Is 8 Really Enough?

[dcallen]

Hi,

Well I now have 8 Africans in my 70 gallon tank. They are all pretty much Peacocks.( a couple exceptions) Is this too many to have or not enough? Also how often would a water change be necessary and how much would need to be changed on a weekly basis?


Thanks for the input.


Tank Specs:

70 Gallon Tank
Emperor 400 HOB filter
Eheim 2213 Cannister filter
95lbs. rock
50lbs substrate
1 300 watt heater

[ChilDawg]

What did you add to the tank? I thought that you only had five, or was the Maleri in a different tank?

[demon_surfer]

from my reading i think the peacocks are more open water fish so you cant really pack them in as tight as you can mbuna, can you give us the lengths of the fish?

[demon_surfer]

here is a site with some intresting information on them

peacock cichlids (http://www.mongabay.com/fish/peacock_cichlids.htm)

looks like they get to be about 4-6 inches long and are pretty peaceful. Im thinking you could add maybe one or two more peacocks, also i would suggest one of the african catfish they have some intresting types and several that live in malawi with the peacocks. go to the species articles on this site and check out them out i like them.

[jimbo]

Originally posted by dcallen
Hi,

Well I now have 8 Africans in my 70 gallon tank. They are all pretty much Peacocks.( a couple exceptions)

Don’t know which other species you have together with the peacocks. But be careful with their dietary needs as peacocks are either carnivores or omnivores and mbuna are predominantly herbivores. Correctly feeding them both will not be easy. It is not only feeding the right food it is also avoiding the often fatal Malawi bloat which most times is the result of wrong feeding ( too much protein for herbivores) I’m not saying this combination won’t work, but there are some risks involved. That’s why I keep my mbuna and peacocks separate in their own tank.
Changing 30/40% of your water every week will be ok.
I guess you could add 2 or 3 more peacocks.
Watch out for cross-breeding, Peacocks can be very allergic to it.

Jimmy

[dcallen]

Thanks for all the excellent info guys. ChilDawg...The first Maleri died a few days ago for no apparent reason, I believe he may have had a problem when I got him although he showed no signs of it at. Ok here are the inhabitants as of today. Sorry I don't have the Latin names for them.


1.) 1 Yellow Lab
2.) 1 Yellow Maleri Peacock
3.) 1 Dark blue and orange sold as a Bi-Color but I think otherwise
4.) 1 Rubenescent Peacock (spelling off here I'm sure)
5.) 1 Red Empress
6.) 1 Luanda Peacock
7.) 1 Regal Peacock
8.) 1 Tangerine Tiger

At first I wanted to have only about 4 or 5 fish in the tank to give them more space, but I have ended up with 8, and I don't believe that I want to add any more at this point.

[demon_surfer]

why dont you remove the mbuna and trade them in for some more peacocks. as jimbo said that would make feeding them much simplar. or if you dont want to do that buy another tank and move the mbuna you have to that one and then add to both tanks to get the numbers just right :)

[demon_surfer]

any excuse to get a new tank!!! :D :D

[ChilDawg]

Sorry to give you the wrong impression, Don...I did read the thread about the Maleri passing on. I just asked about that fish because that was the one that I remembered best from the tank. I like either of Demon's ideas b/c of what Jimbo said...the feeding discrepancies in Malawis are monumental. Unfortunately, in a tank, it is really tough to take that into account.

[dcallen]

demon_surfer,

Well as a matter of fact I do have a spare 35 gallon tank in my garage that isn't being used but I don't really have the space for it at the moment, still a good idea though. I am feeding a high quality pellet food and so far the Yellow Lab is growing and doing fine. What else would they eat?

[jimbo]

Originally posted by dcallen
Sorry I don't have the Latin names for them.

1.) 1 Yellow Lab
2.) 1 Yellow Maleri Peacock
3.) 1 Dark blue and orange sold as a Bi-Color but I think otherwise
4.) 1 Rubenescent Peacock (spelling off here I'm sure)
5.) 1 Red Empress
6.) 1 Luanda Peacock
7.) 1 Regal Peacock
8.) 1 Tangerine Tiger

I have found some.

1) Labidochromis caeruleus
2) Aulonocara stuartgranti maleri
3) Don’t have a clue
4) Don’t have a clue
5) Protomelas teaniolatus
6) Aulonocara Lwanda
7) Aulonocara stuartgranti sp.Mbenji
8) Protomelas teaniolatus sp.

Well, it seems you have just one mbuna.
Funny though, the Tangerine tiger and the Red Empress seem to have the same name. Protomelas definitely are carnivores and
they'll grow bigger than 6 inches. 9/10 inches would be more likely. Don't worry they'll go just fine with Aulonocaras.
I'm off to bed now, your evening has just started i guess but within 15 min. the next day will begin in this part of the globe.

Good luck, Jimmy