# Peacock behavior questions



## Lars23 (May 23, 2020)

I have a juvenile strawberry pc cichlid about 1.75in long.
He always hangs out at the top of my aquarium. 
I know most things read lack of o2 in the water


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Is he the only cichlid in the tank? Usually that means he is being harassed by other cichlids and is trying to hide or get away.

Can you provide more info on tank size and other fish in the tank?


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## Lars23 (May 23, 2020)

90 gallon tank.
Ph is 8.0
Temp 80-81
15 peacocks
1 mbuna
I assumed he was hiding and not lack of o2. He eats when i feed and will swim around here and there but most of the time he is hiding. The bigger fish dont really mess with hime but the other little guys like to pick on him a little.
I know most say not have mbuna in my pc tank but he or she gets along just fine currently with all the others.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

He is trying to be invisible because of real or imagined harassment. Either way it is something you need to address.

Are all the peacocks males?


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## Lars23 (May 23, 2020)

Well what exactly can be done?
At his size can he go in a community tank for a little while?
I have a 55 and 46 community tanks and a 20 gallon that is fish out cycling. I also have a divided 10 gallon with a betta on one side and nothing in the other. He could go in that for a while. Some of these options sound stupid i know but its what i got.


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## Lars23 (May 23, 2020)

I honestly think it would be way more stressful trying to net him in this big 90 gallon.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Netting a fish should not be stressful. And...if the situation is not addressed, he could get sick and die. So...&#8230;..

Are all the peacocks males? When you do an all-male tank you accept the reality that you will need to change the stocking periodically over the first 2 years or so to get a workable balance.

I have tried "time out" with the idea to return the fish to the tank several times, with varying lengths of time away, and it has never worked. The same situation develops again and then I am stuck netting him again. Members report the same.

You can rehome the victim. You can rehome the aggressor. You can rehome look alikes (any other red, pink or orange peacock). You can rehome any females. It depends on your goals for the tank.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

DJRansome said:


> ... I have tried "time out" with the idea to return the fish to the tank several times, with varying lengths of time away, and it has never worked. The same situation develops again...


I agree. The only time I have ever seen something like this work in my _Tropheus_ colonies is by isolating the fish that has been picked-on until he/she has recovered- usually a few weeks- then add the fish back to the colony after having _completely_ rearranged the rockwork _etc._ in the tank. What seems to work best for me is to remove _all_ the rockwork, and then to add it back to the tank little-by-little. It's my opinion that getting the fish back into the colony has more to do with the rearranged aquascaping than the 'time out.' But the social structure of a _Tropheus_ colony is completely different from a tank of male peacocks, so I have no idea if this would work for you. Re-homing would seem to be the most straightforward solution. Good luck.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Also not a peacock story, but rearranging rocks. I did this once with a relatively peaceful demasoni colony thinking to improve things even more. World War III broke out and things got worse. My first experience with bloat. Changing the aquascape does not always improve things.


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## SoccerMbunaAndShak (Apr 7, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> Also not a peacock story, but rearranging rocks. I did this once with a relatively peaceful demasoni colony thinking to improve things even more. World War III broke out and things got worse. My first experience with bloat. Changing the aquascape does not always improve things.


I agree. My acei do not stand a chance to the zebras in the tank, despite being very similar size. As a result, the zebras get the rocks. Whenever I try to rearrange the rocks, the acei dominant male thinks he has a shot against the zebra dominant male, and they fight it out. This is where I have seen the worst damage to the acei, with many of it's fins nipped, and scales missing. It has been 6 months since I have rearranged the rocks, and my acei, including the dominant male, have their fins fully extended, and not so much as a nipped fin. They still do get chased away from the rocks by the zebras if they get to close, but at least there is peace.


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## Lars23 (May 23, 2020)

The little guy is back on bottom now and not getting picked on to much seems happy at current time.
I changed the flow direction of my output nozzles on both my canister pumps and it pretty much calmed everyone down.


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