Peacock Cichlid

Aulonocara stuartgranti

Also known as: Aulonocara, African peacock, Peacock

Water Parameters

• Temperature: 24–28°C
• pH: 7.8–8.6
• Hardness (GH): 179–447 ppm (10–25 dGH)

Values above are general hardness (GH). For carbonate hardness (KH), the buffer that keeps pH stable, see the water parameters guide.

Care Summary

One of the most beautiful freshwater fish in the hobby and the usual gateway into African cichlids, the peacock is a Lake Malawi cichlid whose dominant males blaze in metallic blue, gold, orange, or red depending on the species and line, while females and subordinate males stay a plain grey-brown. In the wild they hover over sand, sifting it for invertebrates with sensory pits on the face, a behaviour worth recreating with a sand substrate. They are hardy and relatively peaceful for a Malawi cichlid, but they are firmly rift-lake fish: they need hard, alkaline water, a spacious rocky tank of 200 litres or more, and rift-lake tankmates, and they are prone to Malawi bloat if overfed protein-rich foods. For keepers in Australia's hard-water cities they are an outstanding, low-fuss introduction to the colour and behaviour of African cichlids. Part of that hard, alkaline requirement is a high carbonate hardness (KH): keep it above 8 dKH (about 140 ppm) so the pH holds steady and never crashes.

Tankmates

An African Rift Lake cichlid from Lake Malawi, not a community fish: it needs hard, alkaline water and the company of other rift-lake species, not the soft-water tropicals of a standard community tank. Best kept as one male with three or more females, or in an all-male display of mixed Aulonocara chosen so no two males share a colour. Peacocks are among the more peaceful Malawi cichlids and are easily bullied by aggressive mbuna, so pair them with similarly mild haps and peacocks rather than the rowdier rock-dwellers, plus a synodontis catfish and a bristlenose for clean-up. Their hard-water needs suit the naturally hard tap water of Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. Provide a sand substrate, which they sift, and rockwork with caves.

Compatible with

• Electric Yellow Cichlid
• Synodontis Catfish
• Bristlenose Pleco
• Demasoni Cichlid

Avoid keeping with

• Betta
• Neon Tetra
• Angelfish
• Discus
• Cherry Shrimp
• German Blue Ram
• Soft Water Species

Common Problems

• Malawi bloat from protein-rich food or overfeeding
• being bullied by more aggressive mbuna
• washed-out colour in subordinate or stressed males
• incompatibility with soft-water community fish

Sources: seriouslyfish.com, fishbase.org · Last updated: 2026-06-20