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A Peacock Tank?? How does this work... or how COULD it work.

6K views 60 replies 17 participants last post by  13razorbackfan 
#1 ·
So I plunged and bought a couple of large tanks (a 125 and a 180). Now what to stock.

I've heard that with Peacocks most if not all males color up, as opposed to Haps... this makes me intrigued by Peacocks.

How does one go about creating a Peacock tank? I don't want to buy sexed adults - I'd rather buy juvies and watch them develop, but of course you don't know what sex the juvies are.

Maybe the only good approach is to buy sexed adults, I don't know. I want a show tank, but I want to watch them grow up. I also wouldn't mind some breeding, but I don't want cross breeding. I'm not so interested in a bunch of drab females in the larger tank.

I wouldn't mind having some breeding groups in one of the spare 55's... keeping select fish as they appear for the show tank... but then they have to get a little size before you really know what they're going to look like.

Can you keep more than one male of the same species in an all male Peacock tank? If so I think I'd like an all male tank with attractive duplicates that I've raised from breeding groups. Ah heck I don't know.

As you can tell I'm kind of lost as to what to do :lol: . Would appreciate any information on how to proceed.
 
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#3 ·
The plan would be to only have females as part of a single species, or very distinct species, breeding group(s) in smaller tank(s), then pull colorful males for the larger show tank as they appear. I realize this could get complicated and if I can only have one male of a specific species in the larger tanks then... that idea is dead right out of the gate because my MTS is not THAT bad :lol: .

I'm so lost and not even sure what I'm asking. I want some really colorful fish in a show tank and would like it if I was able to stock it/them from fry/juvies I raise. Not sure if this is possible or how to go about it if it is possible.
 
#4 ·
I don't find it to be true that you would have a higher percentage of haps color up than peacocks in an all-male tank.

Multiple males of the same species are likely to have only one coloring up.

If you want to grow them all from juveniles, you could do a separate tank for each species. What I do is buy sexable males (young adult) of the ones that are available, but there is invariably 1-2 species I want that I can only get as juveniles. I'll buy six of those and grow them out in the tank with the big guys. Maybe that will satisfy your need to watch something grow. Make REALLY sure you can ID the females of the juvenile species...like one has spots and one has stripes if you mix. I did that with Protomelas marginatus. Take out the extras the instant you think you can ID a male.
 
#5 ·
Female peacocks don't color up, sadly. I have a 125 with mixed peacocks and the males are a little territorial at times and will chase each other around a little but that's alleviated by having plenty of hiding spots and enough females. The territories seem to be in a constant state of flux though because one day one male will chase everyone out of a certain area and then the next day a different male will be controlling that same area. :popcorn:
 
#6 ·
DJRansome said:
I don't find it to be true that you would have a higher percentage of haps color up than peacocks in an all-male tank.

Multiple males of the same species are likely to have only one coloring up.

If you want to grow them all from juveniles, you could do a separate tank for each species. What I do is buy sexable males (young adult) of the ones that are available, but there is invariably 1-2 species I want that I can only get as juveniles. I'll buy six of those and grow them out in the tank with the big guys. Maybe that will satisfy your need to watch something grow. Make REALLY sure you can ID the females of the juvenile species...like one has spots and one has stripes if you mix. I did that with Protomelas marginatus. Take out the extras the instant you think you can ID a male.
+1
Another option is to purchase young sexable males, place them in the show tank and allow the fish to mature. This way, it alleviates the issues of weeding out the extra juvies. Obviously, it's not that big of a deal but creating an all male tank starting from juvies is going to take some time.
Another idea is to purchase a couple groups of juvies and raise them in a breeder tank. Then you have your breeding groups and as a couple males mature, place them in your larger show tanks.

As DJRansome mentioned, it's unlikely to have two or more males of the same variation within species show spectacular color. In the show tanks, try to shoot for approximately 20 fish for 125 gal and 25-30 fish for the 180 gal. The stock numbers are approximate because they're dependent on the sizes of the mature adults. You can certainly have a couple breeding tanks, but you're going to need to find another source in which to stock your larger tanks.

It's a fun process but expect a little trial and error along the way.
 
#7 ·
With a large tank you might be able to do large breeding groups of haps. Given you choose species that don't look similar. I'd think Placidochromis Phenochilus, Copadichromis borleyi red fin, and Dimidiochromis compressiceps stocked at ratios of 1:4-6 would work. Buy up some juvies and weed out the males until your'e left with a dominant male of each species. If you end up weeding to many out for your ratio females usually come at a pretty cheap price. With Pheno. you may even be able to keep more than one male given you have enough females in the tank(but don't set your heart on it). Once you get a nice large male fish one of the tanks will become an all-male tank at some point.
 
#8 ·
Dawg2012 said:
Maybe the only good approach is to buy sexed adults, I don't know. I want a show tank, but I want to watch them grow up. I also wouldn't mind some breeding, but I don't want cross breeding. I'm not so interested in a bunch of drab females in the larger tank.
I would buy the sexed adults if you really want the All Male tank...in the long run you will spend less on fish than if you buy say 5 or 6 juvies and watch them grow then have to rehome the extras with lots of species.

You have a couple of 55G listed as project tanks...after you pick your initial stock of males...pick one (or two) that you would really like to focus on and grow up and stock your 55G(s) with the juvies and have some fun growing up a few for breeding stock.

But of course some of the other suggestions sound great too...good luck and keep us informed. :dancing:
 
#9 ·
Alright thanks everyone - I really appreciate the help. I think the picture is becoming clearer.

A couple of clarifications:

DJRansome said:
... Multiple males of the same species are likely to have only one coloring up.
Are you refering to Haps or Peacocks? Or both...

DanniGirl said:
... Another idea is to purchase a couple groups of juvies and raise them in a breeder tank.
When you say this, do you mean the same breeder tank, or separate? I read in Marc's article that you can mix certain species in the right ratios, or is cross breeding not a concern with juvies?

Do I gather from all the responses that size/maturity isn't as important as it is with Mbuna? It sounds like I could buy some males, and at a later point add maybe one or two species of juvies and grow them out in the same tank with the adults... Identify the male(s), rehome the rest, and repeat with a different species?
 
#10 ·
If you have multiple males of the same species in the same tank haps or peacocks they will most likely not tolerate it. I've been lucky with a couple of dragonsbloods but they're still young and every other type I have in my 125 will not tolerate another male or their kind or a male that looks similar. There will be shuffling and removal so you'll need some extra tanks for that. I agree that growing them is fun but you'd only be able to grow one type of peacock (the females all look the same). You can however grow groups that don't look the same, I grew protomelas, placidichromis, aulonocara and lethrinops (1 species of each) in the same tank but they all have different patterns/body shapes. The rest I had to either buy a single male or grow in separate tanks. Also, for me they started breeding as soon as the first male started showing some color (~2.5"). The other problem with growing them is getting rid of the females that you don't want...once you've gotten the male you were looking for.
just my thoughts,
 
#11 ·
Okay, good feedback. Thanks.

I see you have Labs in with your Haps/Peacocks. How's that working out? Do you have a breeding group of them or just a male?
 
#12 ·
I was wanting to do the same thing, but from all of the local pet store in my area, I can only get assorted juvie peacocks. I've come to learn certain online websites will have sexable young males that dont fully have all there color. The Ngara flametail is one of my favorites. But the best way I think to do it is to do a all male tank. Peacocks are generally a more doscile species so if you put plenty of rockwork in they can hide and will get along. Having mixed species of females will probably cause interbreeding, because they all basically look the same. And of course be carefull with Mbuas in there. I didnt read the other replies haha so I hope I was repeating any info. Good luck!
 
#13 ·
Dawg2012 said:
Okay, good feedback. Thanks.

I see you have Labs in with your Haps/Peacocks. How's that working out? Do you have a breeding group of them or just a male?
labs work great in peacock/hap all male tanks. I've had breeding groups of labs and acei in my all male tanks for years. I've got rid of the labs, and i'm working on moving the acei, since i want more larger haps. neither the haps or peacocks have ever paid attention to the the labs or acei. both have held pure fry, some of the acei make up my current group.
 
#14 ·
Ah that's good to know. I love labs.
 
#16 ·
If you want an all male peacock only tank anything larger than 5 ft will be an overkill. Simply because most peacocks max at 6 inches so they don't need the 6 ft length. I'd suggest something like a 75-100 gallon.

IMO you will not be able to breed your peacocks in an all male tank. If you really want to breed i'd suggest you have a show tank with all your colored males. Than you can have smaller tanks like a 55 and keep 4-5 females of a single peacock species. So you will have one 125 or 180 show tank with multiple small tanks for breeding. When you feel you want to breed a peacock move him from your show tank to his females tank. After he breeds with 1 female move him back to the show tank and repeat the process.

In regards to growing out juvies/fry (since you mentioned you wouldn't mind seeing them grow) i would say get multiple smaller tanks like a 20L and grow each peacock group out separately. But considering you will probably want at least 10 different species of peacocks i would say ditch this path and just get young colored males around 3 inches. This way you know which are males and females and the price isn't as high as a fully mature male. At 3 inches they will still grow.

Sorry for the long rant, but there are many paths you may choose. Let us know if any of that made sense to you :D
 
#17 ·
No problem I appreciate the long rant :). The more information the better right now.

I think you kind of confirmed the direction I had... come to. Raising them individually will take a lot of tanks, and while I certainly have MTS, I'm not ready to dedicate that many tanks to this effort.

I'll probably choose a combination of approaches. Getting a couple groups of juvies from the LFS to raise, and also buying some sexed juvies online for the majority of the stocking.

It's interesting you advocate a less than 6' tank. I understand this is because they don't get that large, but is it also because there simply aren't that many different types of peacocks and since you can't have more than one male per species you're not going to really fill up a 6' tank? I've kind of run into this with the all male mbuna tank.
 
#18 ·
If you're set on going only peacock, I'd use one of the 55's that you have. If you're open to haps I would use one of your larger tanks and start looking at some peaceful haps to go with your peacocks, there are many more color/patterns and some different body styles as well.

We did exactly that, we got some groups of different looking juveniles and also bought single males.
 
#19 ·
Awesome. And yes, totally open to Haps - in fact would love some. :thumb:

I REALLY like the Phenochilus Tanzania, but they get large. Is size difference as big a deal for Haps/Peacocks as it is for mbuna?

I've also heard that Haps are less likely to color up if they're not the dominant fish in the tank? Any truth to this or YMMV?
 
#20 ·
As long as they won't fit in anyone's mouth size differences should be alright. Once the peacocks are full grown it won't be a problem. do some searching for hap/peacock videos, that should get interested, my guys are still coloring up and not full grown but from videos I've seen and photos, they're all colored up unless there's aggression b/n individuals.
 
#21 ·
Dawg2012 said:
It's interesting you advocate a less than 6' tank. I understand this is because they don't get that large, but is it also because there simply aren't that many different types of peacocks and since you can't have more than one male per species you're not going to really fill up a 6' tank? I've kind of run into this with the all male mbuna tank.
There are some peacocks that I would not recommend keeping in 48" tank. These include the Aulonocara sp. Walteri, Aulonocara sp. Lwanda and Aulonocara jacobfreibergi. The reason being is not their size but their temperament. They can be aggressive as far as peacocks are concerned.

You can have multiple males of the same species, they just need to be different variants. Take Aulonocara stuartgranti for example. You can have an Aulonocara stuartgranti Chiwindi and an Aulonocara stuartgranti Cobue. Same species but different variants.

Dawg2012 said:
I've also heard that Haps are less likely to color up if they're not the dominant fish in the tank? Any truth to this or YMMV?
There is some truth but it's on a broader scale. Any peacock or hap will not color up to their full breeding dress unless they're either a.) in the presence of females or b.) the dominant male. Furthermore, there are also some haps that will not color up in an all male environment (regardless if dominance) and those include almost all Lethrinops and some Copadichromis. But the majority of the haps you'll be able to obtain will display nice color in an all male tank. Those would include Protomelas, Placidochromis, Copadichromis, Sciaenochromis and the larger, more boisterous haps.
 
#22 ·
I disagree with using the smaller tanks for a show tank. I have found male peacocks to be very aggressive towards other males peacocks i have a 5ft 90g and there is alot of aggression from my peacocks. They can be relentless. My benga is the smallest in the tank and he has an albino ruby red twice his size pressed up in the corner of the tank. I had to pull a lwanda and a eureka and put them in a seperate tank (with a divider). The lwanda had 3 other peacocks cowering in the corners of my tank, he just never stopped. wasn't interested in the haps but wanted to kill all the other peacocks in the tank.

My advice would be use the biggest tank you can, the more room the better, these guys can get pretty aggro.
 
#23 ·
You should stock your 125 or 180 with an all male peacock/hap set up instead of an all male peacock. IME peacocks are more aggressive than haps so keeping an all male peacock tank would have more aggression. Plus there aren't enough variation of peacocks to stock a 6 ft tank. A 4-5 ft tank would be great for an all male peacock tank but only if you get a 75 or larger since you would need the 18 inches depth instead of the 12.
 
#24 ·
Believe it or not this is all starting to gel in my mind - THANKS for all the input. :thumb:

I took the plunge last night and bought six Placidochromis Phenochilus Tanzania, four Maylandi "Sulfur Heads" (probably two M two F) and one Jacobfreibergi "Otter Point" (that was showing to be a male). They are all juvies, between 1.75 and 2" long. Everyone went in a spare 55 (that a large pleco has kept cycling) to do some growing while I finish setting up the larger tanks. They all chowed on some live brine shrimp last night and some flakes this morning and everyone looks well. Kind of all schooling together.

I know the Phenochilus will get big. I fell in love with these a while back when someone posted a thread about them with pictures. Gorgeous fish! They will likely inhabit the 180 someday - hopefully with other Haps/Peacocks.

Turns out the LFS has a really good selection of Peacocks and other "Haps". I guess I never noticed them because of their relatively drab colors as juvies. I need to go research Marc's article on the different subgroups of Aulonocara before buying more.

ANYWAY - questions...

For right now, given that all these guys are the only fish in the 55, what's the BEST tank setup for them? Sand with a few rocks scattered about? Caves? Plants?

Also, long term, is it possible a male Phenochilus would work in the all male Hap/Peacock tank, or does their size/temperment likely to make that not possible or YMMV?
 
#25 ·
The setup should mostly be "sandandrocks" :D as this immitates Lake Malawi more than having plants. Plus most malawians will dig up the roots of plants. Your Placidochromis Phenochilus Tanzania should be fine in a 180 all male peacock/hap tank. I don't own one, but i've heard they aren't overly aggressive and takes a very long time before they start to show their white specks.
 
#26 ·
Gahhhh, still SO JEALOUS! I can't wait to see how they mature. Lots of pictures, please! :D
 
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