Care
These colourful Peacocks are aquarium produced hybrids. The exact origins are not very clear but they are believed to be a cross between an Aulonocara species and possibly a Haplochromine, and the resultant offspring then crossed again with an orange-blotched Mbuna. Line-breeding to encourage the temperament and body shape of Aulonocara then gives us fishes that maximise colour but minimise aggression. Some variation can be seen in many batches of these fishes which indicates their mixed ancestry.
The aquarium should be at least 4ft long and aquascaped with open expanses of sand in addition to a few rocky areas. Decor such as ocean rock can be used to build sturdy structures which stretch from the base of the tank to near the surface of the water. These structures should be built with the purpose of creating many crevices for the fish to explore but constructed in such a way so as to keep the rocks stable if the fish start to dig around and underneath them. Although a substrate of coral sand or Aragonite is often recommended to help to keep the water hard and alkaline, Peacocks feel safer and show better colours over a darker substrate. The Aragonite or coral sand can always be placed into a mesh bag and kept inside the external filter for buffering purposes. Crossing with mbuna to introduce the OB gene has increased aggression levels compared to Aulonocara, but this is a relatively peaceful fish as far as Malawi cichlids are concerned. Whilst it may be tempting to add more of the colourful males than females to your setup, this will result in increased territorial disputes and stress. A better combination, although requiring a large aquarium, would be one or three males with a larger group (5+) of females. This species can be kept successfully alongside midwater Haps such as Copadichromis, Cyrtocara, Placidochromis etc and some of the more easygoing Mbuna (such as Labidochromis caeruleus). May be seen on sale under a variety of names that normally relate to strains, such as Strawberry peacock, Calico/OB peacock, Red peacock etc.
Feeding
Omnivorous. Offer a good quality flake food, appropriately sized granular foods, and small meaty frozen foods such as Mysis shrimp, vitamin/Spirulina-enriched brineshrimp, mosquito larvae etc along with some vegetable matter such as cucumber, blanched spinach and romaine lettuce.
Breeding
Maternal mouthbrooder. When ready to spawn, the colouration of the male will intensify and his aggression level will heighten. He will choose a spawning site and dig a small depression in the substrate after which time he will pursue and show off to all the females in the tank until one accepts him and follows to the spawning site. They will circle each other in a head to tail manner a number of times, until the female deposits her eggs. These are deposited just one or two at a time and after doing so, she immediately turns around and picks them up. At the same time, the male will rotate so that he is almost on his side, at the same time shaking and extending his anal fin, releasing his milt. The female sees the egg spots on the male's anal fin and attempts to pick up those dummy eggs whilst she is picking up the real ones that she deposited, and at the same time taking in milt. This is the method of fertilisation, and this ritual may go on for some hours. The eggs may be incubated for around 3 weeks until they hatch and the resultant fry held for a further few days afterwards.
