assorted Malawi and peacocks
- Thread starter graysilm
- Start date
They should be fine but on the breeding side of it, if thats your intention all peacock females look alike and the likely hood of different aulonocara species interbreeding is very high so if you are thinking of breeding the aulonocara's stick to male and females from one species only or buy all aulonocara males which are more colourful anyway.
Regards, Derek.
Regards, Derek.
You really need to find out the scientific names of the fish you are interested in. You are aware there are hundreds and hundreds of Malawi cichlids, each with thier own individual temperments. Summing it up like you did makes it virtually impossible for us to give you an answer.
Going generally though, the most common fish in those "assorted african" tanks are hybrid mbuna, and fish labelled "peacock cichlids" (Aulonocara) are probebly also hybrids, since any knowledgeable LFS would at least attempt to call them by thier 'scientific names' if they knew what they were. So, you really dont know what your getting temperment-wise in these fish.
I'll give you a few reasons why these two 'types' of fish should not be kept together.
1)Mbuna are generally very aggressive and should not be held with the less-aggressive haps such as peacocks, which may get bullied.
2)Mbuna are generally vegetarian while haps enjoy more protien in thier diet, thus feeding the two individually will be obviously quite tricky.
3)Mbuna are rock-dwelling fish while haps are more open-water swimmers, thus a large tank is needed and one that provides both habitats for the two types of fish.
4)And as a side note, as was mentioned above, only one type of peacock should be kept per tank since all females look the same and hybridization is very easy. Which is also why you must be careful when buying peacocks if they at least arent labelled with any ID.
-Diana
Going generally though, the most common fish in those "assorted african" tanks are hybrid mbuna, and fish labelled "peacock cichlids" (Aulonocara) are probebly also hybrids, since any knowledgeable LFS would at least attempt to call them by thier 'scientific names' if they knew what they were. So, you really dont know what your getting temperment-wise in these fish.
I'll give you a few reasons why these two 'types' of fish should not be kept together.
1)Mbuna are generally very aggressive and should not be held with the less-aggressive haps such as peacocks, which may get bullied.
2)Mbuna are generally vegetarian while haps enjoy more protien in thier diet, thus feeding the two individually will be obviously quite tricky.
3)Mbuna are rock-dwelling fish while haps are more open-water swimmers, thus a large tank is needed and one that provides both habitats for the two types of fish.
4)And as a side note, as was mentioned above, only one type of peacock should be kept per tank since all females look the same and hybridization is very easy. Which is also why you must be careful when buying peacocks if they at least arent labelled with any ID.
-Diana