**Suggestions for Peacock Bass Set-up?** Thx

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fishtankfactory

Gambusia
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Oct 30, 2007
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Hi,

Just starting my first Peacock Bass set up. Fish size ranges from 4-8 inches. I am going to start to put them in a 150 60x24x24, and when they get bigger I will house them accordingly.

Questions:

What substrate should I use? Gravel, sand or nothing (glass bottom)

Plants?

Ideal Tank mates?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.
 
tankmates? depends. Snooks are great, possibly one of the greatest, but a lot of other fish are compatable with peacock bass. I have seen anything from arowanas to puffers to stingrays.

My experience with young pbass is that they appreciate some cover from the lighting, so maybe some driftwood and plants that touch the top of the water that make them feel a bit more comfortable.
 
A mixture of crushed coral and medium sized rocks work great as a substrait...plenty of long plants...live or plastic...your choice the fish don't seem to care... bog wood and your set to go....

Tankmates? just about anything they can't eat or be eaten by....
 
I use a medium sized gravel as substrate with some large rocks and rootwood as decor. as far as takemates go I have a big cat and am contemplating adding my pike to the tank. If a Pbass can fit it into its mouth it WILL try to eat it. The smaller Pbass are in another tank with my jardini until they get big enough to go into with the big boys.
 
Wolf3101;1334470; said:
A mixture of crushed coral and medium sized rocks work great as a substrait...plenty of long plants...live or plastic...your choice the fish don't seem to care... bog wood and your set to go....

Tankmates? just about anything they can't eat or be eaten by....
Click to expand...

bare bottom is good .. but i perfer gravel or some sort of substrate. i would choose a dark color ... it will bring out the coral in your cichla... ALSO do not use crushed coral for cichla.. this will raise your ph way to high... when keeping cichla you want your ph about 6.5 to 7 .... when i had my sp. venz. i match the ph to there natural env.(6.3) if your ph is too high your colors will be washed out.

there is a wide selection of fish that can be kept with cichla, but the best is more cichla... they can take the abuse and a group of peacocks will keep all the other cichlas' colors top notch. hope this helps... Boost
 
Very helpful information. The bummer is that water in my area is natural high in ph. What are some suggestions to lower? I have a tester that only goes up to 7.8 and it color matches the test without a problem, so I'm sure it's probably higher than that.

Thanks,
 
bOOsteN aUdI;1335391; said:
bare bottom is good .. but i perfer gravel or some sort of substrate. i would choose a dark color ... it will bring out the coral in your cichla... ALSO do not use crushed coral for cichla.. this will raise your ph way to high... when keeping cichla you want your ph about 6.5 to 7 .... when i had my sp. venz. i match the ph to there natural env.(6.3) if your ph is too high your colors will be washed out.

there is a wide selection of fish that can be kept with cichla, but the best is more cichla... they can take the abuse and a group of peacocks will keep all the other cichlas' colors top notch. hope this helps... Boost
Click to expand...

Odd that we have several tanks up and running with a fairly large number of Pbass....all with crushed coral substraits and all with VERY colorful specimines... The PH in all of our tanks is a stable and constant 7.4 with RO/DI water. In fact the only water stability problems we ever had was in the days BEFORE using crushed coral as a buffering agent. We normally have a nitrate level of 40 ppm at 3 or 4 weeks and a TDS reading of between 389 and 450 during the same interval before the indicated water change.
 
you can do what you want but i like to personally match natural habitat.. bog wood lowers ph a bit, they sell additives that soften water parm. but i am not a big fan of additives.. there is a substrate that is used to grow plants that has peat traces and they say it will keep water between 6.5 and 6.8 or 7... soemthing like that .. if interested i will find you the name.
 
my cichla tanks range from 5.5-6.8ph ...high ph is not a good mix in the long term IMO. There are no cichla from high ph waters except possibly farm bred asian cichla. driftwood works best for a lower ph also peat bags in your filter will lower the ph(note: use of carbon will remove the peats acids ect from the water reducing its effect-so if you use carbon really no use to waste $$ on peat).
Best tankmates are broad bodied fish that they cant eat easily and in turn wont stress your cichla with aggression..ie larger silver dollars or red hooks in a shoal add a great moving contrast and always keep things lively...there is a lot you can mix,but you need to be carefull as cichla will eventually eat what will fit...I have had fish mixed in for up to 2 yrs without a nip and all of a sudden eaten..and my cichla eat twice daily so feeding will not play a part in helping potential victims in the long run. Also you must consider territorial factors when mixing such fish as it will cause conflict and stress your cichla into a camo and washed out look and ultimately possible unhealthy fish that hide and wither.
Decore is best with darker colors inc gravel and some hiding places to the back corners ect, but best to leave open swimming area as they do swim constantly...even moreso when kept in groups.
just some ideas....there are many ways you can keep your fish as long as you keep them healthy. ;)
 
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