I was in a nice local LFS that generally takes good care of their Africans. After all the training I've received on Cichlid Haven I know a lot more about African cichlids than they do (frightening since I'm a relative newbie), but they're still way ahead of most LFS.

They had a tank labelled "Mixed Peacocks." If the manager I knew were there I would have looked for a polite way to say "If you mix the females they lose all their value because only super experts can sort them out again." But he wasn't.

Then I asked an employee for help with a different tank and he told me, "Those may be hybrids." dumb dumb

There was a small M Peacock that was already starting to color up in bright yellow. I stared and stared at the unsexed fish and females in the same tank, but there was another slimmer male in the tank and I had no way of knowing which females went with which species.

So even though I wanted to buy 4 fish, I just bought the one M, whom I'm guessing is an Aul. Baenschi.

OK, I'm done ranting. Grrrr

Any hints for ways to ID females to match to males in those settings?

Don

It is next to imposible to see the difference with the exception of some of the Jacoberfiegi species.

This store should more responsible than this.They should not be selling what they think are Hybrids.

I would speak to the manager on behalf of new hobbiest in your aREA WHO MAY NOT know the difference.

don, derek is right. it is pretty well impossible to tell females apart of the same species between capture points. But anyone who has been into or studying the aulonocara can usually tell the species of females apart when at a young adult size. Example: I could not tell the difference between 2 females, one a A. Stuartgranti (Mdoka) and the other a A. Stuartgranti (Chiwindi). But if you were to put infront of me to different females from different species such as A. Baeanschi and A. Stuartgranti, I could tell the difference. There is minor characteristics that differentiate them so it is very hard until you become very familliar with them. I spent probably 2 years collecting diferent aulonocara as they are my favorites out of lake malawi so thats how i base myself.

The store is pretty irresponsible too...
Brad

Irresponsible yes, but at least they told you that they might be hybrids.

I've been in plenty of stores where you can tell that some of the fish are definitely hybrids, but they aren't listed or priced as such.

Pseudo, you sound like you have a lot of the same type of experiences that I have up here. It's hard to find any good quality fish or any breeders locally. It's frustrating.

The same thing happens here in some of the LFS...Not all, thank goodness.

And I've picked up males out of these tanks before, but never used them for breeding purposes.

Brad, you're the first person I've ever heard claim that they can differentiate between female peacocks! I'd love to see some pics to show the differences!

Kim

hello all,
I have a female A. maylandi (sulpher head) and on this particular species the females have a very slight yellow colour on their forhead, just not as pronounced as the males. (She just spat out about 25 fry, although premature it seems.)
The A.baenschi females have a more of a slope on their heads then other Aulonocara although if I had to differentiate by looks, I'm not too sure I could tell them apart from others without a true known species to compare.
Its a drag because I have several female Aulonocaras that, due to labeling at Auctions, in what I thought where A. lwanda's , it appears that the male from said auction is a A.jacobfriebergi, now what females do I have?!?!?!
I think I'll just trade the females in at an LFS, but this is not good either.
what should we as hobbiest do in these situations?!?!?

Kim certain females you can tell apart like the Jacobs but you must know what to look for in them most peacocks females are nex to impossible thou

Strat

Thats a toughie question and you may not like my answer!

My first instinct would be if I dont know what they are I wont hand them off to a fish store because you know that the female would be either of the following "Sit in a fish store to rot" or "be sold off as another species" and hybrids may be produce by someone unexpecting

I would Cull them as a responsible breeder and hobbiest if I no longer wanted them or was unsure as to what species they were.

Derek

I regretfully agree...(regretfully because he is right, and because I have to agree with Derek...)

Or, you can keep them but don't salvage any fry from them or let them out of your tanks...They'll make your males show off more and look better, but you can't keep two peacock variants safely together if you're interested in breeding.

Hey, if the male peacocks can't tell the difference, how are we supposed to? Hmmmm

Kim

Hi Kim,to explain the suttle differences between all the female peacocks here would be pretty darn tough.
If you,at home bungled up fry and they (2 species) ended up in the same tank, only after grow out would it be much easier.
Not as fry however.
So this would give you only 2 choices of species to "pick" from and I would think,with a close eye,you could do it.
Some females are light colored almost silver,like Aulon.Korneliae.Some are very barred like Aulon.Huseri which A.Huseri could be confused with Baenschi females and even Jacofribergi females.
Darker females like Ngara are very hard to tell apart,,,except for Aulon.Koningsi which have a "messed" up bar pattern that I often remark to as an "M" on their sides (referring to Mbenji Island where they come from)
Jacobfriebergi from Otter Island have some orange in their anal fins,while some other females from other locations even have a yellowish tinge,which is not as predominant as the orange.
OK,just getting started here On the Floor Laughing
Its really a "Top Secret" process that only few in the world know for sure,,,I can't tell you I'd have to show you,then I would have to kill you On the Floor Laughing

Giggly Giggly Giggly Giggly

4larry Larry

If I had to stand in front of a tank of female peacocks and pick which was which, you wouldn't have to kill me, I'd kill myself!

I can tell a huge difference between these hueseri females and the maulana females I had. The hueseri females are much nicer, IMO, and even show a subtle orange colouration at times. But if they were in a tank with a bunch more females, I couldn't tell the difference, I don't think. I might know that this one was different from that one, but I sure wouldn't want to pick out which one went with which male.

I would not buy peacocks from anyone other than a private breeder who kept single species tanks, that's for sure!

Kim

my situation is like this with identification of peacocks.

Picked up two separate bags at an auction. same lot number so same person selling. Both bags labeled as Aulonocara lwanda. There where 2 in one and 3 in the other.
Now, after about 5 months, I have two males, about 3" and 2.5" TL with the larger dominant one looking more like an A. jacobfreibergi, no red on the upper edge of the dorsal fin. Just white edged with yellow dorsal and yellow pectoral,anal and caudal fins. Looks like a 'undu reef' variant. "Lemon Jake". the second male is a little too young I believe to show difinitively but he is starting to look like a lwanda. We'll see once i get a bigger tank set up for them and they can display more.

I digress, is there a way to decern a female lwanda from a female jacobfeibergi?
The females are about 1.5 to 2" TL , showing a slight black rim along the dorsal fin.
I can not see any colour on their lower fins at this point.

your thoughts; thx, or; if Larry tells shows me the secret mystical clue and has to kill me too, as long as the fish are with their respective partners before doing so. (PS: I'll take the culls with me)

Yes, I thought you all would like that! Giggly
You,know,,,we used to go to auctions and this would not happen,,,,getting mixed up or cross bred fish,,,but it seems the norm now.
Now that's not to say that some of the finer breeders don't take their fish to auction,but here again you have to "seek" them out.
When buying at auction/internet or even a store its always "buyer beware",,,,really,you have to know and trust the epople you buy from.
I was sent a link recently for PriceNetwork.ca I read some of the comments there,,,,now I know some of the people invovled in the "banter" on that page but the others were really out in left field.
Maybe they should join here! On the Floor Laughing

4larry Larry