peacocks in a community tank?

[WaterPond]

I have been reading up on peacock cichlids and my research has shown that they are not very ahressive and can live in community tanks!

I think they are beautiful and am going to try one, or two
----(should i get one or two?)

This site says they will be fine http://fish.mongabay.com/peacock_cichlids.htm

and i beleive rkilling1 has them in his 28gal planted community

What do you think,

i will have 2 kribs, 2 angels, and 5boesmani rainbowfish, in a 50gal. I am thinking of keeping the mkribs in my 15gal too, they seem to love it in there, and they seem a little too agressive for a community tank.

 

[JDogg]

Malawi Peacocks?

they are not that agressive when compared to other Malawi Cichlids...but i would not put them in a general community with peaceful fish i like... :?

 

[WaterPond]

hmm, well, i really really want them.

Anbody else have some input

 

[JustOneMore20]

I also don't think they should be kept in a community tank. They are less aggressive than Malawi Mbuna, but still aggressive. I have Eureka peacocks in my Malawi tank and they hold their own to the Mbuna, so I definitely wouldn't put them in my community tank.

 

[WaterPond]

ok, i am going to PM rkilling1 to see how his do in his community tank.

I probably wont go with them

 

[JDogg]

hmm, well, i really really want them.

Anbody else have some input

excuss to start a mbuna tank

 

[WaterPond]

LOL, the 50gal will be my last tank allowed in the house. I was hoping for bigger, but oh well

 

[JDogg]

LOL, the 50gal will be my last tank allowed in the house. I was hoping for bigger, but oh well

what about the Garage... or maybe a shead in the back-yard...

 

[WaterPond]

LMAO! we have two seds in our backyard, one is my brother's, one is my dad and my mom's(its big enough for 2) and then i dont have one. THere, i will ask for my own shed for christmas!!

Oh, and i changed my mind. The 50gal is not going to be community anymore. I will be finding homes for the angels and the boesmani rainbows. (shouldent be hard)

Ohhh, this is exciting. I have always wanted to try something really different, this is my chance. It will still be lightely planted though. Vals, anubias, crypts, java fern/moss.

Now i need to come up with stocking!!

 

[docrak]

I also don't think they should be kept in a community tank. They are less aggressive than Malawi Mbuna, but still aggressive. I have Eureka peacocks in my Malawi tank and they hold their own to the Mbuna, so I definitely wouldn't put them in my community tank.

I've asked this question before and everybody said don't do it. Nobody had ever tried and every body was answering based on hypothetical scenarios. Well I did it. Call me crazy but I was stupid enough to try putting some male peacocks in a community tank. I found the peacocks to be no different that any other semi aggressive fish. I would equate them to tiger barbs or large danios or a rainbow fish in terms of aggression. They didn’t bother any other fish, there was no fin nipping. They only became aggressive when I added an additional dominate male. My primary male nearly killed the new male but never bothered any other fish. I have seen some aggression while feeding. The peacocks don’t let anybody get between them and their food. They didn’t even care if somebody entered their cave. In fact my pleco was far more aggressive than the peacock in terms of protecting her territory.

I think as long as you have fast moving fish in your community setup you could put peacocks in there. Just as a side note my peacocks are juveniles at around 2.5 inches. They were however my most aggressive males, they needed a time out and I had nowhere else to put them.

 

[severum mama]

I'm glad that this arrangement is working out for you for now. I'm sure you have a very colorful and active community. However, 2.5 inch juveniles will hit sexual maturity eventually and at that point I imagine all hell will break loose. As far as Africans go, peacocks are on the less aggressive side of the scale, but the only tankmates I would personally try with them are other Africans, synodontis catfish, or hardy plecos. WP- if you have to try them in a community, tiger barbs may work out- they are tough and scrappy, with plenty of attitude of their own. As always, this is JMO, and as you all probably know I tend to give relatively conservative advice. 8)

 

[WaterPond]

HMM, they would be with 2 angels and 5 boesmani rainbows, could i keep tiger barbs with angels?

I am not going to turn the 50gal into a malawi tank anymore, just community. I can give away my angels, i have gotten too attached.

 

[triazole]

IME, tiger barbs and angels are a strict no-no. angels will definitely be nipped as soon as the barbs get some size on them, and muster up enough courage.
i agree with SM. peacocks might be fine as juvies, but come maturity, and they might very well turn into monsters. i had a blue peacock (not purebred) that demolished his zebra danio dither friends, and terrorized the yellow labs residing with him. finally i had to give him up.
another problem is the recent trend of hybrid peacocks. in case a peacock was cross-bred with mbuna, they'd surely turn out to be more aggressive than regular peacocks.

 

[severum mama]

I VERY much agree with triazole on that one. I only suggested the TBs as possible dithers for peacocks, should you decide that you wanted to risk them in a community. As for angel tankmates, I wouldn't dare try it with my own angel.

triazole-- I was under the impression that hybrid peacocks were the product of 2 different Aulonocara species, and that they couldn't breed with Mbuna- might I be wrong about that? :?

 

[triazole]

yep. unfortunately, i've seen them breed with mbuna. the male peacocks don't mind who they show off to - they're really rascals. and in case the males of the mbuna are not dominant enough or are absent, the female mbuna can and will breed with peacocks/haps.

 

[docrak]

triazole-- I was under the impression that hybrid peacocks were the product of 2 different Aulonocara species, and that they couldn't breed with Mbuna- might I be wrong about that? :?

You're both right. I think triazole was referring to an "OB Peacock Hybrid" between a peacock & an mbuna:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1372

And you are referring to something like a "Gold Peacock Hybrid" or a sunburst such as the ones in my photo above or some abomination between two perfectly normal variants found in the wild:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1315