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Peacocks can be housed with a variety of other Lake Malawi Cichlids. Many of the gentle, medium-sized haplochromines make excellent tankmates for this species. Various members of the genera Copadichromis, Cyrtocara, Placidochromis, Protomelas, Otopharynx, Nyassachromis, and Sciaenochromis are just some of the popular fish which can be successfully housed with Peacocks. Peacocks should never be housed with Mbuna, or any of the other boisterous cichlids such as Labeotropheus, Petrotilapia, Metriaclima, or Pseudotropheus. While Mbuna and Peacocks both live in the rocky biotopes ofLake Malawi, they are not natural conjoiners. Due to their vastly different diets, they almost never have contact. Mbuna graze on the strongly lit algae growing on the rocks, in the upper 5 m of the water column. Peacocks typically reside at a depth of 6 to 40 m, far too deep for the algae to grow in abundance, and therefore feeding on live sand organisms. Mbuna also make poor tank mates for Peacocks because they are aggressive to the point of obnoxiousness, and hyperactive and would keep the Peacocks in a constant state of subordination or stress. Some aquarists try to deny this, however, the truth is that Peacocks kept with Mbuna do not grow as fast, are less colorful, and do not live nearly as long as they should. It has been proven time and again that whenever these hapless peacock victims are removed from such an unsuitable environment, there usually is a dramatic turnaround in their behavior and well-being within a very short period. My question is: Why submit these glorious fish to such cruel circumstances in the first place? Is the intention of fish-keeping not meant to be a happy situation for both fish and fish-keeper? We ship USPS or UPS. Select a service, USPS Priority or Priority Express or UPS 3 day business. We charge rates based on location.