What`s the New Hap ? sounds very interesting.
Meant to reply to this a while ago, sorry nick!
When I got these fish originally I had been told that they where haps but after researching on the Internet and a brief brows through the ad konnings bible it turns out that they are in fact a species of peacock.
They are meant to be aulonocara hansbaenschi but if they are not they would have to be placed in the aulonocara sturtgranti category. The sturtgranti category has quite a number of species in it so it will be virtually impossible to tell what they are until they acquire adult colouration.
At present the fish have had very good growth rates even though I have been told/read that they are slow growers they are defiantly outgrowing the mbuna. In terms of aggression, if I hadn’t seen these fish in a tank with mbuna I would never have tried it as I would have been sceptical of their compatibility. But to date there have been no problems and all is going well. Granted I’ve only had these fish for the past three months, so I cant say for sure if they will work in the long terms. But things are looking good.
In order to provide the correct diet for peacocks, every third-forth day I feed frozen cichlid mix, which contains mias shrimp, brine shrimp and vegetable material. This is in addition to a daily feed of Tetra-pro Veg and spiriulina granules, then every second day I mix a small amount tropical fish food with the pro veg to increase the amount of protein going into the tank. This seems to be a good balance and no problems have arisen with the mbuna and the increased protein content.
This is a picture of one of the fish the day after they where introduced.
Here are the fish with a couple of cm’s added on!
I think the next photo would have been great, it was in focus, the aperture was right and the fish where giving it lots of fin, but then there is always someone who wants to get in on the actions and ruin it for everybody!! Bloody typical!
Beautiful fish
