Fish Data : Peacock Cichlid

Family: Cichlidae

Range: Northern South America
Diet: Carnivore
Size: More than 24 inches

Tank Set-up: Freshwater: Sand or gravel, planted edges and background, stones, roots
Tank Conditions: 75-81°F
Minimum Tank Capacity: At least 70 gallons
Light: Medium to low
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Care Level: Difficult
Reproduction: Egg Layer

Lifespan : It is believed that the life span of Peacock bass is 15+

General Information :

    This fish also known as the Peacock Cichlid, the Butterfly Peacock Bass, and the Eye Spot Cichlid, The Peacock Bass has a long body and deeply-notched dorsal fin. It has a large mouth and the lower jaw extends beyond the upper jaw. There is a large, black eye spot encircled by a gold colored ring at the base of the caudal fin. Its background color is olive-green dorsally blending to yellow-white ventrally, with three darker bars on its sides, between which are a series of dark spots in their body.
    A unique characteristic of the Peacock Bass is the deep indention that separates the hard spines from the soft rays on the dorsal fin. The front of the dorsal, upper caudal, and pectoral fins are gray to black. The anal, pelvic, and the lower caudal fins have a red tint. White spots are present on the second dorsal and the upper lobe of the caudal fin. Large adults have a yellow-orange stripe, which extends from its mouth to its caudal fin. The iris is deep red.

Tank Size & Tank Setup

   this fish will require a tank of at least 10'x3'x4' (l x h x w) for an adult fish. Smaller aquaria can be used for younger specimens but realistically you should not acquire this fish if you cannot house it long term.

   it is important to account for their large size, feeding habits and aggressive nature. This fish come from river ways that have a constant flow of fresh water working from the mountains down to the sea. Peacock Bass have become accustomed to an environment with high quality water with low levels of pollutants and high levels of oxygen. The Peacock Bass aquariums need to replicate this environment through strong mechanical, chemical and biological filtration along with medium to strong water movement. Peacock Bass are large fish that eat equally large meals, thus excellent filtration is required to remove the excess food and waste products produced from such a large species. The adult size of the Peacock Bass is also an important factor in choosing the right aquarium to house them, with the size and shape of the aquarium being very important. With adults sizes of around 2 feet in length, it is important to provide an aquarium that is long enough and wide enough from front to back to allow the Peacock Bass to swim and turn around comfortably. An aquarium of 6 to 8 feet in length and 3 feet from front to back should be considered as minimum aquarium size for an adult specimen, while smaller specimens can be raised in smaller aquariums if they are moved to larger tanks as they grow. The aquarium decor should be designed to provide plenty of swimming room, while also providing some areas of cover using driftwood, floating or well rooted plants and rocks with a sandy or gravel substrate.

Social Behaviors:   

    The Peacock Bass Cichlid is territorial and moderately aggressive fish. Can be kept in species groups or with other large species such as arowana, stingrays, large cats and other large cichlids. An extremely large tank is required to achieve this with any degree of success. They will eat tankmates small enough to be considered food.

Food and feeding
   

    Peacock bass can feed with varied diet consisting of quality pellets, earth worms, beef heart, mussels and spinach.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:  These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:    Hardness: 5 - 12° dH
   Ph: 6.5 - 7.5
   Temp: 75 - 82° F (24 - 28° C) 


Sexual Differences:    An older mature male will have a nuchal hump on the forehead, but otherwise the sexes are only discernable during spawning.


Breeding/Reproduction:   

    This Fish has been bred in captivity and is raised in ponds as a food fish. They are what is known as a biparental substrate spawner. Being too large, there are no reports yet on successful tank breeding, but they will spawn in an outdoor pond. They will generally lay about 2000-3000 eggs, with larger spawners laying over 10,000. They lay the eggs on a large flat stone in shallow water and the parents will adamantly guard them in the typical cichlid fashion. They are highly territorial and aggressive when guarding first their eggs, and then the fry for another nine weeks. The fry will hatch in 78 hours at 82° F (28° C). When they are ready to move on, they enter into open waters. The fry love mosquito larvae (blood worms) and will mature in less than 12 months.


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