I have one cichlid tank and I just try to break every rule and tradition with cichlid keeping. Americans with Africans, convicts with other species, peacocks and mbunas, you name it! They are all alive and healthy with no problems whatsoever.
@@AdamUS123-j7q I’ve had a peacocks and mbunas in a 75 for 2 years and you just gotta make sure you have over 6 fish and they are around the same size keep decorations and hiding limited so no fish can have a territory. Feed twice a day a healthy food and you should be fine water changes every other week if you have good filtration.
@@c4onmylip It went amazing I mixed a 2 peacocks with 25 mbunas and a blood parrot and the only thing is that sometimes the mbunas get a little aggressive but it’s only temporary and I have had no deaths and things are going well!!
All good points, but the funny thing about this hobby is that sometimes violating the rules just works. I have an overstocked 56 Gallon planted tank with Peacocks and Mbunas that's been doing well for about a year now. I just feed them the basic flakes and pellets from my LFS (no fancy cichlid formula) and they all seem happy and healthy.
Great debate! I have a mixed 125 gal of peacocks and mbunas. Really haven’t had many issues. One thing I noticed is the mbunas are sometimes aggressive to the other mbunas and leave the peacocks alone and vice versa with the peacocks!
Zenzo (video) is it? He's absolutely right. About diet also. Tho I've found 50/50 mix of flakes/grated frozen shrimp does quiet well for peacocks/mixed tank. @Quality I sell imported cichlids, and I always tell people there are exceptions to every rule! But description in video is bang on general guidlines. Mbunas and large predator Haps together. Peacocks, Tanganyikans and some of the smaller, more docile Haps together. Electric blue Acara, Blood parrot and even discus can be kept with peacocks and Tanganyikans also for that matter... ...but it's risky!!
Zenzo, you included, I'm going with what RU-vid University has taught me, two different tanks, one Mbuna and one Peacock/Hap. I'm currently stocking a 55 with Mbuna and then working on rebuilding a used 150 for my Peacock/Hap tank. I kept a Jack Dempsey in the 55 for 14 years and had to euthanize him due to old age, and that inspired me to set up the two separate Malawi tanks. Thank you for being one of my teachers!
I have African cichlids Aquarium with Haps Peacocks Lake Malawi and lake Tanganyika living together with no problem just making sure water parameters are set for Lake Tanganyika PH, love them all 🥇 Thank you 🙏
I've had mbuna now for a couple years. 3 weeks ago I added some peacocks. I added 4 at one time. I recently added 4 more. I feed mine a mixture of Omega One Super Color pellets, Northfin Veggie Pellets and Ron's mbuna mix. Mine are all doing great! My tank has tons of rocks down low and then plenty of space up top for my peacocks to swim around. Only had one mbuna die, it was under 2 inches so not sure what happened with that one. My dragon blood and my yellow metraclima hybrid are keeping everyone in check. My fish seem to be more active and swim around more since adding the peacocks.
I have a 220gal all male community tank with 18 various aulonocara, about 15 mbuna(bumblebees, yellow labs, rusties, estherae, elongatus, acei), 3 blue dolphins, 2 taiwan reefs, 2 fryeri, 2 red empress, 2 livingstoni, 1 venustus and 10 petricolas.(this video actually made me do a physical headcount for the first time in years!) Anyway I've had it for about 6yrs without much issues. Prior to that I had 2 65gal tanks, 1 was peacocks only and the other was haps and mbunas, I basically combined the 2 tanks when I upgraded to my 220. I don't do anything complex for food, I started out with just NLS Thera A then moved to a 50/50 mix of NLS and hikari excel about 4yrs ago, and over the last couple of months I switched to a 50/50 mix of 2mm northfin cichlid and veggie. I autofeed the tank twice a day and have the amount set to where the each feed is eaten in 8-10 seconds. I was initially worried that my tiny petricolas werent getting any food but it's been years and they are about 4.5-5.5" now and plenty heavy in the mid section(Yes, I am 1000% sure they are petricolas). I had heard the same thing back then as I do now where some folks think mbunas and peacocks can't/shouldnt be kept together and I can say wholeheartedly in my personal experience it can indeed be done. Maybe I got lucky, I don't know, my stocking just works. Whether they should be kept together on the other hand I think is debatable, the idea is not to just survive together, they have to thrive and to me that means healthy, well fed, not stressed, not getting beaten up 10 times a day, good color, good fins etc. Based on that, I think they are thriving fine in my tank, though they may not in someone else's. Have I experienced bloat? Not in any mbuna I have ever kept, and I didnt always feed my mbunas "veggie" foods. On the otherhand, I have gotten bloat in 2 peacocks over the years, 1 died because of my own negligence(i didnt notice it til it was too late), the other survived treatment and is still in the tank today. Have I had aggression issues? Of course but it was never anything I couldn't manage. Most of the aggression in my tank has been between conspecifics rather than cross species. Also, having a 220 with over 100kg of rocks definitely helps with that.
Still not convinced that you didn't move the goods before your filmed! I know what you SF area people do! 😂😂😂 (Just kidding, curtains look nicer than junk)
Thanks for sharing. I was thinking about this topic earlier today. I have a 55 with some young Peacocks and a Mbuna and noticed that she remains in the corners recently, and only comes out for feeding. I think she also carried eggs recently, but I wasn't aware of the process. Now I'm learning about the difference between them two and am wondering, is it natural for a Peacock to fertilize a Mbuna's eggs? Great video again, I look forward to others on your channel.
Everyone has their opinion ! I my self have a 90 gal bowfront aquarium with Embunas , Peacocks & Haps they seem to get along well & yes feeding them is challenging at times ! Been doing this for about 4 years now , with success . It can be done ! 👍🐟🐟🐟😃
I have both and I feed veggie flakes, brine shrimp,and spectrum pellets they are doing great and tank scape is perfect for both. Malawi Buffer and Cichlid Salt does wonders with weekly water changes. Also make sure your tank is properly stocked so it reduces aggression. Great Video Zenzo 🤙🏼
I currently have 4 tanks, various tropicals and planted. Jumped into cichlids with a 40breeder given to me. Went to my lfs and accidently bought 2 haps and 2 peacocks out of 12 fish. The lfs had them all listed as african mbuna. Yes i should have double checked but wife wanted them and i didnt use google image until later at home. I will grow the haps out and get a bigger tank. However i have 2 tidal 75s and a 307 and my tank seams perfect. I have lots of rocks, they dig hiding places and show minimal fighting. I currently use a mix of herbivore cichlid excel and sera cichlid granugreen *sera is an excellent brand* with kavemans recommened dosing of garlic guard, nourish, and vitachem and the health and colors are amazing. Now i also give frozen spirula and brine every 3-4 days. All is doing great. I'd love to have a 120 it justs not in the budget at the moment.
I was gifted a 75 gallon and a 55 gallon setup with big canister filters and African cichlids, I have Mbuna and Peacocks mixed and definitely overstocked. I’ve seen no REAL aggression or problems other than just common cichlid pecking order stuff that dissipates quickly. I will say that with the Mbuna I am target feeding so that they get some plants in their diet and it doesn’t consist of just total protein based foods.
Nice topic. I am a beginner in African Cichlids hobby. I have mix of Mbuna and Peacock cichlids in the same tank. I do feed then the same way you have suggested in this video. I feed them Hikari Cichlids Excel floating one time and Hikari Cichlids Bio Active plus at another time. They are happy and playful and enough Rocky hiding places in tank. One thing I have noticed that colours of all Mbunas has enhanced however yellow peacock's colour not enhanced yet but it's not in stressed, however healthy and playing around the tank. Anyway thanks for the video, learnt a lot from your video.
A white umbrella behind the curtain has me very concerned😂🤣😂 I tried to keep them together but when the Mbuna put on size then got way too aggressive. Granted, that was in a 60 gal and maybe it would have worked in a bigger tank like my 150? But due to diet requirements and aggression I ended up rehoming the Mbuna.
I have Mbuna and peacocks in a 40 breeder. Have had them for almost a year now. They are actually doing quite well. I cannot complain. My male Mbuna still thinks he’s the king of the tank, but other than that, they get along decently.
@Drinking Water mostly O.B.‘s they still get along really well, I also put in a red zebra, and he does just fine with them too. I also have a few red empresses but they’re in their own tank.
I’m setting up a 40gal with mbunas. How many do peacocks and mbunas are in the tank ? Also what do you feed them ? Thanks in advance if you see this 😅 🙏🏽
Same here using 40 breeder they pretty much all pick on each other no one fish is getting beat up them only just chase others out of a cave then repeat all day fun tank to watch
I keep an ob peacock in with a red zebra, pombos rock, red fin, jewel, an nmbuna hybrid cichlid and a pictus cat and an angel in my 55. Theres a little pushing and shoving but all in all they get along pretty well. My peacock is the second biggest behind the jewel so I think that helps. I also rotate food between flake one day, pellets the next, then blood worms the third so everyone gets something they like. Just my experience seems to work out alright. I have plenty of plants, drift wood and rocks though too so I'm sure that helps with spacing everyone out
Also let's not forget there are a lot of mbunas labeled as carnivores. If you can pick and choose the type of mbuna to put with peacocks, as far as diet goes, you will be fine. For me, the aggression is the main concern, although you can avoid the more aggressive mbunas. And as far as size size goes, they say make sure the mbuna has a size disadvantage. But in my experience, I've introduced smaller juveniles in my tank and the bigger mbunas dont pay them any attention.
In my seven foot 160 gallon I have mbuna, peacocks, Haps, frontoza,and victorians ( males and females). It's been going that way for about 5 years with no problems
My mubuna cichlids are very aggressive and territorial and they are always moving coral sand around the tank which look very untidy. I also have a tank of peacocks with a few haps. I was going to mix them all together but after researching the issue, I’m not going yo mix them as it will cause more problems, my mbuna fish are going to be sold . I love the color of the male peacocks so going to keep them. I’m used to having a traditional peaceful aquarium with tetras, danios, swordtail ect. At the end of the day it’s weather your prepared to tolerate the fighting and aggression.
Zenzo, that is exactly how I feed my Mbuna and Peacocks. I have them both, the Mbunas in the morning and the Peacocks in the evening. I think I have a balance at this time in moment. If I start to see a change, I will adjust. My tank has been this way for about a year. 65 gal currently but getting switched to a 120 in the coming months 😊 Thank you for this video.
Hey I have a 90 gallon tank mixed mbuna and peacocks - I only have 5 peacocks and 20 mbuna. I do exactly what you recommend here in feeding, I do spiralina and algae flakes in am, bloodworms / pellets in afternoon and a bit more vegetarian food in evening and everyone is thriving. They do cause each other occasionally but I have over 50lbs of rock with MANY hiding places, including plants with suction cups on the sides for hiding up higher. I have 2 large canister filters one with a uv sterilizing bulb, and lots of oxygen going in. My ph is consistently at 8.0, temp 78, Nitrites and Nitrates at 0, GH and KH at maximum levels perfect for cichlids. They are amazing! I do small often water changes with the syphon to remove excess waste. I have a Cory cat, small spotted cat, 2 columbian sharks and a pleco for bottom cleaners and 5 tiny danios that swim in a small school way at the top and everyone gets along amazing!
I'm so happy I live in the Netherlands, my lps isn't retared and cares for the fish and birds and every LIVING ANIMAL. I would love to see petco and petsmart go bankrupt
I was new to the hobby Bought fish because I liked the way they looked Didnt know much about mbunas or peacocks Ended up with mostly peacocks and some mbunas in my 120 Everythings going well so far but if I were starting out I would have went with all peacocks
Hi it might be late I am commenting on this video..but it's a nice information..I always kept peacocks and Mbuna along with some south American cichlids like salvini,red tiger motaguense..but they are fine ...but sometimes like you said my Mbuna chase my peacocks...and there will be lot of lip to lip fighting among Mbuna..As far is feeding i feed a mixed diet including cichlids pellets,freeze dried worms,frozens peas,tetra flakes etc..
I keep a yellow lab and yellow tail acei w several peacocks, few haps, and 2 parrots and they get along fine. I feed omega one kelp flakes and mix their color pellets w veggie pellets and the fish love it.
I have two mixed tanks with African and American cichlids and it's working great no problem at all very healthy fish in my two tanks, I wish I had room for a 125 tank, bit I have a 55 and 75 gal tank
I just started in a hobby and someone was helping me, unfortunately I believe they had their own interests. I have a 90 gallon long tank with 24 peacocks and two mbunas. I just added 3 medium size peacocks and some of them got much bigger in a tank. I saw them try attacking a mbuna as a group, one large peacock that grew in the tank starts and others then follow. Is this normal? What should I do. I had this tank for 7 months and the aggression always existed to some degree, however mbuna usually was the one attacking peacocks. Thank you.
I just recently learned this.. I jumped in both feet first and had no idea about this.. and I have a mixed tank. I also didn’t know the diets were different.. but I do now. Thankfully there is no fighting but, I’m looking into getting another tank to separate if I have to.. but so far I do feed a veggie base diet in the morning and a more “meat” diet in the evening. All seem to be doing well! But, as I learn more I will know better for next time.
Will your general cichlid pellet that has say 45% protein be ok for your mbuna if fed every other day? While also feeling veg and spirilina flakes ect? The other day
I have a 90 long set up for 5 years and have had no issues with peacocks and Mbuna and other cichlids and a few random tank mates. Lots of hiding spaces and even had a Pacu that got way too big and had to adopt him out. Feeding a mixture of foods for all to get what they need. Guess I have been lucky.
I made it work with 72 gallon bowfront. No dietary issues I can see in a few years. NLF food and many others I use. It is my staple with lots of research. Lots of veggies also. Peas now and then. Two tropheus and several demasoni mbira. I always tell people I rent fish lol. And yes I go against the grain and have hybrids lol. Love my blue polars and parrots.
I have no problems. I have a 55 gallon with mbunas, peacocks, and haps. I feed them a mix of NorthFins cichlid and veggie pellets and once in a while I throw in some algae wafers for the mbunas and the pleco.
Fixing to put some peacocks with my mbunas ,are there any peacocks that you guys would recommend? I jus love my fish but I need some peacocks!!!!!! At least a couple .I love ur videos!!!! 💗 I'm learning as I go .lol
Great video bro! I totally agree with this. I think if your guna do a mixed tank your guna need a really big tank to give the mbuna their rocky habitat and the peacocks open water. Btw your almost at 20k!!! So awesome seeing your channel grow I've been watching you for a while now and your a favorite of mine forsure!
I have inherited a Cichlid tank from my son. I always did angel fish and tetras and loaches etc. In fact I have a 400 gallon tank with a great variety. Then my son moved away and gave me his cichlids. I was building a salt water tank but because he gave me his cichlids he had in a 65 gallon tank I changed my mind. I moved them into a 150 gallon with a 80 gallon Refugium. It had one huge Oscar and all different kinds of cichlids... but because I had never raised cichlids I didn’t know any rules of thumb. I immediately went out and bought another Oscar because in my heart one is the loneliest number! The fish store said your giant Cichlid will immediately kill this one. Well I thought I’ll distract it and added a bunch of feeder fish at the same time I put the Oscar who was about 1/3 of the size of the original. They are best friends. They even snuggle. There are all different kinds of cichlids in the tank too. I added because I wanted pretty colors... yes I’m a woman. This week I put one of my male angel fish into the tank because he was getting picked on by another male in my 400 gallon. I know my Cichlid tank must be the exception and not the rule... I have had this tank since September of 2019 and so far have only lost one fish that I’m aware of. It jumped out and landed on the lid and dried out before I discovered it. I feed my fish crickets a couple of times a week. Spirolina tablets. Fish flakes, frog food, bug bites and Cichlid food... both floating and sinking. I’m thinking about raising red worms because both tanks would enjoy them. I occasionally feed them blood worms zucchini and a few of the many babies that end up in my refugiums. The Cichlid tank has lots of hiding places and mostly a sandy bottom. It does not have schools of fish of the same color and variety. Except for the schools of babies that have hatched. I think they are yellow electric cichlids. These fish sometimes get grumpy but never really damage each other. My son fed his Oscar lizards! I don’t feed it lizards. So today I’m surfing the web trying to figure out how to tell males from female cichlids and stumble onto this video... I do have duckweed in my tank. But I gave up on trying to have live plants because they like to rearrange everything immediately after I put anything new in there! So you can imagine my surprise when I watched this video!
You answered my question..I am looking and doing research before diving into mbunas and peacocks but it makes sense to keep them separate just for the fact they need a different diet….
I have Peacock, Haps, Labs,Texas,Blue Acari, Convict (female) 21 in all, all in my huge tank. I watch them for hours everyday. All get along well. My Mbuna is the tank cheif, but seems to share power with my fire red peacock cichlid. The only trouble I had was trying to keep a male convict with them. The convicts constantly tried to breed, becoming territorial over one end of the tank. I removed him, rehomed to my 75 with young Oscars. Now both tanks are great. I've learned all fish are different. I quit listening to people, and started observing each individual fish.
in my experience i have noticed no issues with keeping mbuna and peacocks together. i have about 12 peacocks and about 13 or 14 mbunas in my tank right now. the mbunas sometimes chase, but are not really troublesome for the peacocks. the peacocks will sometimes get chased when they get into the mbunas rock territory, but usually the peacocks stay in the more open water while the mbunas hang by the rocks. the peacocks dont even have any nipped fins, unless i add a new cichlid to the tank. he will get bullied for a day or two, but once they are accepted into the group they do just nicely. i mainly notice peacock on peacock violence and mbuna on mbuna violence, but nothing out of hand. you cant have an african tank without some chasing. great video by the way. i love the combo of mbuna and peacocks, because while the mbuna hang by the rocks, the peacocks are normally swimming back and forth in the front of the tank looking beautiful.
Thank you so much for your videos! Please keep making them, I have learned so much from them, they are awesome. I am a new African Cichlid keeper, I'll be honest, I killed the fist few fish I got....then I decided to research what was wrong. Now I have a happy tank full and things are going well. Kudos to you and Lisa!
@Weston - Thank you. No, definitely not. Mbuna are actually omnivores, leaning heavily towards plant and algae matter. It would be better to feed them some blanched zucchini or spinach than any fish.
I didn't know that in the past that the mbunas require plant base because i gave them pellets and algae wafers. It was bloat and acidic water do to some food particles. I'm scared to mix them do to size to mouth ratio.
I inherited a tank … I’m new to this … and I have mbuna and peacock some mixed together … I’d like to separate them but I can’t tell them apart. How do I know which are mbuna and which are peacock?
I would suggest following your research rather than taking the word of the fish store that isn’t dealing with the fish long term. Very different having a fish in a store for a few weeks or months, vs having it at home for several years.
3 mbunas, and mostly peacocks, no issues 2 years four months. I had more issues with the blood dragon peacock then I did with the Mbunas. Its based more on hit and miss
I have a mixture of both, peacocks mostly with 3 Mbunas, 2 years 4 months no issues. I let algae grow on the sides of the tank and know the Mbunas are constantly eating the algae. They also like deshelled peas, so do peacocks apparently.
I keep a Mississpippi Map Turtle, Peacocks, Mbuna and Bristlenose Pleco in the same tank, very successfully. The turtle diet assists with the mix of Cichlids because I need to feed a good mix of meat and vegetables. I have a very peaceful tank full of very healthy, active and well fed animals. It most certainly can be done if you know what you're doing
Darn wish I saw this video before buying mbunas. They've caused me alot of probs with aggression, hogging food. Selling them and sticking with peacocks
I have recently started keeping cichlids I probably should have done more research as the pet store said all cichlids would go together so of course I wanted 1 or 2 of everything rite now they are all juvenile but there are some 10 African, 2 peacocks, 1bloodparot,1 convict and 2 green severum in a 60 gallong now dont beat me up but am I going to have problems when they mature? As of now they have all been peaceful?
Nice video , good topic. I have kept them all together. If you mix the red zebras bring good contrast in color to a peacock tank an they are not as aggressive
Interesting comparison to me, of the two kinds, as I know next to nothing about Africa Cichlids. Mbuna’s diet sounds very similar to Goldfish. No wonder you can’t keep plants with them! 😁
I have 6 1" Yellow labs, 1 3" Peacock, 12 Tiger barbs with 10 cory cats in a 55 gallon. Can I add more Yellow labs? It is a planted tank for various hiding places. Thx for videos and knowledge you provide.
how do you tell male vs female? Our 75g has 5 peacock, 2 mbuna, Pollini, Venustus, large frontosa, Red jewel, tropheus Mooori, and a flameback. 1 of the mbuna's can be a bit aggressive toward others. The Frontosa is mellow
I want Peacocks in the large indoor pond I'm building but would also like Lemon Jakes , Aulomocara Firefish & Yellow Benga will this work? Good video Thanks from England 🇬🇧
Forgot to say (edit button didn't appear). I just love Yellow Labs/ Aulonacara Firemouths/Benga & Yellow Jakes (to name a few), MY INDOOR 'pond' will be: Outdide edges: 7.3 long. 2 feet wide. 3.3 high BUT the water area will be: 6.6 feet long 1.6 feet wide 3 feet high. I will have a section with a bog filter & canister. Will poted aquatic pond plants be ok or will they destroy them? I want them ad they look nice & help with water quality.
The way I do it is just feeding the tank 1 to 2 a week with a cucumber (Coocked to make the insides softer) instead of pellets and it works just fine I also have life plants which get attacked every now and then aswell. For all of you peacock lovers out there, my peacocks love a nicely coocked cucumber maybe yours do aswell. Variety is important people!
@@TazawaTanks Yhea the whole tank enjoys it except my striped rapheal catfish, he can't bother eating that. But the pleco, peacocks and my few mbuna enjoy it.
Yeah I used to have a sweet looking electric blue johanni and he was a giant ahole around 3 yrs old and had to trade him to the LFS for a couple juvies
As always Awesome so another tank it is, my family will not be happy. Had my first batch of electric yellows fry spat the other day. Might be time to get there own tank. That also means more peacocks in the 150 :) you cant relay go wrong there.
Hi I have a cichlid tank and I have mixed all 3 lakes into one tank along with South American cichlids and I know in the USA that’s a big no no but I have been fine with them for the past 10 years and have had no problems
Hey so I was wondering where you sell your fish because I don’t have a fish store to sell them at and I have a mbuna in my peacock tank and I don’t know what to do with it
Will African cichlids peacocks and haps eat ground beefheart mixture like discus and angelfish and American cichlids? Of is it fish invertebrates only for protein. As I use a beef heart, shrimp tilapia all ground up with a commercial made flake fish, spirulina, peas, spinach and vitamins and minerals. Then frozen. The fish love it been thinking about African cichlids leaning more towards mbuna but do like peacocks and haps but they require such a large tank to house them properly. My favorite is the Mdoka White Lips but they need at least 180 gallon tank because of their size at adulthood. I have been hesitant for a long time because of so many requirements that are so different than American cichlids. And I do like naturally planted tanks. All rock landscapes seem so hard and less inviting. Maybe missing something. I like the colors of mbuna as the female also have great color, but some peacocks like red/pink dragon bloods are hard to beat for color. It's been a hard decision as both have their ups and downs but the major is tank size requirements and rocky landscapes. Thought about shell dwellers as a comprise. But they don't have the flashy colors that the others have.
Once again great video and very useful informations. I sent you some weeks ago a mail about this question and you gave me already then the same answer then now in this vid but now i'm glad to see and to hear the answer live :-). So i was indeed concerned about keeping together m'bunas and peacocks but the different diet confirmed me in keeping only peacocks , wich are also much more quiet :-). Now the problem for me is should i keep males and females or only males ? I was first thinking about keeping only males but wich ones , can i keep more than two peacocks from the same species and which ones with wich other ones ? Could you please give me some advice about wich species and how many from each species i could hold together in my tank ? I planned to have a 80 gallons tank or maybe 100 but no longer due to lack of space . Once again great job and wel done :-))
