Yellow Peacock Cichlid

General information

Males are a yellow with blue markings while females are silver with vertical brown bands, these fish  have a curved forehead and nose, large eyes and can reach 5 inches. To keep these fish in captivity, water pH should be between 7.5 and 9.0 and water temperature should range from 77ºF to 84.2ºF. The tank should have plenty of open space for swimming, lots of caves, rocks and a sandy substrate. This species is peaceful and can be kept in a community aquarium with other peaceful Cichlids, other good tankmates include Haplochromis, Cyrtocara moori, Sulphur- Crested Lithobate and Copadichromis species. Mbunas aren’t good tankmates and Aulocanaras shouldn’t  be kept with this species to avoid hybridization.  These fish should be kept in groups of several females and one male, a 40 gallon tank is enough for 6 females and a male.

This species is omnivorous. In the wild, it feeds on invertebrates, in an aquarium it can be fed with pellets, frozen and live foods like Daphnia and blood worms.

Males are more colorful, having blue and yellow bodies while females are silver with dark stripes.

The male will choose a spawning site while displaying intense coloration to get a female’s attention. When a female is interested, she will lay her eggs, pick them up with her mouth and nib on the male’s anal fin, this will make him release his sperm and fertilize the eggs in her mouth. The female will carry them for 4 weeks and once she releases the fry these can be fed with Artemia.

These fish are susceptible to Malawi Bloat if their dietary needs aren’t met and if they are overfed.

This species can be found in Lake Malawi, Africa.

These fish need regular water changes to be healthy as they don’t tolerate deteriorating water conditions.

An aquarium with Aulonocara baenschi should have many rocks, however, sharp rocks may injure these fish’s large eyes.