6 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Calmer than mbuna; keep one male per colour type.
91 species in our list are a good match.
Calmer than mbuna; keep one male per colour type.
Cichlid pellets, frozen foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
How hard to tell: Easy
Tip: Colour (from about 6 months)
From the checked notes: “Males are larger and brightly coloured; females are plain. Young can usually be sexed at about 4 months.” Numbers sit on the part of the body each difference is about. Tap a picture to see it bigger.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Mouthbrooder · Moderate
Maternal mouthbrooder; the female carries the brood for up to 4 weeks and releases free-swimming fry. Will often spawn in a community tank.
Keep 1 male with 3-4 females in a 55+ gallon tank.
A 55 gallon (200 L) tank with rocks and sand, 25-27 C, hard alkaline water.
Warm water and good food. Males show colors and dig pits.
The female holds the brood for up to 4 weeks.
Strip fry at 3 weeks or let females release them. Feed crushed flake and baby brine shrimp.
A Lake Malawi cichlid famous for the bright colours of its males, described by Meyer and Riehl in 1985 and named after Stuart M. Grant (1937-2007), who exported cichlids from Lake Malawi for the aquarium trade.
Meyer and Riehl described Aulonocara stuartgranti in 1985, naming it after Stuart Grant, who exported Malawi cichlids for decades. Peacock cichlids sense prey hidden in sand using enlarged pores on the head. Many bright aquarium 'peacocks' are captive-bred colour strains or hybrids.
First described by Manfred K. Meyer & Rüdiger Riehl in 1985. Named for Named after Stuart Grant, a pioneer exporter of Malawi cichlids.
15 facts checked with sources
Valid name. Caution: 'peacock cichlid' is a trade name for the whole genus Aulonocara, so a fish sold as 'peacock' may be another species (e.g. A. jacobfreibergi, A. baenschi) or a hybrid. Man-made strains in the legacy variants (OB/orange blotch, dragon blood, strawberry) are not wild forms of A. stuartgranti; Seriously Fish warns most Aulonocara can hybridise. A. steveni and A. hansbaenschi are treated as junior synonyms of A. stuartgranti by IUCN and the Catalog of Fishes (per Wikipedia). Seriously Fish lists the Chitimba Bay population sold as 'A. masoni'.
FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summary · Wikipedia: Aulonocara (cites Catalog of Fishes) · Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiLegacy has no family field; sourced value recorded.
FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summarySeriously Fish 13 cm SL (standard length); FishBase 11.8 cm TL (total length) from wild fish. Males are the larger sex.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti · FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summaryLegacy 24-28 lies inside Seriously Fish's 23-29 (preferred for husbandry).
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti · FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summaryLegacy range lies inside Seriously Fish's 7.5-9.0.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiLegacy has no hardness; sourced value recorded.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti120 x 45 x 45 cm = 243,000 cm³ = 243 L (Seriously Fish lists ~243 litres). Legacy 250 L matches after rounding.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiSeriously Fish advises one male with 4-6 females in all but very large tanks (1 + 4 = 5 minimum). An all-male peacock tank is a common hobby alternative, but no source checked covers it.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiRelatively peaceful, but males are territorial and attack fish with similar colouring (Seriously Fish); calmer than mbuna, which are unsuitable tankmates. Semi-aggressive is a fair summary.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti · Wikipedia: AulonocaraFishBase lists it as benthopelagic; it feeds by hovering over and sifting the sand bottom (Seriously Fish), so it spends much time low in the tank.
FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summaryLegacy has no range field. Locality forms in the legacy variants (Ngara, Usisya) are real localities listed by Seriously Fish.
FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summary · Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti · Wikipedia: Flavescent peacock (cites IUCN)Colour difference agrees with legacy. Legacy tip says colour shows from about 6 months; Seriously Fish says fry are usually sexable at around 4 months.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti · Wikipedia: AulonocaraKeep only one Aulonocara species to avoid hybrids (Seriously Fish).
Wikipedia: Aulonocara · Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiHolding time agrees. The egg count of 20-50 was not found in any source checked (FishBase's fecundity fields are empty); treat it as unverified.
Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgrantiIUCN Least Concern (assessed 2018, per FishBase).
Wikipedia: Flavescent peacock (cites ETYFish Project) · FishBase: Aulonocara stuartgranti summary