# When do Peacocks color up



## joeyrm

I'm very new to cichlids and appearently not too good with a ruler. I purchase 4 male Peacocks from my LFS which I estimated at 3" and in retrospect probably 4" which all had fabulous color. I purchased 5 more male Peacocks from an online source with an estimated size ranging between 2.5-3" and "good color". The fish came in healthy looking and began eating immediately, however their color is no where near what it should be according to the pictures. At what size do most Peacocks achieve their mature colors and from this point how long does it take to get there?


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## KraKstar

im no expert but from my experience my peacocks have colored up at different rates. they are in an all male tank so theres no females to show off to so maybe half of my peacocks have color potential but do show it due to dominance. but some just color up and grow faster then others. my haps seem to be taking a long time to color accept for my taiwan reef. by far has grown the fastest and colored up the fastest too.


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## Sub-Mariner

Theres no set size or time that they color up. They color up when they feel safe and comfortable enough to color up, are mature enough to color up, are higher up on the totem pole, are juiced up with hormones, are feed a good diet, have females around or _________.....

If I missed something feel free to fill in the blank.


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## DanniGirl

Sub-Mariner hit it all.

Add that to the fact that they were newly added to the tank.

If they're sub-dominant, they will never color up to their full potential anyway. Just give it time.


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## DJRansome

I'm not sure it's too common for them to color up smaller than 2.5" though. I try not to start worrying until the fish is over 3".

But definitely give them a month to settle in regardless of size.

And with four males...only #1 in dominance will be his best. The others will be just slightly (or a lot) less colorful then their full potential.


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