Peacocks or Mbuna

[Gareth83]

Hi all,

after all the years of fish keeping and never had a African Cichlid aquarium I’ve decided to finally have one. The tank I’m using is a 330L running a 150L sump and eheim pro4e canister, so a little under 500L water volume with plenty of filtration.

This tank was used has an successful American Cichlid tank which I ran for over 5 years so it’s all cycled and ready.The water where I live is soft so
i’ve dosed to increase KH & GH and have the perimeters where I need them.

move researched both Peacocks and Mbuna so I have a general knowledge of their requirements and behaviours, I guess the question is do I have a Mbuna tank or Peacock tank? With never caring for this species of fish I’m unsure which route to go down and would love to hear from other Peacock/Mbuna keepers of their experiences and knowledge.

thanks

 

[Retired Viking]

Nice start, I had African Cichilds many years ago. My daughter brought home 8 of them from college as a rescue. I put them in my 55 gallon community tank and they soon took over. I had to move all my other fish to other tanks except a pleco. They then had young and in about a year I had over 50 young adult chiclids that I gave away. I made the mistake of encouraging them to have young and having lots of fry grass. They were fun to watch at first. Good luck.

 

[utahfish]

Im not a big fan of aggressive fish, just one more thing to worry about so i tend to avoid them, having said that mbuna can be very aggressive so i would lean more towards peacocks. I also think peacocks are prettier and have more variety. Just my two cents. Good luck have fun!

 

[Treestone]

Awesome setup! I don't have any experience with African cichlids but I've done a lot of reading on them. With that size tank, and filtration setup either would be great but as you probably already know they need very different scapes. Atm with all that open swimming space peacocks and larger mbuna would be ideal but more rockwork would be required for a more demasoni/auratus more aggressive mbuna setup. I've always loved melanochromis exasperatus so that would be my personal preference. Go with your favourite species and buy a male and multiple females, setting up a breeding colony or take on a more diverse community and overcome the difficulties which come with that.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I know almost nothing about cichlids I'm afraid, and my aquascaping style is more heavily planted jungle looks which don't suit cichlids too well, but just want to say that I love the scape you've made! It looks awesome. Did you make your own 3D background?

 

[Gareth83]

Some really good Useful feedback regarding which species you fish keepers would keep. I was already leaning heavily towards Peacocks so I think you’ve helped me make my mind up.

the background is from an old 4ft setup I had awhile ago, while the 4ft width is perfectthe tank it’s in now is 2ft high so I’ve had to use some rockery and bogwood which neatly covers the bottom, it seems to do the job. I too love planted aquarium but other than perhaps a small Anubias I won’t be bothering.

 

[Treestone]

Some really good Useful feedback regarding which species you fish keepers would keep. I was already leaning heavily towards Peacocks so I think you’ve helped me make my mind up.

the background is from an old 4ft setup I had awhile ago, while the 4ft width is perfectthe tank it’s in now is 2ft high so I’ve had to use some rockery and bogwood which neatly covers the bottom, it seems to do the job. I too love planted aquarium but other than perhaps a small Anubias I won’t be bothering.

What strains of Peacock are you thinking of keeping?

 

[Gareth83]

I’ve just started a list of the genres I’m interested in, what do you think?

small list but to just name a few,

Aulonocara Hueseri
” “ Stuartgranti Flavescent
“ “ Mamelela
“ “ Rubescen
“ “ Ngara

Just looking for any advice which will cohabit peacefully or any i should avoid...

thanks

 

[cupofjoel]

Great looking tank! I don't have experience with them, but I was very close to getting cichlids, but they are too aggressive for my wife and it would stress her out too much. Happy wife, happy life! Good luck with your exciting decision.

 

[Gareth83]

So I’m happy with my tank now and it’s time to stock it, does anyone have any recommendations for Malawi breeders, or shops in the north west or even and good online shops?
Thanks