# Peacock attacking female Melanochromis auratus



## iheartstorme (Feb 3, 2010)

My boyfriend and I have recently aquired a peacock and melanchromis auratus cichlid. They are the only 2 fish in the tank and have plenty of hiding spaces (plants and caves). They are about the same size. Not sure of the sex of the peacock but the other is a female.

They were both under attack from their previous tank and have some battle scars. We had the peacock for a day in the tank by himself before we added the other. Everything I have read says that the M. auratus should be the more aggressive fish, however in this situation she is the one being picked on.

Any ideas on ways to solve this problem????

I read some ideas were to add another fish about the same size. What breed/sex would be good?

Any recomendations would be great. We don't want to see these fish die!


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

how big is the tank?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

james1983 said:


> how big is the tank?


Dimensions and volume.

What type of Peacock?

How do you know the auratus is female?

What size are these fish?

Two Malawian cichlids in a tank, is always going to end up ugly.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

> Two Malawian cichlids in a tank, is always going to end up ugly.


regardless of tanksize or species.
that being said you need more fish but need to know dimensions to make sure you have room for more let alone the two that are in there


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## iheartstorme (Feb 3, 2010)

The fish are about 3- 3 1/2 inches long and they live in a 30 gallon tank.

I am not sure what type of peacock it is. Right now it is a dark brown color with a little bit of yellow on the dorsal fin.

I am guessing the auratus is a female because it looks like pictures of a female on the internet.

The background of how we got these fish is that I know someone who has a 30 gallon tall tank that has a coblat blue, a yellow lab, giraffe, and a cat fish. Originally these fish were also in the tank. The cobalt blue is twice the size of all the other fish. She now wants the 2 i have back. I have a feeling these fish are not going to live long, but the pet store assures her they will live.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

dimensions???

aurutus need a 6 foot tank with 1 male/ 6 females


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## iheartstorme (Feb 3, 2010)

The tank dimensions are 30"L x 12"W x 18"H


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

Too small.... I would get rid of both, or just the auratus.....


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## iheartstorme (Feb 3, 2010)

well they are both headed back to a tank that is the exact same size but contains a 6inch cobalt blue, a 3inch giraffe and a 3 inch yellow lab.


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## scrubjay (Oct 25, 2009)

Your friend with the 30-gallon tall is not providing anywhere near minimum conditions for her cichlids. Giraffe cichlids get very large! When African cichlids are in such a small tank, they have nowhere to go if they are being bullied--caves are not adequate in this situation. The best you can do is probably put some pvc tubes in there for the auratus to hide in. They need to get completely out of the sight of the other. Basically, she can't escape the territory that the other fish is defending.

Adding fish in this case will not help---a 30-gallon is not adequate for even these two fish, and overcrowding it will only make things worse for them. Removing one or the other is really about all you can do. Don't take advice from a pet store seriously; they are only out to sell you stuff and their advice can be ridiculously inaccurate, as in this case. Nobody who cares about their animals would put a giraffe cichlid in a 30-gallon tank. Keeping African cichlids requires that at least _some _research and planning go into selecting suitable tank mates. Unfortunately it is the fish that suffer when this doesn't happen. :?

I appreciate that your heart is in the right place and you only want to help these two fish, but if she wants them back, there's not much you can do. But if you and your boyfriend want to keep a few cichlids, at least you can learn from her mistake and start out right and have a better experience. There are some very nice small cichlids from both Africa and South America that you can keep in a smaller tank, but I would not advise Malawi cichlids. I hope this isn't your last fishy adventure :wink:

There are cheap fish tanks for sale on craigslist--LOTS of them.


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## iheartstorme (Feb 3, 2010)

Thank you very much everyone for all of your advice. So far all of the fish are alive but who knows what the future will bring for them.

The cichlid is a beautiful and often entertaining fish that my boyfriend and I would love to learn more about and hopefully at some point put a tank together. I am sure we will be coming back to these forums and asking for advice.


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## chrisFewell (Feb 3, 2009)

i must have a wimpy auratus....he is in a 56G tank that is 30x18x24 with about 10 other mbuna and he doesnt chase a thing. Hes about 4" long and i have a slal albino auratus and some other small 1" guys in there.


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