Best Peacock and Hap species for a male only tank?

OnlyGenusCaps said:

Missed this originally. @Wills is correct, for peacocks, there are many, many hybrids. An ocean of them. And they all leave me, personally, feeling nothing. They are what I call "pretty butts". In other words, they are pretty, but... Why bother?

If you are after species, there are some incredible location types of Aulonocara stuartgranti & Aulonocara jacobfreibergi. These species are also recommended for beginners in peacocks, and not outlandishly aggressive by most accounts. (For wildly aggressive, Wills, if you really want a Tang challenge to aspire to check out Petrochromis.) A. stuartgranti tend to be blues and yellows, but there are some red morphs too, not hybrids. But if you really want to add reds then A. jacobfreibergi will appeal to you.

The big challenge with species at this point is just getting a hold of them. So many lazy and careless people have bred random hybrids that stores are filthy with them. This, I think, is the heart of what bothers species aficionados about hybrids. Because you don't need to take care and keep good records, it is far lazier to breed them, and then they replace good species. And as I have said in other posts - I can get any of your hybrids from my species, but you can never get my species back from your hybrids. It's a one way street. I think if people want colorful tanks, the all male approach is way better. Those folks get a display, and everyone else doesn't have to deal with their random hybrid offspring.

And if you end up wanting to be a responsible breeder of peacocks, you can still have the all male tank, and just pull the species out to breed with carefully paired lines of all female tanks. Then you have quality offspring when you want them, only.

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Wills said:

Just after a bit more reading - big question for me is trying to figure out how Haps fit into this? Are they larger more open water fish that can go with Peacocks?

Also learned what OB means and where the name comes from. I supose this is the bit I struggle with, with Africans and still trying to reconcile it in a way. This side of the hobby is much more relaxed about hybrids and the rules seem a lot more fluid as to mixing fish from different places and its sort of down to indivudals where they draw the line? I've always liked the diverse specific species of the Americans everything sort of ordered in a place where as Africans sort of feel like Jazz, a bit more fluid and its taking me a while to get my head around lol.

One thing that has BLOWN my mind is that all male Peacock tanks are sort of recommended, though its acknowledged that you miss out on the breeding. It feels like cheating... like in Americans you get a bit of blue in face squiggles, or red edge to the dorsal fin and these dudes are just like, bam I'm bright orange with blue spots, white fin seams and red stripes.

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SAChichlidLover said:

Thank you so much! I myself is trying to get my head around how I could pull the best all male peacock and hap tank and I really appreciate you're advice! I would love some rarer true aulonocara rather than the hybrids but I would'nt know where to look for them ?

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OnlyGenusCaps said:

Glad if I am ever helpful. Wish I could help direct you towards sources, but as I am in the States, I don't know the sources in the UK and Europe. From this side of The Pond though, it always seems like there are more varied options for most hobbies in Europe. I wish we had anything like the selection of Aquarium Glaser! I always tell people that whatever you are into there is always a German* who is more serious about it.

*Disclaimer: This is intended in a lighthearted way. I am simply impressed by the German sources I come across for so many interesting things and imagine there must be a great deal of dedication to bring those ventures to life.

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