1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Aggressive predator; eats any fish it can swallow.
Cichla ocellaris lives only in the Guianas. Most fish sold as "peacock bass" are other Cichla species.
44 species in our list are a good match.
Aggressive predator; eats any fish it can swallow. Keep alone or with similarly large fish.
Not for home aquariums. This fish grows far too big for any home tank. It needs a pond-sized system of thousands of litres, so please don't buy one as a baby.
Prawns, fish pieces and large frozen foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Males grow larger and develop a hump on the forehead (nuchal hump) as they mature.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Open substrate spawner ·
Rarely bred in aquaria. In the wild pairs spawn on a flat, cleaned stone in shallow water; both parents guard, and after hatching they carry the larvae in their mouths to pits dug as nests.
Grow out 6 juveniles and let a pair form; separate the pair if others are harassed.
A 1500 L tank with a sponge or gentle filter, flat slate or rocks as spawning surfaces and a tight lid.
Warm, clean water, frequent water changes and protein-rich food.
About 9,000-15,000 eggs per kg of female; sticky 1.4 mm eggs hatch in about 78 hours at 28 °C. Spawns about every two months, with a peak at the start of the rainy season.
Parents move the wrigglers to pits and guard the free-swimming fry; feed newly hatched brine shrimp and crushed flake.
A large predatory cichlid from northern South America with an eye-spot (ocellus) on the tail; a prized sport fish. Sold as cute 5 cm juveniles but grows to over 70 cm and needs a public-aquarium-sized tank.
Bloch and Schneider described this species in 1801, making it one of the first peacock basses known to science. Its fighting spirit made it a prized game fish, and it has been introduced to warm waters well outside South America. In aquariums it needs a very large tank, as it grows quickly.
First described by Marcus E. Bloch & Johann G. Schneider in 1801.
16 facts checked with sources
Valid, but since Kullander & Ferreira 2006 C. ocellaris is restricted to the Guianas (plus upper Rio Branco). Most 'peacock bass' in the trade are other Cichla species (e.g. C. monoculus, C. kelberi, C. orinocensis, C. temensis) sold under the old name. Suggest the site page be 'Cichla spp. (peacock bass)' or keep C. ocellaris with a misidentification warning. Seriously Fish still uses the broad old range (Colombia, Venezuela).
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summary · Kullander & Ferreira 2006, A review of the South American cichlid genus Cichla, Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 17(4)Legacy has no family field.
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summaryFishBase max 74 cm TL; Seriously Fish ~75 cm (labelled SL, but it matches the 74 cm TL record). Museum specimens of the strict species reach 41.4 cm SL. Legacy 45 cm is a fair typical aquarium size but the sourced maximum is 74 cm TL.
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summary · Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellaris · Kullander & Ferreira 2006, A review of the South American cichlid genus Cichla, Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 17(4)Both sources 24-27; legacy 30 is high.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellaris · FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summaryLegacy 6-7.5 is wider.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellaris10 x 3 x 4 ft = 305 x 91 x 122 cm = 3,386 L (~3,400 L). Seriously Fish also says 'More suited to public aquaria'. Legacy 1,500 L is less than half.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisNo minimum given; legacy 1 (single fish) is not contradicted.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisNo source names a swimming level.
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summarySeriously Fish 'Difficult' (space); otherwise it calls it 'hardy and robust'.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisLegacy has no range field; legacy story says 'northern South America', which is right. Seriously Fish's wider list (Colombia, Venezuela) follows the pre-2006 concept.
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summary · Kullander & Ferreira 2006, A review of the South American cichlid genus Cichla, Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 17(4) · Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisAgrees with legacy.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellarisAgrees with legacy.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellaris · FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summaryLegacy 2000-3000 eggs is not in a source; a 1-2 kg female would release roughly 9,000-30,000. Note the FishBase figures may come from introduced/aquaculture fish of uncertain species.
FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summaryTail eye-spot is standard for Cichla (the genus diagnosis on FishBase concerns bars and blotches); not separately quoted.
Seriously Fish: Cichla ocellaris · FishBase: Cichla ocellaris summary