Since Birdman is extremely busy with his move to Indy,
I just wanted to ask some questions about some peacocks
that I got from him last week.

They are F1 Mdokas

What do they like to eat? I'm feeding them some pellet food and some
flake food, but they don't seem to be as interested in this as I would like
for them to be.

What is a good variety of fish food to feed them?

Second question:

Birdman had all the Mdokas in the same tank and there was one male that had
already started to color up and one female was holding, but the rest of the group had not shown any color. There are about 15 in the group. He decided to keep the pair because he knew what they were.

My question is "How long before one of the males starts to color up and reveal what he is?

These peacocks are all about 2 inches long at this point.

Thanks again!

'Preach',,,I am by far NOT an expert on Peacocks,(or any other fish for that matter) Tres Bien! . But I would say that the fish that colours up the most would be the more dominant male????

Am I right,,,do I get a prize?? Nanananaa


I usually fed my Peacocks Brine Shrimp or Veggie Flake from Kens Fish. They loved it. It may have been the wrong thing to feed,,,but hey,,,they loved it lots.

I know someone with MORE exp. with these will chime in soon.


AP.

Thanks AP, I know that the one that colors up will be the dominant one, the
question is "When?"

As a preacher, I'm expected to be a patient person, but I'm not!

PB if birdman kept the dominant male, then you might have one coloring up very soon! IME the males started to color around 2-2 1/2". I fed my peacocks NLS, cichlid flakes and brine shrimp. They also attacked seaweed when I gave that to them for a treat. Try cucumber too.

PB, it will take about a week for the male to start showing colour. Over about 1 month you will see more colour coming in, and his fins starting to elongate. I imaine at this size for mdokas, they wont be fully coloured until atleast 3", a few monthes down the road.
Best thing to feed hands down is NLS or Kens colour formula (Look for the anstaxin (sp?) vitamin) as it will bring out the reds and blues in these fish. You want to get these peacocks on a good diet right from birth, but especially as they start to mature. Some say that this period is crucial for good diet and determines some of the colour that comes out such as the reds.
You can also feed some brine shrimp occasionally.

Brad

Are we talking about frozen brine shrimp or live brine shrimp?

What about frozen mysis?

Pardon my ignorance, everyone, but I have only kept Mbuna up until
this point in my hobby! worry wart!

frozen is alot eisier, unless you want to hatch your own Brine shrimp. I use frozen, but only on occasion.
A few things to keep in mind, there are a few things you can add to acheive better colour, and faster colour and growth. You can experiment a little here PB. Check with Kens fish as you are in the states and they are very reasonable. These are the guys that were set up selling all the food and accessories in the show room at the OCA.
Protein will help with the growth
Spirulina will help with the blue colour (do not over due or you will start to notice black speckled markings aroind the jaw)
Anstaxin (I think thats the spelling?) Ken sells the powder to mix in your food or his colour formula contains a good amount
Brineshrimp/krill/mysis use as a treat!

Brad

Astaxanthin; is that the ingredient you're referring to Brad? (I had to look it up.)

I hope you get some coloring up for you soon preacherboy. Mine are taking forever and a day. Now this should be good! Either that or they are all females.

I've noticed that the few that I have are not as aggressive when it comes time to eat as the mbuna that share the tank. I have a yellow lab, some rusties, and acei that practically come up out of the water to eat while the peacocks timidly wait below, so I have to make sure I throw some food down to them.

Yes, thanks aura. peacocks are definetly going to be lot less aggressive on general, including toward food then mbuna

http://www.jehmco.com/html/powders__spirul...__plankton.html

Kensfish doesn't sell that additive but Jehmco does. I've never used it myself.

I feed my hap/peacock tank

NLS cichlid formula
HBH Seafood Lovers flake
Frozen brine shrimp once a week or minced frozen krill.

Even my Ps Aceii get this diet and are not suffering from it. They've been busy breeding like bunnies!

It's funny that you should mention Jehmco, DaveB.

Do you remember recommending a product to me named
"Safety Siphon?"

Well, it should be here today and I am looking forward to using it.

I only wish I knew they carried the type of food I needed for my peacocks!

But, I will use what I have and get some frozen brine shrimp as a treat until
I make another order with Jehmco!

Thanks again, everyone for all your help!

I sure do. I'm sure you will be happy with the product. OMG I sound like a sales rep!

They sell NLS, Daichini and HBH brand foods. You can't go wrong with those brands. They have great customer service.

ken may not sell it on his site, but he definetly has it. They were selling for 15$ a packet at the convention.
But yeah you cant go wrong with jehmco either

preacherboy, I would stay away from the Astaxanthin if it were me.

You have F1 peacocks, they should show amazing colour on their own with a good staple food.

It sounds like you got a good sized group of them and plan to breed a few...If you use additives in their food to enhance their colour, then sell the fry and someone else doesn't use the astaxanthin, they might be disappointed if the fish don't stay coloured up the way they were when they got them.

Astaxanthin is commonly used to force colour, but not something you need to do with quality fish and a good food. If the quality is there - and it is with F1's, you don't need it.

There's also some question as to long term usage of it and potential organ damage...Nothing concrete, but if you read up a bit on it, you'll see what I mean!

Having removed the dominant male, another should colour up shortly. They don't all mature at the same rate, so don't panic if you don't have one showing colour quickly. They also go through a transition period when being moved from one place to another, and this can cause them to fade a bit until they settle in.

You'll have to post pics as soon as they start showing out for you!

Kim

true enough kim. the only tnk i use it in the food is my all male show tank. i just figured i would recamend it as PB asked for the possible options.
I dont plan to have any breeding in this tank so it doesnt matter to me. I mean its not a hormone,, its just vitamins really.

Well, Mark, I just posted on your other post and I see the next male about to color up. Give him 2-3 weeks and he will look fine.

As far as diet, I feed my peacocks, Nls and Spirulina pellets daily. and once a week i feed frozen brine shrimp.

I'm sure the peacocks will eat more readily as soon as they get comfortable with their new "big" tank.

please call me if you have any more questions or are in need of more fish !!! Tres Bien!

Preacherboy, I have some small peacocks. F1 mdoka's. I also have several other peacocks and I use spirulina and omega one super color it works well. I also feed kent's 4 bit cichlid pellets. Just my input.

Thanks for the imput, Cichlidman!

I use Extreme Aquatics food and spirulina flake as well.

I also feed them frozen brine shrimp once a week as a treat!

PB my F1's are coloring nicely. i ue omega one super color, and omega one veggie flakes.
At 2 1/2 inches I have a amazing male.

No expert just works for me. I do give them spiulina from time to time or vegtables like zuchinni or frozen green peas. They love it.