# Can I put Compressiceps with Peacocks?



## captainamerica1977 (Jun 11, 2005)

I am working on a Hap/Peacock male show tank...I have several haps and Peacocks in there already. I love the look of the Compressiceps and my 135 gal. is plenty big enough for them. I read that they will eat Peacocks...Does anyone know if this is true? I would hate to lose my Peacocks by adding Comps....


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

I have had them together with no problems.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

If they are both full sized, there is no way a D. comp is going to eat any adult Peacock.


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## captainamerica1977 (Jun 11, 2005)

The species article on them on this site is the one that states that....They also say that they are more prone to bite their eyes out....


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

captainamerica1977 said:


> The species article on them on this site is the one that states that....They also say that they are more prone to bite their eyes out....


Never actually seen that myself... perhaps a bit of a myth?


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

I had a full sized males with peacocks, never any issues with their eyes.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

just keep fish fed


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## captainamerica1977 (Jun 11, 2005)

Thanks Fogelhund and Frank...

Here is what lead to the question....This was written by Marc Elieson on Dimidiochromis Compressiceps

In the wild, this fish preys on other cichlids, mostly Pseudotropheus and Aulonocara species and could easily revert back to this practice in the aquarium if preventive measures are not taken.

Some have reported that the "Malawi Eye-Biter" does not attack the eyes of other fishes with any greater frequency than that of other fishes, but I would have to disagree. I found two similarly sized Labidochromis juveniles missing eyes after being kept for a short time with two very small juvenile compressiceps. I can't prove who did it, but I have never had this happen before or since. And with a nick-name like this, I have strong premonitions about "who dunnit." □


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

"In the wild, this fish preys on other cichlids, mostly Pseudotropheus and Aulonocara species and could easily revert back to this practice in the aquarium if preventive measures are not taken. "

Probably on fry, not 2" young adults.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Yes, it preys on small juveniles and fry. Look at the size of the mouth, no way they could stuff in anything very large in it.


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

I have 2 6.5" comps with 4 peacocks and I've never had a problem. I even have very small 2" dolphins with them and they leave them alone. I also had 2 small mainganos in with them and they ignored them as well. Now my comp male loves to chase everyone in the tank, but it doesn't seem like he wants to catch anyone. I wouldn't worry about it.


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

Are you thinking about putting juvie comps with juvie peacocks? That's probably the way to go. I have never had juvie comps (I got mine at 5.5"), but I've seen them in other tanks as juvies and they seemed very gentle, almost passive.

I have a male right now that's maturing and coloring up and he is getting quite aggressive, but he doesn't seem to actually want to hurt anyone (I hope). And he has never singled out my peacocks, even my small one.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

> Some have reported that the "Malawi Eye-Biter" does not attack the eyes of other fishes with any greater frequency than that of other fishes, but I would have to disagree. I found two similarly sized Labidochromis juveniles missing eyes after being kept for a short time with two very small juvenile compressiceps. I can't prove who did it, but I have never had this happen before or since. And with a nick-name like this, I have strong premonitions about "who dunnit." □


Coughcough-bool****-coughcough :lol:


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## captainamerica1977 (Jun 11, 2005)

So the last guy is saying information on this site is bool****? Hmmmm....that quote was on the species article of Comps....Sometimes people should just keep their mouth shut instead of calling people out...


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

There are many things that you will read in articles on this site and other's that most don't agree with. I might have been a bit out of line with the comment but from all the experienced people that i mix with almost zero would agree with that statement, as Fogelhund has said it is a bit of a myth.
I should have been been more informative with my post, i have kept comps and bred comps and not once have i ever had and issue with missing eye's. I will tell you that i did have one a while ago that stressed my peacock's out, to the point i had to rehouse him. Most of the time they are ok but. The 1 i have in my hap tank at the moment seems ok but he is still very young and already high up the pecking order in amoungst champsochromis, nimbo's, bucco's etc

Like i said that statement, most won't agree with and there are others also, so it's great that you searched for more info from experinced people.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The fact that some of the articles on this site put forth ideas that not every experienced fishkeeper agrees with is one I wrestled with when I joined as well. There are several articles I tried to model a tank after, but after posting my plans, received conflicting advice.

It was explained to me that either the author was entitled to his own viewpoint or the article might have been written when his viewpoint was prevailing in the industry but science has since advanced.

I actually came across something unrelated that illustrates the point. At one time, a fish was temporarily classified as a separate species, Melanochromis brown. Years later after additional observation in the wild, it was realized that this fish was really a female Metriaclima sp. 'chinyankwazi'. You will find both bits of information available in books and on the internet. The challenge is to figure out if one is older and one is newer. Or if they are just two opinions with equal validity.

Regarding D.compressiceps, I have read older material that talked about the eye biting and newer material that suggests the original eye-biting theory may have been invalid.

Ad Konings has this to say in his 4th Edition:


> D.compressiceps was once regarded as a trophic specialist feeding on eyes (Wickler, 1966)--hence its popular name of "Malawi Eyebiter"--but such behavior has never been observed in the lake.


The feeding behavior that _has_ been observed is swallowing small fish whole.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I've never kept D. Compressiceps with Aulonocara, but I have with yellow labs and other Hap species---never had a problem with the eye biting behavior.

But I have had the eye biting situation with another fish species though.....Botia Loaches (both tiger loaches and pakistani loaches). If they aren't fed well enough, they will take the eyes off of other fish---including cichlids. I've actually witnessed it, more than once. If well fed though, they are fine....and are perfectly compatible----in fact, they make great scavengers for a cichlid tank.


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