# Peacock aggression



## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

I am in the process of setting up a new aquarium, and am having some major aggression issues. I have a 55 gallon with two malawi fish, a 4.5" sunshine peacock (male) and a 4 inch electric yellow. Today I added a red shoulder peacock (male) slightly smaller than the sunshine, and a 4" sunburst peacock.

The sunshine and red shoulder were going at it so hard I had to put a divider in the tank. They were biting eachothers mouths head on, removing the metallic blue. With the divider in the tank, they are still trying to fight through it.

Will this aggression be a problem later on, or will it go away when the new fish get settled in and I add new fish? Also, are there any suggestions of fish I could add? I am really just looking for a nice colorful tank, won't have a chance to do any breeding in the near future due to space and time constraints.

Thanks for any help and suggestions offered!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

In a 55G with 3 fish each of a different species, I assume you are going for an all male peacock tank?

Make absolutely sure none are females, as that will cause what you describe. If that's not the problem, I'd add half dozen fish (never add one to an established tank), all male, all peacocks and none that look like the others.


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## gymdog (May 24, 2007)

yes, i agree there are females in your tank, because males are fighting for domination come breeding time.


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Well, this is a weird situation. The electric yellow, sunshine peacock, red shoulder peacock, and sunburst peacock, all have egg spots on their anal fins. Also, the 3 peacock's are very nicely colored. To make things more weird, the sunshine was doing his shimmy like he was trying to mate with the red shoulder... Not sure what to think about that. Anyways, they were going at it mouth to mouth biting eachother, and chasing eachother around the tank.


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## karlfishing (Aug 4, 2009)

did you get the sunshine from california


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Egg spots don't indicate sex. Take out the yellow lab and see what happens.


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

I used to breed the sunshine peacocks. I ended up selling the male and 3 females a couple of years ago; the sunshine I currently have is one of the fry I raised from the original parents.

The electric yellow and sunburst are extremely tame. They are wimps that hide and occasionally poke their heads out to see what is going on in the tank. The only aggression is coming from the sunshine and red shoulder peacocks.

I will see if I can figure out how to post pictures in the discussion forum later on. Thanks for the input so far everybody


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It may just be due to the fact that the tank is still understocked, and the sunshine male had already laid claim to the entire tank when you added the other two...

You are going to want to steer clear of any two males that look overly similar, though, so be careful with that.

I think the best thing to do is remove all the decor and the divider, and re-scape the tank. Force them all to 'settle back in' at once.

When you go to add more fish, you might give this a try right before releasing the new ones into the tank.

Egg spots don't mean anything, but if they're fully coloured, they're either males or they could be hormoned females...You will have to be very diligent to NOT add any females to this tank!


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Great thank you for the advice I will definitely give it a try. I think I will be able to add more fish on Tuesday. I will probably just try to add 2 more males and see what happens. Thanks again,
Dan


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Are there any suggestions on fish I could add? Would a taiwan reef, electric blue ahli, or yellow tailed acei be alright?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I have an all male peacock/hap tank. This is what I've learned:

Once the tank is established, you have to add to it with larger numbers than two. I'd recommend four;

Rescaping before each addition, feeding well and turning off the lights sometimes helps;

Making sure not to add species that look similar is vital (and that all are male. I did have a hormoned female ruby red once that looked like a really bad male. Once "he" held, she got re-homed immediately. She did NOT cause WWIII, though, as the Red Empress claimed her and no one contested him);

You may sometimes need to rehome bullies that don't get with the program. My incredibly lovely sunshine went back to the LFS when he wouldn't leave my lovely, new ruby red alone. I realized the ruby red was going to end up dead, so Mr. Sunshine got a one way ticket out. You can sometimes put them in a separate QT/hospital tank (which you should anyway) and then reintroduce later when everyone else has a chance to settle in.

Labs are an easy way to get yellow in a tank and I've had good luck with them. You might want to remove the sunshine and get a trio of labs instead. Other good options:

Maylandi (sulfurhead)
Ngara flametail
Ruby/German red
Eureka Red
Yellow Jake

Good luck


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

What do you think about this stock list for my 55:

1 sunshine peacock
1 red shoulder peacock
1 sunburst peacock
1 electric yellow
3 yellow tail acei

Other species I am constantly dabbling with include: adding up to 3 total electric yellow's, 1 or 2 synodontis multipunctatus, 1-3 calvus, taiwan reef, and electric blue ahli. My biggest concern is adding more of one species (as with the electric yellow, acei, s. multi, and calvus), and with mixing haps/mbuna/peacock's together.

Any suggestions on this combination?


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## gmaschke (Aug 23, 2008)

The way I see it the others are right in reference to adding more and introducing them as suggested. Unfortunately numbers are your best ally here and you are limited with a 55gal. Also the cats won't affect the aggression 1 way or the other but they are great additions I love the multis, but don't get one they kind of need each others company.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Taiwan Reef and Fryeri are both 7" fish and would be better in a 75G. Calvus do not mix well with peacocks and mbuna. S. Multipunctatus should be in groups of 5-6 (3 minimum) or you won't see much of them.

I'd go with hollyfish2000's suggestions or if you want haps I'd choose the smaller, more peaceful ones like copadichromis trewavasae or placidochromis electra, etc.


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

I would like to have a few bottom feeders in the tank to help control the algae and waste. Maybe I will go with 3 s. mult.

Would it be a bad idea to have a total of 3 electric yellow's or 3 acei? If I do multiple of these species, does the sex ratio matter at all (should I get all males of these species, or 1 male/2 females)? Thanks!


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> Would it be a bad idea to have a total of 3 electric yellow's or 3 acei? If I do multiple of these species, does the sex ratio matter at all (should I get all males of these species, or 1 male/2 females)? Thanks!


No, not a bad idea at all. Sex ratio doesn't matter (it didn't in my tank and the female even held twice in the otherwise all male tank). Labs are probably better than acei, which can get a bit bigger. I'd not do the sunshine, though, as you have lots of yellow with the labs. I'd probably add a ngara flametail, maylandi (if you can find one) and the haps I mentioned above. And don't forget a ruby/German red - -- can't live without mine! (not sure what a sunburst is, but I assume similar to the "dragons blood" types, which I don't like as they look fake . . . It might look too much like a ruby red, in which case, I'd personally take the ruby red.)

I have four s. multipunctatus. I would recommend that over three. I see them ALL the time and they are hoot. I don't see that they made a different in terms of overcrowding or bioload personally . . .


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Great thank you for the suggestions. So the catfish I add will not add to the overall bioload? I was going to shoot for ~10 fish total, but now I am hoping for ~10 cichlids and 4 catfish total. Also, I found some s. multi at the lfs but they are a little too pricey for me, do you have any other suggestions?

I am going back and forth over having 1 electric yellow with 3 yellow tail acei, 3 electric yellow with 3 yellow tail acei, or just 3 electric yellow and forgetting about the acei. I'm wondering if having 2 small groups of 3 fish will help reduce the stress/aggression in the tank.

I am going to try to keep the sunshine just because i raised him since he was a fry. If I have to get rid of him though, I will.

I believe the sunburst peacock is a manmade strain. Usually I try to be more pure and as close to nature as I can, but this fish looks beautiful. It almost looks like a red zebra, but better.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

If you keep the sunshine, then I wouldn't do labs -- you've already got yellow in the tank -- so go with the acei.

Yes, multipunctatus are pricey. Mine were $50 a piece. They are worth every penny. Sometimes you can get them much cheaper on the trading post here or online.

I should clarify that, of course, the syno add bioload, but they don't really travel in the same "circles' as the cichlids, so I don't sort of count them in the same way. If that makes sense . . .

If this were my tank, I'd probably start with 7 immature, but obviously male cichlids and four synos and see what happens. If you lose one or two cichlids (not impossible), then you've got the option of adding another three to four. Once established, you need to add fish in groups of this size IMHO.


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

I removed the divider yesterday, added 3 acei ~3" each, rearranged the rockwork, and turned off the lights. It really seems to have helped! My sunshine is still the dominant male in the tank and is chasing around the other fish, but everything seems to be going alright. I believe I will be adding 5 s. mult ~2" each in about 2 weeks. Besides that, I will probably only add one or two fish. I really like the way the 3 acei are always swimming together. Kind of want to get two more labs so I would have another trio, but that would be a lot of yellow. Kind of thinking of going the ruby red/german red route or else finding a good hap to add.

Thanks for everybody's help with this aquarium! Hopefully everything works out in the future... Thanks again! If anybody has any suggestions on fish to add, feel free to send them my way.

Dan


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Just remember that adding a single fish to an established tank is very hard on the single fish (and sometimes that's putting it mildly). So I would encourage you to add two more at the same time at the least . . .


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Hello - just wanted to follow up with the status of the tank and a couple of questions.
I currently have 1 sunshine peacock 4.5", 1 electric yellow 4", 1 red shoulder peacock 4", 1 sunburst peacock 4", 3 yellow tailed acei 3", and 5 syno multi 3".
The sunshine peacock is still aggressive. The red shoulder is losing color and some fins are a little frayed. The sunburst peacock has some nipped fins. The tank seems kind of empty, not much action going on.
I have been looking for the fish suggestions that were provided, but am having a difficult time finding them. In particular, I am looking for: copadichromis trewavasae, ruby red/german red peacock, sulfurhead peacock, and taiwan reef. I am hoping for two things. First, hopefully adding a couple of more fish will reduce the aggression (how many more can I add?). Second, hopefully adding a more peaceful fish larger than my sunshine will help regulate the tank. 
I am thinking about adding 1 or 2 more electric yellow's. Would it be ok to have just 2 electric yellow's, or should I have a minimum of a trio? Think this would look alright? Also, I don't have any haps in the tank, any other suggestions of hap species that would work out? Thanks for any suggestions/input!


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I think labs are ideally best as a trio . . .

If you can't find what you want locally, then you can order online. The reviews section can guide you in that regard.

I recently found that there really is an ideal number of cichlids per tank. I had gone on a rampage and removed a bunch of fish and my 60 gallon was down to seven cichlids (plus four synos). OHMIGOD. Everyone hated that --even that cats didn't come out like they used to. I finally added enough to get the number back to 11 and everyone is sooooo happy. Everyone is out and swimming (even the cats are back). And because I added in groups, no one got picked on. I wouldn't have guessed that numbers made that much difference -- but there you go!


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Well I think I will add 3 more fish then. Probably 2 electric yellow's and one ?. Do you think 10 cichlids and 5 synos will be too much for a 55 gallon? I really hope this addition will help the other fish in the tank. 2 of them are not looking good... I do have pretty decent filtration - aquaclear 50 and fluval 305.


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## gymdog (May 24, 2007)

i think weekly water chances and monthly filter maintenance should take care of the fish load. i have always been stuck on over crowding a tank to cut down on over aggression.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> Do you think 10 cichlids and 5 synos will be too much for a 55 gallon?


That's pretty close to what I have and it's working well. I have a Fluval 405 and do 20-25% water changes every few days. (I like to do smaller, more frequent changes.)

It still sounds like you might have to get rid of Mr. Sunshine -- if the additional fish don't help. You could try removing him at least temporarily and returning him later . . .


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

Is there a general rule as to:
How many cichlids to keep in a 55?
The maximum size allowed?
I would like to have as many fish as possible, but know I won't be doing water changes multiple times per week. I usually do ~33% water changes once every week or two. I heard acei are too large for a 55, but are only 6". I thought, generally speaking, 1" per gallon and at least 6x the length of the fish for swimming space. I guess this would eliminate azureus and taiwan reef from possibilities if 6" is too large for a 55.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> I usually do ~33% water changes once every week or two


That is not going to be sufficient for a well-stocked African tank.



> I thought, generally speaking, 1" per gallon


Totally irrelevent for Africans (and most else, too). Acei are more of a schooling fish and need space to school. It's recommended that you have a 48" length tank for these.


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## djcappozzo (Jul 15, 2005)

So with my current setup, 7 africans and 5 synos, how many more do you think I could add to be on the slightly overstocked side?

Would you select fish that will max out at 6"? Are there certain peaceful fish that are larger than 6" that could work out?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> So with my current setup, 7 africans and 5 synos, how many more do you think I could add to be on the slightly overstocked side?


I think you may want to stop here and see what happens. I wouldn't add any more synos. I think you may have room for more peacocks, but I'm not sure. I'd let it shake out for a while and see what you think. When I only had 7 in my 60 gallon, it wasn't enough fish.

I went back and looked at your stock list. You're missing a vibrant blue color. You might want to look at copadichromis azurues or something similar in a peacock. But at this point, I'd probably reiterate, sit back and rest and let it grow on you and visit your LFS and see what they have that jumps out at you. I assume you have a quarantine tank for future inhabitants?


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