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Mbunas or Peacocks?

16K views 51 replies 18 participants last post by  DJRansome 
#1 ·
I need your guys help. I will setting up 125 gal tank soon and don't know what to go with, I love the peacocks colors and how they don't stay in the rocks all the time like the mbunas, but dealing with prices of peacocks it will be much easier to stock a mbuna tank. Don't get me wrong mbuna also have fantastic colors but I don't like the agression and amount of cover they need. Plz help
 
#2 ·
If you are going all male I would do peacocks and probably some haps. If you are going mixed breeding groups, I would do mbuna. Although you want a lot of rocks with mbuna, they don't stay in the rocks much.

You could buy the peacocks as juveniles, then they would be no more expensive than mbuna I think.

Sounds like you really want the peacocks, go for it!
 
#4 ·
I've kept them both, and while I find the aulonocara colors to be the more striking, I enjoy mbuna much much more. Mbuna seem to me to have much more personality and character... some even have little "Monk"-ish quirks. They're more fun. The peacocks/haps on the other hand were more... well, just color... almost lazy and rather boring I guess. This is just my opinion. I'm sure others would disagree... maybe?
 
#5 ·
Mbuna remind me of dogs--they beg for food, run around the yard, wag their tails, get mouthy with each other & fight for your attention when you come over to the tank.
Peacocks are like cats--aloof, beautiful but not exactly friendly. Every once in awhile you think they like you but then they swim off just like a cat that ignores you when you call its name.
I'm more of a dog person--and a Mbuna person.
 
#6 ·
I've kept Africans a long time - since the late 80's - I went to the all male Hap/Peacock tank last July for the first time - love it - still don't know what took me so long...

I love the look of mbuna tanks but I find them too stressful - I just don't like the level of aggression.

I'll disagree strongly with the lack of interaction/personality from Haps - but maybe I just got lucky with all of them I have kept over the years.

I believe it really comes down to how much aggression is acceptable to you and only you can answer that.

Get what you really want - because in 6-9 months you will go for it anyway. Based on personal experience - more than once.

I would think in SoCal you should be able to hook up with plenty of breeders if you look at clubs etc.

Good Luck.
 
#7 ·
Mbuna for the win!

IF you went peacock/hap you would have to go all male. With mbuna you could easily have 5-6 breeding groups. There are so many choices that you could get some really nice shapes and colors going on. From my experience if you pick the right type of mbuna and keep correct ratios then aggression is only a minor problem. Most of my mbuna will only pick on their own type and its never that serious.
 
#8 ·
I agree with GaFishMan1181--Mumba are entertaining & best all around.
But if you have your heart set on Peacocks & Haps you should go for it
because you will most likely keep thinking that you missed out. There are
some great fish in the profiles section--sometimes I find myself wondering
just how I'd stock a new 125 with peacocks & haps. Take your time, decide
on a selection with some second string choices & see what happens--Good
Luck & let us know what happens.
 
#9 ·
Thanks you guys, sorry it took me this long to update you. I didn't think anybody had responded to my post because I thought I would get a email. Lol, after reading all the post I think I will go with the peacock/hap setup. I got hooked when seen a Thickskin hap! My only qestion is why does it have to be all male tank with the peacocks? Seems like a long process taking the fact I will be buying all Juvenile fish...
 
#10 ·
Peacocks crossbreed. So if you don't go all male, you get a species tank with one colored fish and 25 brown ones, LOL.

Haps crossbreed as well but there are some fishkeepers experimenting with more than one breeding group in a tank of certain very different haps.
 
#12 ·
Either strategy can work. Buying juveniles and keeping the best colored one is suggested in the article on all male tanks in the Library. For compatibility and keeping expenses down. Longer wait for results though.

Buying young adults is more expensive and they have to try to adjust to each other but you get quicker results.

Either way an all male tank is an experiment and compatability changes so have extra tanks and a resource (LFS?) that will take your reject fish.
 
#13 ·
csnake said:
I've kept them both, and while I find the aulonocara colors to be the more striking, I enjoy mbuna much much more. Mbuna seem to me to have much more personality and character... some even have little "Monk"-ish quirks. They're more fun. The peacocks/haps on the other hand were more... well, just color... almost lazy and rather boring I guess. This is just my opinion. I'm sure others would disagree... maybe?
Agree...I've kept both in my 125g, I prefer mbuna myself, mbuna tend to be more active IMO. Just get another tank and do both! :thumb:
 
#15 ·
Haha, I wish could have another big tank but we all know this hobie is very expensive plus I think my wife will kill me! Lol. I think I'm sticking with peacocks I like how I can have the peacocks and throw in a couple fronts, calvus, haps, plus if I wanted I can throw in some mbuna yellow labs. Witch I probly will...And I think you can put rusties in there also right? Now I just need find were I can find some really cheap lace rock.
 
#18 ·
I think the fronts will eat the peacocks when they get large enough. The problem with YouTube is you don't know if the tank was set up yesterday or the fronts eat half a dozen of them daily. Just a point in time.
 
#21 ·
SanDiegoCichlid619 said:
Why? Because there from lake tanginyka. That kinda stuff doesn't bother me, i seen a few videos on YouTube with some real nice tanks with fronts, and peacocks
I wouldn't put calvus in at all. They are a slower moving fish that like to hang around the rocks...just don't think they would be a good mix with peacocks..just my 2 cents. I'm more of a purist and like to keep fish from the same lake togther or even the same species.
 
#23 ·
SanDiegoCichlid619 said:
Also what about venustus? Those are peacocks right?
Venustus are Nimbochromis - a predatory Haplochromine, they most definitely are not peacocks.

'Peacock' is the common name for all of the Aulonocara species - though all Aulonocara are technically Haplochromines. Kind of like all terriers are dogs - Peacock = terrier and Venustus = Rottweiler to carry the the dog analogy a little further.

If peacocks are what you want to be the centerpiece your best bets for tank mates are going to be from the following Haplochromines:

Copadichromis
Lethrinops
Otopharynx
Tramitichromis
Placidochromis
and some of the Protomelas.

Some of the larger predatory haps Nimbochromis, Dimidiochromis, etc. may get a bit dominant in the tank and take over the open space so the peacocks may not be out and about as much as you would like.

I have found Labidochromis caeruleus and Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" groups also work very well with peacocks.

Good Luck
 
#24 ·
Wow these fish are getting stranger and stranger! Would fontosa, venustus work? With a couple peacocks? What's weired is that I heard fronts are too friendly for mbuna, now hear fronts are too agressive for peacocks. Crazy :-? I will check out these gaps you posted. See if I like any.
 
#25 ·
SanDiegoCichlid619 said:
Wow these fish are getting stranger and stranger! Would fontosa, venustus work? With a couple peacocks? What's weired is that I heard fronts are too friendly for mbuna, now hear fronts are too agressive for peacocks. Crazy :-? I will check out these gaps you posted. See if I like any.
Long ago (early 90's), I tried a Frontosa much like you are thinking - everything was fine for about 1.5 years, then fish in my tank started dying off slowly, one after another. What I learned -> nocturnal predation.

Frontosas hunt at night and they get very large. When they are small - the mbuna will be to much for them and stress them - leading to sick fish. When then Frontosa gets large - it will hunt and eat the mbuna while they are trying to sleep - leading to expensive fish food or sick fish. Doesn't work either way. Same thing will happen with peacocks.

Frontosa are really best kept in a species tank and quite honestly - it sounds like you will get bored with them rather quickly - they kind of hang around and are not very active. Much lower engery than any of the other fish you are considering.

Check the Peacock and Hap profiles - there are plenty of compatible choices.

I would not recommend Nimbochromis venustus for your first attempt with Malawi cichlids. I would strongly suggest you look at Placidochromis milomo, Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Tanzania", Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" (Liuli) as much mellower species with every bit the size and color. I have kept them all and highly recommend them as working quite well with peacocks.

Here is a thread couple of pictures is my fish to give you an idea.

Good Luck.
 
#26 ·
Wow man those are nice looking fish you have! If that's not motavation then I don't know what is. My wife wants me to ask if there is any possiblity that the venustus will work? And if a moorii will work? She likes how they look like a dolphin. And I will be picking up one of those liuli... Beautiful fish you have agin.
 
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