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View Full Version : Please help! Need advice on my OB Peacocks!



GuppyGirl1230
10-04-2010, 11:56 PM
Hi Everyone!

I have 5 OB peacocks, all male. Two full grown, 3 about 3 inch juveniles. The 2 big boys, Mack and Dennis, are constantly fighting. I know they are conspecific, but the previous owner did not have the aggression problems that I am seeing. The big boys are fighting, and one of them, Mac, has his fins torn up pretty good, but what I am most worried about is his lower lip. I cannot get a good picture, but the middle of his lip is torn up pretty good, and is red, like the lip was scraped. There is a 2 mm by 2 mm indent where the lip is red and looks like a chunk is missing. I have seen them lip lock. I have made 5 different territories, 2 of them have 2 caves, the third is a big fake root thing that is a big cave in itself. I have three different plant sections, and a two more territories with driftwood. I guess my question is what can I do? I have 2 other large tanks but they are both planted, and one has snails, guppies and cories, which would all make an easy snack for the OBs. My 100, I just planted, and they will tear up the plants and kill them. I have 2 10's set up, but one has female guppies and fry, and the other has RCS and MTS. All of which the OB would not hesitate to eat. So, any suggestions, advice, etc would be helpful. Other inhabitants of the 125 is a 10 inch Johanna pike, 2 ropefish, a hybrid syno and a royal pleco. Everything but the pike is juvenile. I have seen no aggression between the OB's and any of the other species at all, but all of the OB's fight each other. Please help! Thanks guys!

Maribeth

GuppyGirl1230
10-05-2010, 5:00 AM
Bump!

blue2fyre
10-05-2010, 9:37 AM
OB peacocks are part mbuna and can be pretty nasty. More than 1 male will not last long in most cases. You said you have 5 males? That is most likely not going to end well. You can do an all male peacock tank but the males all have to look different to cut down on aggression. Your best bet to to remove one of the adult males. Since you don't have a good tank for one to go into, it would be best to rehome the extra male. Otherwise the fighting won't stop until one is dead.

Are you sure the previous owner had no problems? I don't always see fighting in my mbuna tank but I often see signs of it. They may have been fine until they moved into a different tank. Cichlids are just like that, everything is fine for a while then suddenly everything changes.

I think you will continue to have fighting issues until you salve your gender ratios. Your best bet is to remove all but 1, maybe 2 males and add about 3-4(or more) females. That will keep the boys busy and cut down on your fighting.

GuppyGirl1230
10-05-2010, 2:54 PM
OB peacocks are part mbuna and can be pretty nasty. More than 1 male will not last long in most cases. You said you have 5 males? That is most likely not going to end well. You can do an all male peacock tank but the males all have to look different to cut down on aggression. Your best bet to to remove one of the adult males. Since you don't have a good tank for one to go into, it would be best to rehome the extra male. Otherwise the fighting won't stop until one is dead.

Are you sure the previous owner had no problems? I don't always see fighting in my mbuna tank but I often see signs of it. They may have been fine until they moved into a different tank. Cichlids are just like that, everything is fine for a while then suddenly everything changes.

I think you will continue to have fighting issues until you salve your gender ratios. Your best bet is to remove all but 1, maybe 2 males and add about 3-4(or more) females. That will keep the boys busy and cut down on your fighting.


Thank you, I guess they are going up to be re-homed. The previous owner tried to assure me there were no problems, and there were no torn fins or any signs of aggression when I got them. Maybe the stress of the move set them off. Since I can't afford another tank, and I don't have any big enough to put them in, I am going to re-home them. I didn't buy the tank for the fish, I bought it for the tank itself. Ob's wouldn't have been my choice! Thanks for the input!

Maribeth

NotoriousSway
10-05-2010, 3:27 PM
I would try rearranging all the decorations, this will mess up all their territories and might help with their aggression.
Any time you have malawi's or any fish for that matter its a good idea to have a open hospital tank open at all times just encase a fish gets sick or wounded. All you need is a 10g-20g tank with a sponge filter and heater.