Ideal Peacock Setup.

[Drumachine09]

Ive been talking with fishguy about his peacocks, when i said "if i had another 55, id give peacocks a shot". Low and behold, today on craigslist, i found three complete sets of 55s. One has a stand, lights, tanks, filter, heater, and i belive some gravel and decor fo $100.

Pretty much, i need to know if i got dual penguin 350s, what should my stocking be like?

Also, what should I scape the tank like?

[Fishguy2727]

Biowheels are great, but I do not like the cartridges at all. They have carbon, which I do not use or recommend. And with tanks with higher bioloads and/or messier fish, a canister is practically a must. The way I set them up I use a lot of biological media, which compensates for the lack of oxygen compared to Biowheels. Personally if the tank came with two Penguin 350s, I would probably still add a decent canister.

The preferred aquascaping for peacocks is a sand bottom, with spaced out rock piles for males to setup territories. Rather than just piling up rocks, they seem to like the slightly more spacious home formed when you arrange using slate and other rocks. The middle pile in my 150 has two rocks, a slate, two rocks, a slate, etc. This sets it up like a little fish condominium. You can probably see this in one of the pics from that tank. They are naturally in the deeper regions of Lake Malawi (hence the large eyes). That is where the rockpiles the mbunas are fond of meet the sand bottom of the lake.

Are you wanting to do an all male tank or one with males and females? The males are the colorful ones, the females are a bland gray (but with females in you get to enjoy them breeding). I have about 30 adults in my 150. If you really keep up with the water changes and have enough filtration I would say you could have about 8-10 in a 55. That would mean either all males or 3 males and 6-7 females. You would want at least two females per male if any females are present.

For the water I use Proper pH 8.2 and Seachem's Cichlid Lake Salt. These help simulate the natural chemistry of Lake Malawi, which helps get them to their ideal colorations. In addition to this, the last piece of the puzzle is NLS. This food is the only food mine get. It will also help get every bit of color potential they have out on on the surface. It also helps with growth, health, and even improves breeding.

[cocoa_pleco]

fishguys got all the right info. they overall are hardy fish and sometimes can be passive. mine will allow platys in the tank

[Lady Hobbs]

Good luck snagging one of those tanks!

[cocoa_pleco]

Good luck snagging one of those tanks!


ditto, good luck with that! im so mad i cant get the 112g here for so cheap since im going away. why can time freeze so i can run and get it? lol

[Drumachine09]

I would like to get all males, but i dont want to have too much agression, so would a mix be better?

I can get the lake salts here as well, and i guess ill finally take the plunge and order some NLS. Heck, if i like the results, ill order more for my severum.

How would an xp1/2 do along with dual penguins?

I assume the only tankmates would be Synodontis Eupteurus and Synodontis Nigriventris?


Thanks for all the help.

[cocoa_pleco]

mine are mixed and i have no aggression. the only aggression i ever have seen is with corys and the auratus. i tried sticking the auratus with mine and the auratus picked fights within seconds

[Fishguy2727]

Cories are South American, so they shouldn't be in with African Rift lake cichlids. And Auratus are aggressive by mbuna standards, so they should not be in with peacocks. The best looking peacock tank would have just peacocks and some Synodontis spp. I have a Synodontis petricola. Try to get a Synodontis sp. that is from one of the rift lakes, I do not think the two mentioned are from any of the rift lakes.

Drumachine: by a mix, do you mean males and females? I have not done an all male peacock tank, so I am not sure how likely it will be for aggression. I think either way you risk one or two of the males getting either too aggressive or beat up.

[Drumachine09]

Cories are South American, so they shouldn't be in with African Rift lake cichlids. And Auratus are aggressive by mbuna standards, so they should not be in with peacocks. The best looking peacock tank would have just peacocks and some Synodontis spp. I have a Synodontis petricola. Try to get a Synodontis sp. that is from one of the rift lakes, I do not think the two mentioned are from any of the rift lakes.

Drumachine: by a mix, do you mean males and females? I have not done an all male peacock tank, so I am not sure how likely it will be for aggression. I think either way you risk one or two of the males getting either too aggressive or beat up.


Yeah, thats what i ment. Now, of to plan. Thanks for the help.