# hybrid peacocks



## borohands8593 (Apr 15, 2009)

Hey being newer to african cichlids i can see that many people frown upon mixing different species of peacocks within one tank unless you keep an all male or all female tank. My question is why do we not want to risk a hybrid? especially if we dont plan on selling the fish and keep them just for our own pleasure what can be the harm? i know in other fish hybridization is how many new species have been developed and it is common practice and was just curious as to why it is not acceptable in africans since some of the color varieties might be breathtaking.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

hybridization within your own confinement is perfectly fine as long it's for your own joy and have no plan on distributing the offspring. 
The export of african cichlids is not all that stable and trade from some african nations could stop in a heartbeat. It is already closely monitored. With this in mind it is important to keep the purity of these fish in tact. Malawi cross breed with such ease that any joe blow can produce a type of fish to an LFS saying it is what it isn't so the buyer is not getting what they are paying for.
I guess what i am saying is that it comes down to us to do the correct thing when distributing our fish and purity is at a premium. People doing the wrong thing should be educated on these fish and the geological region that they come from.
I have no problem with people mixing fish as long aS it doesn't leave there own tanks


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## borohands8593 (Apr 15, 2009)

thanks for the input i have no plans on breeding i was just curious. it does make sense though so thank you for educating me


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## copasetic (Nov 26, 2007)

I think the simplest way to put is there is 850 types in lake malawi and every color/shape/type that you want can be found so we dont need to make any more.. Just like with dogs theres over 500 breeds to cover all needs, but AKC keeps recognizing new man made breeds.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The problem comes when you think about the logistics of keeping the fish in your tank for it's lifetime. Female peacocks can breed every other month and with a clutch of 20 or more you would never be able to have enough tanks. The fish live about 8 years.

Also, once more than one species of female peacocks are mixed it's nearly impossible to identify the separate species. So once you mix them in your tank, you can't even sell the original adults later because you have no way of knowing what the species is.


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## morningsky (Apr 22, 2008)

One other reason: I get kind of upset when I purchase a fish and it turns out to be a hybrid. Now I have a fish that I cannot breed or sell again. Some fish are harder to tell if hybrid when juvenile.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Me too, Morningsky. And I hate euthanizing healthy fish, but I want my tank back for the pure species. As you mentioned, I had to wait until the fish colored up to discover he was not pure, so I've wasted months of time as well.


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## morningsky (Apr 22, 2008)

> As you mentioned, I had to wait until the fish colored up to discover he was not pure, so I've wasted months of time as well.


I had to wait months too, and found out I have a peacock/borleyi? mix. :x

Yes it is a pretty fish, but not what I thought I was buying. I do have some linebred/man made strains, but I knew pretty much what I was getting.


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## gmaschke (Aug 23, 2008)

When people breed hybreds and say they won't leave their tank they'll be in trouble in no time. Your tank will get over populated very quickly then what? more tanks then more then mlore, won't happen you'll find yourself in a spot to get rid of them or kill them. Just don't ever do it. I have a tank with multiple males and females but there are a lot of Syno. Mutltis in there to help eat them if I miss them. Otherwise I strip the females check for syno eggs or fry then dump them right back in and let the fish eat them before they hit bottom. So in short mix them but not without the stomach the to use them solely as food!


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## borohands8593 (Apr 15, 2009)

gmaschke-So in short mix them but not without the stomach the to use them solely as food!

thats actually not a bad idea baby peacocks are probably healther than goldfish to feed my dempsey and arrowana! thanks for all the input guys *** never had a fish breed in my aquarium but also never had africans until 2 months or so ago!


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Trust me, the fullfillment of breeding pure breed fish far outways breeding a hybrid. Anyone can breed hybrid fish, it takes an educated and dedicated responsible person to breed a pure breed Malawi cichlid, and you will be doing the next person a massive favour


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## borohands8593 (Apr 15, 2009)

Well thanks for all the information guys! I truly appreciate all the input and can assure you I plan on keeping all males anyhow, although its hard for me to tell the difference in the petstores when you buy em so small before they show colors. If i have any accidental hybridization they will be used as food! I currently have only 2 peacocks a red and a blue both definitely male, but i do have a female borlyei idk if peacocks will mate outside of the peacock family.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Yeah a peacock will breed with her. They will breed with any mouth brooder that is willing, hap,mbuna it doesn't matter. Good luck setting up your all male tank they are my favorite setup. Find some trusted dealers and stick with them :thumb:


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