# what is the difference between hap and peacock fish



## urbanboy

what is the difference between hap and peacock fish, like how can i tell them apart?
sorry im new to the cichlid keeping i would like to know so i can keep the correct type in my tank.


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## Gibbs

keep some you will soon be able to tell peacocks from other haps.

Make sure you buy from highly regarded breeders to. Most LFS's would put the label Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi on their own grandmother just to make a buck.


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## Dewdrop

Get familiar with them through the profile section here on this site. 
The peacocks are Aulonocara genus. 
There are more genus of haps.. Copadichromis, Nibochromis, Placidochromis, & Protomelas are some of the genus. I think there might be more but I'm not very familiar with them either. Maybe someone else can be of more help but this should give you a general idea and something to go by.


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## DJRansome

IMO it's better to buy fish with the scientific names and locations at purchase than to try and buy from assorted tanks and force a name onto the fish later. You will never be sure.

When you enter the Profile section, above the place where you choose a Group to search on, there is a link to African Cichlid Genus Gallery. It shows a representative fish from many of the main types of africans all on one page so you can get an idea of how they look different.

Aulonocara are the peacocks. Haps include groups like Copadichromis, Placidochromis, Protomelas and others.


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## urbanboy

is there anyway to tell them apart by looking at them. like different body traits? or do they look too close to tell?


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## DJRansome

Aulonocara have similar body shapes. Haps have variable body shapes. Some haps look a little more like peacocks (C.trewavasae, IMO from pics) and some look way different (Dimidiochromis).

Did you take a look at the genus gallery?

If you are experienced, you can tell adults apart no problem and probably even ID which hap or peacock it is. Juvies and females may be more challenging.


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## GoofBoy

Welcome to the Boards urbanboy!



urbanboy said:


> what is the difference between hap and peacock fish, like how can i tell them apart?
> sorry im new to the cichlid keeping i would like to know so i can keep the correct type in my tank.


If you think of Peacocks as small to medium sized haps you will save yourself a lot of heartache worrying about it - that is how important the distinction is as far as what you can keep together.

Haps is the generic term used for the cichlids in the lake that are not mbuna or _now_ Aulonocara.

Once upon a time all the fish that weren't mbuna were considered from the genus Haplochromine (including Peacocks!) as a scientific placeholder, the Hap term is still used to refer to them even though they have been scientifically reclassified. My understanding is there are now no 'true' Haplochromis species in Lake Malawi at all according to the scientists :roll:.

As DJRansome said - peacocks are the fish from the genus Aulonocara.

Look at the cookie cutters here and the profiles here & here.

Do you want to have fish breed or just as pretty a tank as you can get?

If you post your tank size length x width x height and the fish you really like the looks of, we can help you with stocking suggestions based on far more collective experience than you will find in pretty much any Local Fish Shop.

Good Luck.


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## il0veCichlids

Peacocks are colorful  lmaooo i prefer peacocks


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## GoofBoy

il0veCichlids said:


> Peacocks are colorful  lmaooo i prefer peacocks


Yep, my 2yr old Male Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" (Liuli) sure is drab :thumb:.


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## urbanboy

my tank is a 90 gallon. 48x18x24.


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## GoofBoy

urbanboy said:


> my tank is a 90 gallon. 48x18x24.


Do you want to have fish breed or just as pretty a tank as you can get?

The 75 gallon cookie cutter here will get you breeding setup examples and All-Male setups are discussed here.

I switched my 90 gallon tank over to an All Male Hap/Peacock setup 4 months ago. If you click on the tanks button below you can see the stock list. I also posted a thread here with a few update pictures I just took of the inhabitants.

Good Luck.


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## cjacob316

amazing fish man, that's the reason to get a larger tank, with peacocks you can stick to 48 inch tanks with haps you need s larger tank for most especially the protomelas (which are some of the most beautiful species of haps)

i do find that peacocks tend do not have dark black stripes, if they have stripes it's more of a color shading and not actual black stripes

also in peacocks you notice the color is usually right behind the gills and down the back, or the entire body, only the flametail really has all of it's color on the underside

one other key thing, peacocks only show two colors on their body, usually blue and some bright color like yellow orange or red

haps if you see more than two colors it's either victorian or a hap (generally speacking)


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