[jacklynbotsford]

Hello! So I recently started up a cichlid tank, this started maybe 3 months ago so everything is cycled and good as far as balance and tank age goes. It is a wide 50 gallon tank. Everything other than my snowball pleco is an african cichlid, and as far as i know they are all lake malawi.

Just today, i bought three new peacock cichlids. I have absolutely no idea what kind they are, since i cannot find them on any site dedicated to the breeds of lake malawi fish. The three I bought are significantly bigger than the 6 I already have in the tank, which consists of 1 yellow lab, 1 orange zebra, 1 Kenyi, and 1 blue faced, orange striped body peacock with 2 matching females. My concern revolves around the largest peacock I bought, which has a blue face with a greyish blue orange tinted body. He has speckled fins and is pretty dark in colour. My previous, smaller peacock was always the dominant in the tank. He would chase my yellow lab into corners and to the surface and force other fish away from the drift wood display I have in the center of the tank. Omce i introduced the three new fish into the tank, he immediately tried chasing them and displayed more aggression towards the larger blue fish than i had ever seen him show before. They were going head to head and flaring ther fins at eachother whilst attacking eachother when they made face to face contact. This continued when I left to go eat. I came back to check on them and all the colour on my smaller peacock was drained entirely. His whole body had went bright orange and his normally vibrant blue face turned white with black spots. Every time the larger blue peacock swims by, my smaller one tilts himself sideways, sucks his fins back against his body, and tries to retreat to the other side of the tank. His vibrant hues havent really come back at all, but he still flares and chases all the other fish in the tank.
Is there anything I can do to resolve this? I dont want anything getting hurt
Pictures and even videos can be given if needed

 

[ironspider]

I had no luck with peacocks. I added a few and while nobody messed with them, they all died from the stress of all the aggression, I think. The only thing that I can get other that mbuna is an OB, I have one that's handled it just fine.

 

[DJRansome]

Three things.
1-what are the dimensions of the tank?
2-Malawi are aggressive in pairs. If you want any females in the tank at all, have 4 for each male (or more than 4 with aggressive species like kenyi
3-it is quite common for mbuna to be too aggressive for peacocks so I would remove either the mbuna or the peacocks.

 

[Fogelhund]

Three things.
1-what are the dimensions of the tank?
2-Malawi are aggressive in pairs. If you want any females in the tank at all, have 4 for each male (or more than 4 with aggressive species like kenyi
3-it is quite common for mbuna to be too aggressive for peacocks so I would remove either the mbuna or the peacocks.

Number one asked above is critical.

It's not unheard of, for many stores to import in beautifully coloured peacocks, that were hormoned by the distributor/wholesaler. Once the hormones wear off, the colour does too. Sometimes that colour comes back with age, sometimes it doesn't.

Finding the right balance of fish, for the aquarium size that you have is important.