# Possibly pregnant peacock?



## mpierson571 (Jan 28, 2012)

Hello all, I am new to the forums and new to cichlid tanks! I have had community tanks, but this is my first time to have a cichlid tank and I absolutely love it. They make community tanks seem so boring!

Anyways, on the the question...I have a 60 gallon bow front, all male tank with 6 little cichlids in it.
2 peacocks
1 red top hongi
1 julidochromis regani
1 yellow lab
1 red zebra
and 1 zebra danio from when I first cycled the tank

I know these come from different lakes but I was more ignorant when I bought them than I am now..so thats what I end up with...they all get along very well and I probably will not get any more.

Anyways, all but 1 of the peacocks are very boldy colored and have the very visible spots on the anal fin. The peacock that doesnt was gifted to me, and I am now quite certain it is a female. The brightly colored blue peacock(which is definatley the alpha-male of the tank) started acting very odd when the new possibly female peacock arrived. He became extremely territorial of this little house decoration I have in the tank. He moved rocks into it and dug all around it, and will not let any of the other fish even think about getting close to or inside of it. Also around that time the female got a little "baby-bump" in her belly and seemed to start staying tucked in the corner except when it was eating time.

Now about 5 days ago I noticed her baby-bump is gone, she does not eat, and her mouth always looks full and she does this Oh Oh Oh thing with her mouth. I have read before this is pretty typical mouth brooding behavior.

I need to know if im correct, I just dont have the experience with cichlids to trust my first opinion. I can get pictures/video if I need to.

If she is brooding, what should I do? Is it ok to leave her in with the rest of them? I have a fish store nearby that says they will take babys off my hands if one of them do breed. Do I need to move her to a separate tank? I have a little 10 gallon I could set up for her if I need to.

All advice greatly appreciated!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

mpierson571 said:


> I can get pictures if I need to.


Yes



mpierson571 said:


> If she is brooding, what should I do? Is it ok to leave her in with the rest of them?


Do you have a way of knowing for sure she spawned with another peacock of her species? If not the fry could be hybrids and you may want to let them go.



mpierson571 said:


> I have a fish store nearby that says they will take babys off my hands if one of them do breed.


Better to only sell them if they are pure, but maybe they will take the female? She is at risk in an all-male tank, they are likely to kill her.



mpierson571 said:


> Do I need to move her to a separate tank? I have a little 10 gallon I could set up for her if I need to.


Yes, if the fry are pure you want wait until Day 18 for this.


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

I have never breed before but I did do some research on it. So I'm not 100% sure this is correct but here we go. It sounds like your peacock is holding, =D> CONGRATULATIONS! =D> Now if you are looking to save the fry and raise them up you will need a small tank 10 to 20 gallon get that cycling right away, you can use tank water from your main tank if you wish. Now after about 3 weeks if you can tell that she is holding fry you'll need a small bucket like 2 gallons filled about 1/3 of the way up. Then catch the peacock, place her in the bucket. Now you must grab her firmly behind the gills not a death grip on the gills that would kill her. So have your hand on her making sure her gills aren't covered hold her under the water and pull her mouth open with your finger and gently tip her up to release the fry. After this MaMa can head back to the tank and the fry can go into there newly cycled tank. The fry will be able to go into the main tank when there yolk sack is devolved and they are free swimming. I'd wait till they are about 2 inches, but that is up to you. Now If you don't want the fry you can let her spit in the tank and the fry will be eaten, leaving maybe one or two to survive. Ok I hoped this helped. I'm sure DJ or someone will chime in here soon.


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## mpierson571 (Jan 28, 2012)

Thank you for the helpful replies!

DJ,

Here are some pics for you:

The boys:









The female (or at least im about 99% sure)

















To answer your questions:
No, I have no way of knowing for sure, all I can say is that the other blue peacock was acting crazy while she was pregnant, and now all of a sudden hes back to normal, and shes got something in her mouth.

The store that I buy from will not buy anything, regardless of purity or not...I think I have to be a registered breeder or something like that, which im not or really care to be. They said they will just take the fry off my hands if I have any, which is totally fine with me because I do not want to kill them or let them get eaten...if they will sell them to other people, that is enough for me.

When that female was first introduced, they picked on her like no other! Her fins were bit up, and I was starting to think she was going to die. But recently, they dont bother her as much. *** seen her get chased around, but her fins have grown back terrifically and she looks very healthy now. Is it possible they have "accepted" her?

EDIT: the blue one all the way on the right in the first pic is the assumed father.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The fish on the right in the first pic look like mbuna to me. Acei? Maingano or Johannii?

If you accidentally create hybrids, you want to keep them in your tanks for their lifetime (8 years) so they do not get introduced into the hobby and mistaken for a pure fish.

You would not actually kill them...you would let the mom spit them in the tank. After an experienced fishkeeper gets enough fry to properly stock the tanks and enjoy the process a couple of times...there is no way we could keep all the fry. In an average tank there are 12 females who each produce 20 fry every other month. It's pretty standard to let the moms spit in the tank.


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

I might be mistaken but the yellow one kind of looks like a yellow lab. Am I wrong?


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## mpierson571 (Jan 28, 2012)

Yes I think your right, after looking at some pictures the blue one must be a mbuna. Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos looks just like it.

So are you saying just let things play out? Yes, the yellow one is a yellow lab.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

AfricanLove said:


> I might be mistaken but the yellow one kind of looks like a yellow lab. Am I wrong?


Not wrong, but we are trying to figure out which blue peacock from the right of the first picture spawned with the OB peacock in the second picture.

I don't see a peacock in the first picture. To me, the bottom right looks like an acei. And the top right looks like a maingano or johannii.


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

Yea to me only one of those look like peacocks


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would let the peacock spit in the tank since it seems she must be holding hybrid eggs, if they are even fertilized. Sometimes females will produce and hold eggs without a male present to fertilize them. When that happens, she spits or swallows them in about a week.


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