will my peacocks ever get along?

[Abyss]

I've had these problems introducing new peacocks into my tank...but...they always seem to work themselves out without death or severe injury. At worst, you get some damaged mouths from fighting until it settles down.

My advice is to make sure that there are plenty of hiding places for the bullied peacock. He'll go in and hide. Probably disappear for long periods. Any time he comes out, the dominant peacock will chase him about. BUT...eventually, a balance will be found, and the bullied peacock will emerge as he gains more confidence.

I have 4 male peacocks in my tank and 1 female. The top peacock has been 3 different fish. It's always settled with a minor fight. I mix dwarf mbuna and peacocks, and easily the most dominant fish in the tank are the peacocks. I guess it's down to size. I find keeping multiple males brings out their colour better, making them highly impressive additions to the tank.

My advice, stick with it, providing you have plenty of hiding places.

 

[sook9]

sadly one of the peacock died last week,he stopped eating for days and his stomach was like it was abut to blow up so i found him dead last week he was the bullied but dominat fish since i keeped the agressor away split with 20% of the tank for him

i thought peacocks somewhat were less agressive than mbunas but for me it was just the same when the meet another male from the same specie they go crazy like any cichlid

 

[paulW]

Don't give up on Peacocks.. I have about 20 or so sharing a 300 with some other malawi fish, they all get along.

I also have about 9 or so in a 75 .. get along fine.
Both are mostly males.

Every once in awhile you get a pshyco peacock, but for the most part, they are pretty mellow.

 

[neutrino]

sadly one of the peacock died last week,he stopped eating for days and his stomach was like it was abut to blow up so i found him dead last week he was the bullied but dominat fish since i keeped the agressor away split with 20% of the tank for him

i thought peacocks somewhat were less agressive than mbunas but for me it was just the same when the meet another male from the same specie they go crazy like any cichlid

Came too late to this thread to be of any help, but you've pretty much got it right there. Once two male peacocks of the same or different aulonocara species decide they don't like each other, one usually ends up dead-- if not murdered overnight, then in much the way you describe. A certain percentage of presumed bloat is actually caused by such aggression. sometimes unrecognized when the really nasty stuff happens either when you're not around or at night.

If you wonder about my qualifications are for my comments, which wouldn't be unreasonable, I bred haps and peacocks for years and I've raised a few thousand of them. As far as peacocks not being that aggressive, which you often see mentioned in fish profiles, that somewhat depends on specific species, though overall it's only relative-- such as more peaceful than some mbuna or they're potentially peaceful with larger haps. But you can also get some peacock males that are psycho aggressive. Just two male peacocks in a tank is often pretty risky, unless it's a large enough and busy enough tank or you can shuttle combinations in and out until you get two that happen to tolerate each other, which may or may not last very long.

Don't give up on Peacocks.. I have about 20 or so sharing a 300 with some other malawi fish, they all get along.


I also have about 9 or so in a 75 .. get along fine.
Both are mostly males.

The difference is keeping multiples of them, much better formula for success with peacocks. However, trying to keep just two males together is rolling the dice, especially in a four foot tank.

 

[GaCichlid]

Over stocking helped me out a lot. There is always another fish to break the line of sight to end the chasing. But there would always be an exception to this. I had a German red who would go after anything that was albino or orange. Same with a dragon blood I still have. Even moving tanks did not help. I ended up getting rid of the German red because of this. Like another poster said, trial and error.