I thought it was a male???

So i bought a few peacocks from a LFS that i thought were males for my all male peacock tank. Then today i noticed on that has a lil color look like it might be holding? I am new to african cichlids so i could be wrong, hope these pics will help (sorry bout the bad quality i used my phone) please help:

Yeah, SHE'S HOLDING... LFS don't know what they be selling.

Looks like you have a lot of hiding areas for her. But I would take her out and put her in at least a 10gallon. You'll get a least 25 fry(FREE). Keep the males and sale all the females.

ok that was my plan to put her in a 15 high i have. i dont have it set up so what all do they need to take care of fry? any body else no for sure she is holding? I trust nitty just want to be sure before i go through the trouble of setting up a tank.

If you look under her mouth you'll see where her gills are bulging. Plus she want eat. If she's eating, she's not holding. If she is, she'll hold them from 3to4 weeks. Don't feed her once you separate her, you'll just cloud your water. You can trust me, I've been breeding fish since the late 80's.


So before you go through the trouble of setting up another tank, just see if see eats.

Once in the 15gallon, just use good filtration. You don't even need lights.

IT'S SIMPLE

ya i just tried to feed and she would go toward the pellets but wouldnt open her mouth.

Get the 15 ready

You're gonna be a daddy.

dangit i didnt want this to happen cuz i knjow i wont be able to get rid of the babies. Oh well here we go. So where do i start? Do i need pots, do i need hiding areas, substrate, will i have to strip her?

Oh and after going through all my fish i realized this is a fish i ordered from a website i wont mention. it was supposed to be a male flametail. I ordered two of the males so i hope those are the two that bread.

micahsutton wrote:

dangit i didnt want this to happen cuz i knjow i wont be able to get rid of the babies. Oh well here we go. So where do i start? Do i need pots, do i need hiding areas, substrate, will i have to strip her?

I just check on mine once or twice a week(for sickness or death). All she need is 78-80 degree water and good filtration. NO LIGHTS, NO FOOD AND NO AGGRESSIVE MALES.
If nothing is bothering her, you could leave her where she is. Gonna be hard catching those fry though.

i will give her her own tank. i have her in a 90 so i would never get the fry out.

oh no dont worry holey i have no intentions on selling. I am with you on the hybrids dont worry.

that's why i feel bad because i wanted an all male tank so this didnt happen.

I agree with David, if you have more than one type of male peacocks in there you just just leave her in the tank and allow nature to take care of the fry. Once she spits, take her out and get rid of her, she'll only cause increased aggression among the males. Sounds harsh but hear me out:

If you take her out like you plan and let her carry to term with intentions of keeping and raising the "hybrid" fry, you now own 15-25 new cichlids of unknown origin.

These new babies will soon grow out of the 15Gallon and require a tank 50G+

In addition to the new tank that will be required, (you shouldn't get rid of them because selling hybrids aren't encouraged in our hobby) you now a need a divider in your 50G+ to raise the juvies and separate the males and females... unless you want inbreeding to occur. (and more unwanted fry!)

Now the predicament that you were trying to avoid (females and males mixed) is now exponentially worse.

On top of that, you will probably end up having to cull these fry anyways, so why not save yourself the grief of having to intentionally kill/flush/freeze them and just leave them alone and let the fry get eaten in the tank where it's survival of the fittest?

MY 2 cents...or 10..eh...

Ya i really have no intentions on selling the fry and i was thinking the same thing about letting the take nature's course just because i don't want to raise a bunch of fry and dont know what i would do with them. But I have never bread african's before and would like to see the process but i dunno..... guess i will just let them be.

if you wold like to see the process i suggest getting a pair of yellow labs. they breed all the time and i they should not cross with the peacocks. alsthough you should still be carefull.

ok guys this maybe a dumb question but y are hybrids so bad? i understand you may not truly know what they are but isnt there a chance that they may have good colors or something like that? dont get me wrong i have a saltwater tank and have never had africans before so that is why i am asking. plus i agree with micah, he wants a all male tank so he may never get to see this happen again. i guess i just dont understand why its so looked down upon???? thanks for any info on this topic. oh ya merry xmas guys! hope you and your families have a good safe holidays

B/c it messes up the good lines of fish we have.

Hybrid cichlids can cause a number of problems in the hobby.
The demand for “new” and “different” breeds of hybrids such as the flowerhorn has lead to a number of cruel practices including tattooing of fish, removal of tails or eyes and intentional damage to the spine.
They make identification of similar cichlids difficult. The cichlids of genus Aulonocara are a good example of the potential problems associated with identification. The presence of many hybrid Aulonocara would make identification almost impossible.
Hybrid cichlids have the potential to be accidentally bred with “pure” species lines. This has already occurred in a number of cichlids commonly kept in the hobby, for example, Vieja synspilus or Amphilophus citrinellum.
The cichlid keeping hobby has responsibilities to the fish it is dedicated to in ecological terms. Although not currently standard practice, pure species may, in the future, be required for re-introduction to habitats currently under threat from urban development.
Some hybrid fish exhibit particularly deformed anatomical features which lead to troubles feeding, swimming and undertaking behaviour normal to these fishes. This is of considerable moral and ethical concern.

http://www.sydneycichlid.com/cichlid-hybrids.htm

well put!!!!

KMX wrote:

B/c it messes up the good lines of fish we have.

Hybrid cichlids can cause a number of problems in the hobby.
The demand for “new” and “different” breeds of hybrids such as the flowerhorn has lead to a number of cruel practices including tattooing of fish, removal of tails or eyes and intentional damage to the spine.
They make identification of similar cichlids difficult. The cichlids of genus Aulonocara are a good example of the potential problems associated with identification. The presence of many hybrid Aulonocara would make identification almost impossible.
Hybrid cichlids have the potential to be accidentally bred with “pure” species lines. This has already occurred in a number of cichlids commonly kept in the hobby, for example, Vieja synspilus or Amphilophus citrinellum.
The cichlid keeping hobby has responsibilities to the fish it is dedicated to in ecological terms. Although not currently standard practice, pure species may, in the future, be required for re-introduction to habitats currently under threat from urban development.
Some hybrid fish exhibit particularly deformed anatomical features which lead to troubles feeding, swimming and undertaking behaviour normal to these fishes. This is of considerable moral and ethical concern.

http://www.sydneycichlid.com/cichlid-hybrids.htm

This question is similar to why mutt dogs are so great!

Kinda like blood parrots. They are deformed, their spines are curved, their mouths cant close all the way.

But there is a positive! Somehow, blood parrots are smarter than their parents and can (should) be kept in groups!

ok thx guys for explaining that to me so now i have a understanding of it

Just to update the situation. I went ahead and got her out and flushed her. I hate doing it but honestly it would have been flushed one day or another. I took her out and added two frontosa's. I am happy with my decision.

I hope it was dead when you flushed it!!!!!!!!!!

May she rest in peace on her journey down the porcelain express.

Ya that's what i was thinking as she was going down. it sucks and i hated to do it, first time i have ever done it but i had no choice really.