Tank ideas for african peacocks

[dave76]

I have recently made a decision to purchase a new tank. I currently have a 55 gal and a 10 gal quarantine. I am going to upgrade to a 125 gal for my larger CA cichlids. I am really enamoured about peacocks and would like some suggestions about setup. The tank is currently established but I may have to recycle this tank. I have all the wrong subtrate, decor, the only thing I may keep on this tank is the filtration. I currenly run 2 penguin 330's. I have a pea sized gravel substrate in the tank currently. I also have a undergravel filter that I wish to remove.

I guess my main questions are:

Should I change to a sandy substrate?

How many peacocks can I keep in a 55 gal?

would the filtration setup be suffiecient?

Should I only use once species of peacock?

Does anyone know of a LFS in my area that stocks peacocks (Dallas/Ft worth) and you would reccomend?

any suggestions for tank mates if any, such as bottom feeders?

[Verse914]

Dave
sand is great for peacocks. I have sand in some of my peacock tanks, and crushed coral in other peacock tanks. If your ph needs alot of boost, then go with the coral, if not just stick with the sand. But any gravel will work.

Id say you could keep 9-11 full grown peacocks. If your going with an all male tank, then you can get one of each(but not similar colored peacocks ex. a baenschi and a maleri would not go well together) and youll be fine. If your looking to breed them, then youll be alright mixing a Stuartgranti and Jacobfreiburgi type as they are pretty different. Your stocking will depend on if you want to breed or not. I have an all male 75gallon show tank, and several other peacock breeding tanks(55gallon, 20long, 20 high).

In my 55gallon I have a Penguin 300 and two Penguin 170s. You could do a penguin 300 and 1 penguin 170 without any problems(I did this for awhile). So two Penguin 330s would be great filtration.

[dave76]

What about kenyi and yellow lab? do thier temperments match? I have seen yellow labs kept with peacocks in pictures from peoples tanks on here. But I know nothing of kenyi temperment. Could I keep a breeding set and a few others of different species or should I just stick to one sex with different species?

[Verse914]

kennyi are too aggressive for peacocks, but yellow labs will do fine.
In my 55gallon I have
a trio of F0 Aulonocara Blue Neon Undu Reef - 3 1/2"
a pair of F0 Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi Lemon Jakes - 3 1/2"
a juvy Cyphotilapia Frontosa - 3 1/2"
a juvy F1 Aulonocara Lwanda - 2 1/2"
a single F1 Copadichromis Mloto Flourescent - 4"
a juvy F1 Lethrinops Nyassae - 2"
a juvy Aulonocara Baenschi - 2"
a juvy Aulonocara Jacobfreiburgi Eureka Red Albino - 2 1/2"

[dcallen]

I think just about any substrate will do, sand would be just fine. I agree with Verse, I think 8 or 9 would be fine in your 55 gallon tank. The two Penguin 330's you have will be very good filtration. I think an all male Peacock setup would be ideal. I have all male Peacocks and one male Yellow Lab and they do fine together as the Yellow Labs are one of the least agressive mbunas, and the coloration on the male Peacocks is ususally quite nice. I think I would get one species each of different colored Peacocks, this will usually result in more peaceful living conditions. I'm from Ft. Worth but I haven't lived there in a long time and I don't know of any reputable LFS in your area. I'm sure there must be several good ones in the Metroplex though. Good luck with your tanks.


HTH..

[Verse914]

Dave
check this out. It has a lfs location map of alot of lfs in Texas. Your going to have to look at their locations and see whats nearest you(I dont know the Texas area)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/lfs_index.php
just select your state and click "Go"

[dave76]

verse, dont frontosa get to around 12" or so, and arent they from tanganyika? I guess they are relatively peaceful. Are you going to keep him in the 55? I like frontosa as well but read about thier sizes and that they were from different lakes and thought it a bad idea to keep them with peacocks, but experience speaks volumes.

[Verse914]

Dave
Frontosas can get 15" in size, but grow moderately slow. I have one in a 55 gallon(about 6-8 months old and about 3 1/2" in size) and one in a 75gallon(a year old and about 5" in size). Eventually Ill get a larger tank for them, but theyre doing great right now. They are also from Lake Tanganyika, and they are the only Tangs Ill mix with my peacocks. They leave each other alone and practically dont even notice each other.

[scholar]

Peacocks are lovely. However, they do get to be 6 inch long. At that length they need 15-20 gallon each. So if you have a 125G tank. you get to put in 6-8. In a 50G tank, you get to put in three!

So I think 50G tank for grown peacocks is way too small. Unless you have a male and two females for spawning purposes only.

Now if you do not care how relaxed and happy the peacocks would be. You can load them up! :(

[Verse914]

you can definitely fit more than three peacocks in a 55gallon. I have a breeding pair and a breeding trio along with several other fish and theyre doing great...and all of them breeding proves that theyre happy.