How many peacock cichlids?

by **natalie265** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:06 pm

How many peacock cichlids can i add to my in a 55 gallon tank? I currently have three male peacocks, one black calvus and a couple of dwarf plecos. Is three more too many?

by **Okiimiru** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:32 am

If you don't get any replies here you can ask at The Ohio Cichlid Assocation forum, http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=40 (the OCA has the world's largest cichlid extravaganza every fall. They basically rent out a hotel and fill each room with fishtanks, making it temporarily the biggest fish store in the world)

or at http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/ which seems pretty active and like you'd get a quick response from an expert.

by **mcfaddy212000** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:31 am

natalie265 wrote:
> How many peacock cichlids can i add to my in a 55 gallon tank? I currently
> have three male peacocks, one black calvus and a couple of dwarf plecos. Is
> three more too many?

Imo you should have 6-8 of them. Now you do know you aren't suppose to mix lakes or old world with new world right? They will get along while young but as they reach adulthood problems may arise. The reason I'm saying this is because the Altolamprologus calvus is from Lake Tanganyika.

by **natalie265** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:24 pm

A hotel full of fish tanks? How cool would that be?!

Mcfaddy, i am still somewhat new to cichlids, but from what i understand, the calvus is an exception to that rule. They are not particularly aggressive, so they do fine with the less aggressive peacocks. On the other hand, they can hold their own if it comes down to it.

Thanks for the stocking recommendation!

by **mcfaddy212000** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:12 am

natalie265 wrote:
> A hotel full of fish tanks? How cool would that be?!
>
> Mcfaddy, i am still somewhat new to cichlids, but from what i understand,
> the calvus is an exception to that rule. They are not particularly
> aggressive, so they do fine with the less aggressive peacocks. On the
> other hand, they can hold their own if it comes down to it.
>
> Thanks for the stocking recommendation!

It would be the other way around more then likely. The calvus isn't a lake Malawi cichlid so I would stay away from it imo. Peacocks are the less aggressive of lake Malawi that's why they are recommended not to be stocked with mbuna. Even if a profile says aggressive for two different fish doesn't mean they are the same an aggressive mbuna would kill an aggressive peacock if it really wanted too just as an example. If you want peacocks I would do an all male peacock tank and if you had to have something else I would go with a hap.

Hope this is all making sense

by **mcfaddy212000** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:42 am

[attachment=0]PicsArt_1345253068232.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]PicsArt_1345253068232.jpg[/attachment]
Here is a couple picks for you to enjoy and think about while your doing yours ;) have fun

by **natalie265** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:01 pm

Is that a yellow benga? That's what i want to add to my tank.

by **mcfaddy212000** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:42 am

Sure is most people know them as sunshine peacock Aulonocara baenschi. I have three of them two males and one female. It's stunning looking and will show bright colors when they are just little. I bought mine at petsmart at 1" about 2-3 months ago now they are about 1.5"-2" and look at those colors, just stunning right? I'm not sure where your located at I live in the states and ordered most of my fish online from http://WWW.livefishdirect.com

I sent you a pm did you get it?

by **natalie265** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:04 pm

Thanks for sending me the link to your article. It's really good! Btw, it's fine to post a link to an article in the forum, and in fact, i encourage you to share it. It's a good resource.

Your benga is quite stunning. I'm excited to add a few to my tank. Your article mentioned that you like to overstock so that they don't each get their own territory. Do you think adding more fish will help mine come out more? As it is, they each have their own hiding spot and they hide out quite a lot, making it look like i have a big empty tank.

by **mcfaddy212000** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:40 pm

Why tank you :)
You can probably go up to to 12-15 just watch your water as you would normal. A lot of people that have african Cichlids need to do 50-75% pwc a week to keep it under control. I always tell everyone less because you always end up with more fish then what was planned. With these type of fish I truly believe stock as many as you wish as long as your water perimeters and aggression allows. I aimed for 30 Cichlids and ended up with 30-40 more, that ill need to rehome later as they grow. Just watch for aggression and good luck to you. Feel free to share the article if you would like.

How many peacock cichlids?

10 posts