Mbuna And Peacocks?

[njstockley]

hi all


ive just got a 48 gallon tank and think i will be setting it up for african cichlids, but have a couple of questions...

i love the look of both mbuna and peacocks, but can they be mixed? my concern would be that the mbuna are too agressive, but if there was a more passive species that could mix in with peacocks would that work?
if not then i will likely try an all male peacock tank...but what kind of decor would this require as they are open water swimmers?


thanks in advance, and will start a journal when ive got more than a bare tank and filter!

nick

 

[creeker]

I have seen them kept together. Borderline overcrowding is the key.

 

[MBOU]

I wouldnt advise it in that size tank!

The m'buna are so much more teritorial and aggressive but the peacocks get so much bigger, too big i think...

My cousin had 4 Peacocks in with her 8 M'buna (and 4 haps) in her 250L tank and within 7-8 months the fish have outgrown the tank and the m'buna spend the whole time attacking thinks, reflection, other fish... our hands... and the Peacocks have just got huge!

The 250L is being made into a sump for the 1000L they have had to buy!

Stick with nice smaller species! though personally i think the peacocks are 10 x the nicer fish!

 

[njstockley]

I wouldnt advise it in that size tank!

The m'buna are so much more teritorial and aggressive but the peacocks get so much bigger, too big i think...

My cousin had 4 Peacocks in with her 8 M'buna (and 4 haps) in her 250L tank and within 7-8 months the fish have outgrown the tank and the m'buna spend the whole time attacking thinks, reflection, other fish... our hands... and the Peacocks have just got huge!

The 250L is being made into a sump for the 1000L they have had to buy!

Stick with nice smaller species! though personally i think the peacocks are 10 x the nicer fish!

yeah the more ive read around the more difficult it seems. am having a big rethink on what the stocking will be, but can assure you im not in the business of cramming huge fish into small tanks! i want it to be colourful and busy, but not to the detriment of the fish.

thanks for the response though.

 

[fishguy2727]

I definitely wouldn't even try it in that size tank. The only time I have seen it work out well was in a 220.

Even if it worked 'well enough', if you see peacocks alone you will see how much better they do. Just go with the peacocks. They are more colorful and a little easier to manage because they are not as aggressive.

 

[njstockley]

thanks fishguy - even before writing the first thread i'd read so many conflicting views on whether this would work. however, my biggest reservation was that it would be mixing two varieties of fish who in the wild would rarely (if ever) meet.

im not setting the tank up until after christmas so a lot of time to decide and work up a stock list...but if i did go for a peacock tank then what decor would be needed as my understanding is they are open water swimmers? do they still need some rockwork to break the line of sight?

 

[fishguy2727]

They are not open water swimmers, those are the haps (fish-eaters, and the reason the mbunas stick so close to the rockwork). Peacocks are found deep in the lake at the sandy bottom. There are rock piles down there, but not as much as up where the mbunas are found. Peacocks have a highly developed head and lateral line system, especially in their face. They sit, hovering just above the sand waiting to feel something move underneath it. Then they plunge in to the sane and get a mouth full, sift it through their gills, and eat the little invert inside. The best substrate is sand. I only use and recommend Estes Ultra Reef (also know and Stoney River and Marine Sand). I prefer either solid black or black and white mixed. As far as rockwork goes they still love it, but it doesn't have to be end to end, front to back, and top to bottom the way the mbunas love. I usually try to make three tall piles, one at each end and one in the middle. I try to make each pile separate with 6-10" of sand between the piles.