Surprise single male peacock gave birth to youngs
- Thread starter tiger15
- Start date
I owned them for about a year and both peacock had already colored up then as I wanted to keep male only. But both turned out to be female and held eggs. I had Jacobfriebergi peacock before and females are always drab in color . I am not interested in breeding peacock as I don't want to get stuck with ugly females. Now I got 20 fry out of one, I wonder who is the father. Potential father include several Saulosi males , one Moori male and one Eye Biter male tankmates. Most likely father would be Saulosi of the same size, whereas the Moori and the Eye Biter are 4x larger than the peacock. But the fry show no color and look more like Haps than Mbuna hybrid.
I am waiting for the other peacock to hold eggs again to see if the eggs are fertile. The fact that she held eggs for 2+weeks is a surprise as she is in a tank with no other Malawian to hybridize with, unless she is a self cloning female. There are known self cloning fish, crustacean, amphibian and reptiles.
I am waiting for the other peacock to hold eggs again to see if the eggs are fertile. The fact that she held eggs for 2+weeks is a surprise as she is in a tank with no other Malawian to hybridize with, unless she is a self cloning female. There are known self cloning fish, crustacean, amphibian and reptiles.
They were likely hormone feed which will cause females and juvies to show dominant adult male coloration. Have they colored done a bit since being brought? I was sold a 1M 2F Eureka Red Peacock trio but then I witnessed the "male" spawning with a girl, they both laid eggs but only the other female collected them. I was pissed as I believe the breeder new this but sold them as a breeding trio anyway. I have had one true male African hold eggs but he didn't lay them, apparently it can happen occasionally.
Yes, many hormone induced Haps are sold in lfs, but the hormone effect should have faded away long time ago as I own the peacock for over a year. I purchased the peacock from a club auction, so it is less likely to be hormoned.
The eye biter male tankmate was purchased from a store with hormone treatment. I was upset that he lost color within weeks and it takes forever to color up again. I post my frustration of not knowing his sex.
The eye biter male tankmate was purchased from a store with hormone treatment. I was upset that he lost color within weeks and it takes forever to color up again. I post my frustration of not knowing his sex.
The transformation was abrupt, just 2 days after it shed its female image, it turned hyperactive and colored up intensely, challenging its tanmates that used to bully it. I am surprised that it took a long time (1.5 year) and large size (9") before it finally colored up.
Ok, I was also wondering if its color was from hormones. Typically that would wear off after several weeks.
I bought hormone treated OB peacock years ago. It had the most vivid color of a male except that it laid eggs a few days later. It lost color a few weeks later and never recovered. Excessive hormone treatment can sterilize fish, but my peacock, if indeed hormoned, is fertile with babies. I also worried my hormone treated eye biter would never regain maleness, but it did 1.5 year later.
