank

Though you should be able to get away with 12 - 15 in a tank of 400litrs if it were a 4*2*2

But tell us the dimensions of the tank you have and the tank you will be getting

How long b4 you will be getting the new tank?

Brad

[herefishiefishie]

Just to give you a idea of overcrowding. I have 25 plus electric yellows {breeding colony} in a 4x15x18, oh & 2 white calvus.

It is all trial & error. It basically comes down to temperament of the fish involved & who gets along with who. The area of the tank etc. Some say heaps of caves, some say not many at all.

My colony of yellows are more of a bare tank, just 2 lava rocks & a couple of barnacles for the whites. That works best for the colony. When I had a mixed colony tank, more caves the better.

Heaps of caves creates a lot of homes but means a lot of territories can exist & sub dominants can/will hide, therefore not seen much, especially in smaller tanks. nb; lfs have bare tanks with cichlids,{do here} it is not just to make it easier for them to catch.

If you have a larger tank, ie; 4x2x2 a lot of caves usually works good, as there is plenty of room for all fish.

Not many homes means not so many territories, fish are more out in the open more. Downside is tank looks more bare & if you have a bad bully he may take claim to 1/2 the tank.

Then again depends on species. Peacocks are more of an out in the open species too. They hunt food from in the sand in the wild.

If you want to add some colour of something docile cichlid wise, throw in some electric yellows. Nice bright colour, won't harass anything else & most species don't chase them. Could easily add 3-4 of them to your current tank.

Peacock males can fight amongst each other, best bet is to mix different species of peacocks & try for different coloured types too.

Watch the chinese algae eaters, they can be a pain when big, even to cichlids.

Good luck, sounds good with the way you set it all up. Keep us posted.

edit; just found this page, you may like to read.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php

Frenchy

[peanut2110]

Ok the tank I have is just over 80cm long x 40 wide x 67cm high (water level is at 60cm high). The tank I am getting is 151cm long x 51 wide x 62cm high. House will be completed for us to move in to March/April next year. Fish will move straight in to their new home at the same time.

At present I have 7 caves for the fish - the CAE lives in one of them and the Electra's just like to swim thru them.

I have read a lot under the cichlid-forum and it's really great - got some very good info in there. One thing I never seem to be able to find tho is what the peacocks/haps rate of growth is. I suppose that can be variable but it would be helpful to know as it would give me some idea of just how many juveniles I could add to the current tank...

I have read that it is best to only keep one male of a particular colour in your display tank which should ease aggression and hopefully assure one of plenty of colour. A few I have identified that I would really like to get are Copadichromis Azureus, Aulonocara Rubescens Albino, Aulonocara Rubin Red, Otopharynx Tetraspilus and last but not least Aulonocara Kandeensis (that's if we get them all here!) And if my tank (and all the other fish in it) can handle one at full size, then the Cyrtocara Moorii would have to be on my wish list too.

My preference would be to just stick with the haps and peacocks as I think they are awesome and I will never be able to own all the ones I would like to anyway!

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions - I do appreciate it. Oh and if anyone has, or will soon have, any juveniles of the above fish I have mentioned, could you let me know? Cheers.