Peacock cichlid

Water parameters

Tolerated range for this species. Aim for the middle of each band rather than the extremes.

Tank and habitat

Substrate: sand.

Behavior

Plant interaction: may nibble soft.

Feeding

Cichlid pellets, frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp. More protein-tolerant than mbuna; the Malawi bloat risk from high-protein food is lower in Aulonocara than in Maylandia/Labidochromis.

Compatibility

• Less aggressive than mbuna; peacocks are the Malawi cichlid for people who want color without nonstop aggression
• Keep with other peacocks or with mild haps (Copadichromis, Protomelas). Mixing peacocks with mbuna usually goes badly; the mbuna bully the slower peacocks off food
• Sand substrate is important; peacocks sift sand through their gills to find invertebrates. Gravel prevents this natural feeding behavior and can damage gills
• Hybridization is rampant in the hobby. 'OB peacock' is a hybrid between Aulonocara and mbuna; any multi-colored peacock without a species name is probably a hybrid. Purists keep single-species tanks
• Males color up only when dominant; subdominant males stay dull brown and look like females. In a small tank, only one male gets full color

Origin and habitat

Aulonocara, the peacock cichlids, are a group of about nineteen species, all endemic to Lake Malawi, living where rocky areas meet open sand at a range of depths. The genus name comes from the Greek for flute and head, a reference to the enlarged sensory pores along the head and lower jaw. Those pores are the group's defining trait: they pick up the tiny vibrations of invertebrates buried in the sand, letting a peacock hover over the bottom and sift out prey that other fish cannot find, even in dim, deep water. Peacocks are strongly sexually dichromatic, more so than most Malawi cichlids; dominant males blaze blue, yellow, red, or orange, while females and subordinate males stay a plain grey-brown. All are maternal mouthbrooders. They are calmer than the rock-dwelling mbuna, which makes them suitable for a community of similarly mild medium Malawi cichlids, though they are easily bullied off their food by mbuna. They reach roughly 8 to 14 cm. The trade is full of line-bred and hybrid forms, including the orange-blotched OB and Dragon Blood peacocks, which are crosses and not wild species, and several true Aulonocara also face pressure from overcollection.

Breeding

A maternal mouthbrooder. A male sets up on a patch of sand and shows off his colour to attract females, and after spawning the female carries the eggs and then the fry in her mouth for around three to four weeks, not feeding in that time, before releasing free-swimming young. The catch for breeders is hybridisation: different Aulonocara species, and peacocks with other haplochromines, interbreed readily, so a single species per tank is the rule for keeping a line pure. Subordinate males stay drab, so in a small tank usually only the dominant male shows full colour.

Common problems

Hybridisation is the headline issue. Tank-raised crosses are everywhere in the trade, sold under invented names, so anyone wanting true species needs to source carefully and keep one species per tank. Males need room to hold territories; in a tank that is too small a dominant male suppresses the colour of the others, which is why subdominant males look like drab females. As with all Lake Malawi cichlids, bloat is a risk on too rich a diet, though peacocks tolerate more protein than the vegetarian mbuna. They need hard, alkaline Malawi water and a sand bottom for their natural sifting behaviour.

Bioload

Further reading

• How to cycle a fish tank
• Stocking ideas by tank size