# Peacock Cichlids?



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

After seeing the picture of a peacock cichlid in the POTM contest I decided that I want to get one. I have a 30 gallon tank that I would like to put one ( or more) in. Is 30 gallons enough? If so, what other fish can I put in with it? 


Sent from my iPod touch using PG Free


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you put an adult in a 30, you'd have to keep it a alone. IMO, a 4' long tank is good minimum size for a group and you could keep a harem in a 55.


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

Could I put some kind of small school of fish with it in the 30?


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

not many small schooling fish that do well in the hard alkaline water that the rifts need...if you do it right you can put a couple of males in a 30...but that would be about it...you could also have a pair or trio in a 30 if you fill the tank about half way or so with rocks giving them lots of hiding places..


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

Awesome! Is there any other info about keeping these fish that anybody can give me? Also, could I put snails in there too?


----------



## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

That would be my fish, I wouldn't keep them in anything smaller then a 55. Trust me this guy uses every inch of the tank. You can find a 55 cheap on Craigslist for penny's.

Also only AFRICANS can be kept with AFRICANS my friend made that mistake and a African killed both of the south amarican cichlids within a week. But there are many many beautiful peacocks and as they said tons of colors that Is the only one of that color I have but is not my only peacock. 

And you need to keep there ph up. I keep mine at 8.2 (bit low for me normaly it's 8.5-9) gotta do a water change but don't have the time to do so. You can achieve this with sea shells in the bottom of the tank, crushed coral as substrate or in the hob filters as I do. 

Chemicals vs natural

When I was using chemicals in my tank for some reason I couldn't get my ph above 7.5 and that was with using a ph up and my fish didn't look as good as they do now without a single chemical going into there tank and altering the tank natural really made my "electric blue" color up. He's not full yet but is getting there. The idea to keeping a healthy cichlid tank is use no chemicals besides declorinator keep the ph up if they are Africans like mine. And after that there's really nothing to it. I feed mine once a day when I wake up and that's about it.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

your substrate should be crushed coral or dolomite...rocks should be something like tufa or texas holey rock..no driftwood...they would most likely tear up most plants but anubias or java ferns may be ok with them...temps around 78-80..PH 8.4 or so..they need a variety of foods including some algae ; but mostly meat type foods..again...all fish need a well rounded varied diet..
lots and lots of rocks....


----------



## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

You could cruise through the ads on www.aquabid.com and see pics of some of the many peacocks available.
here's a link
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlidsmp


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

I don't think I will be able to afford another 55 until next summer =*( I am 14 and my summer job ended 2 weeks ago. Would it be terrible for me to keep a single peacock cichlid in my 30? Also, should I get sea shells from the beach or buy them from petco. And do they sell crushed coral at petco?


----------



## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Petco sells crushed coral or aragonite. Keeping peacocks, they will interbreed, so either decide on what ones you like or go with an all male peacock tank. If I were you, I'd wait till I get the 55 gal. but keep reading up on them and decide what you want to do, as far as what species or an all male tank. The more research you do, the better you will be prepared to take care of them.


----------



## OhYesItsMe (Oct 1, 2011)

I dont know much about peacocks, but in the alkaline water you can keep synodontis catfish (there are a lot of diff ones, dont get any too big) upside down catfish (synodontis nigriventris) are best maxing out at 4 in.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A single cichlid should be fine in a 30. They don't get that big, but they are very territorial, esp. toward other males when females are present.


----------



## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I personaly would not keep them in a 30 gallon a longer tank is much Better for them then a tall tank. A single one is pretty iffy and I'm not sure why they said they don't get that big they grow to about 6" Africans are much better IMO then south amarican and central amarican. And with Africans there are many bright colors to chose from. A lot of people think my Africans are saltwater fish because of how bright they are. 

I found that my Africans enjoy a high temp of 84 lower temps they lose color on me so I mostly keep it at 84-85 with the high temp they color up much quicker.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Really 78 should be fine. Malawi is pretty consistent. 6"-8" and it is small for a Malawi fish.


----------



## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Yea iv had the tank set at 78 and my yellow lab lost all of its color and was pale I raised the temp slowly to 84 over a 3 week time and he colored up same with my electric yellow he had no color and it started to come when I raised te temp. 

And iv heard that they get to 6" my other one is about 2 1/2 to 3" and they use every bit of space on the bottom/middle of the tank. They don't swim at the top much and they do enjoy my power head. They like swimming in it but not as often as a live bearers


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

I think that I will get 1 for my 30 and switch him over to a 55 when I can afford to. Thanks for all of the info!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Cory, check your thermometer.


----------



## Murloc (Jul 26, 2012)

fishtankguy said:


> I don't think I will be able to afford another 55 until next summer =*( I am 14 and my summer job ended 2 weeks ago. Would it be terrible for me to keep a single peacock cichlid in my 30? Also, should I get sea shells from the beach or buy them from petco. And do they sell crushed coral at petco?


Collected sea shells from the ocean would be fine. Make sure they are cleaned very well! I f you can get enough, crush them up( run them over with a car, drop bowling balls on them, beat them with a hammer ) then wash your ground shells. Then bake the remains in the oven on a cookie sheet. 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes. That may help you cut the cost of substrate. You can cut store bought substrate with what you just made. Try not to use mostly muscle shells. Clams, snails, stolen hermit crab's shells; those are better. If you collect a lot of shells to decorate with, boil them in water to sanitize them. Some might break, most won't, but make sure you have plenty. Also, beach sand is mostly ground shells, if the don't add tons of sand to your beaches in the summer time for the tourists.


----------



## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

Thanks for the info Murloc, I think that I will need to take a trip to the beach. That actually sounds like it could be fun to do!

Do you play WoW?


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you can buy crushed oyster shell from your local feed store...it is used as grit for chickens and turkeys...and it is very cheap...


----------



## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

emc7 said:


> Cory, check your thermometer.


I have two one stick on that gives a general temp but not 100% accurate iv got one stick on, on both sides. And one that sits inside the tank stick ons tell me 82 temp in the center tells me 84 but is on the opposite side of the heater so it's close. 

But like I said it really verys and it's what works for you because it might not work the same for someone else. I also keep my tank high because my house is normally set for 68 gotta keep cool in the wisco heat/humidity 


Also I have a ton of sea shells picked up off the beach in Florida my girlfriend gave me. My cichlids love to move them so they never look right.


----------

