# Exotic Peacockbass



## arowspace (Jul 16, 2003)

I recently acquired a group of exotic Peacockbass (9 inchers). These are a new undescribed species of Cichla just recently being imported out of Venezuela. Thus far, only a very small number have made their way into the hands of North American enthusiasts. They have an appearance similiar to Cichla orinocensis except that the body of the fish is covered with intense golden spots. After just a week of settling into my tank, their coloration has become incredibly vibrant.

These fish are extremely aggressive feeders with incredible reflexes. They hit food harder and faster than just about any fish that I've ever owned. When I toss any small object in front of the tank... the entire group snaps to attention and gives chase. Very fun fish!

After just a few days, I was able to ween these guys off of live fish and onto frozen shrimp, white fish filets and freeze-dried krill. And coolest of all just yesterday, I had these guys gulping down Hikari carnivore pellets! Who said that wild-caught Cichla are difficult or impossible to ween off live fish?!


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

Those are beautiful specimens ..........
P-bass are sweet.......
thanks for sharing ..great pics also


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## LaZy (Jun 17, 2003)

they look NICE


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## losts0ul916 (Nov 19, 2003)

Nice..


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

beautiful peacocks....what size tanks do you have them in?..and what type of camera do you use?..great clear shots...


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

Beautifull fish!
Beautifull images, I would also be interested to know what type of camera was used.....


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Camera shmamera, where can I get the fish! Breed them bad boys, I'm sure there's a market!


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

acestro said:


> Camera shmamera, where can I get the fish! Breed them bad boys, I'm sure there's a market!











i'll take a couple...


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## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

Very nice fish.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

dam we need a feeding vid
and a full tank shot


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

Death in # said:


> dam we need a feeding vid
> and a full tank shot


 I second that.









Those are amazing pbass. How many do you have and in what size tank?


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

not bad Ed, welcome to the Advanced stage of fish keeping.. Cichla truley are the ultimate FW fish man..

what size tank do you have planned for long term?


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## iLLwiLL (Jun 13, 2003)

amazing fish . . . i cant wait to get my ass down to florida and start working on a pond for a pack of those bad boys. are you keeping these guys, or are they going to end up in the member classifides section?

~Will.


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Nice fish Ed!

I am glad to see that you did get a hold of some of them. They are from a similar shipment that I got from Ron at fishpost. I picked another one up from Jeff when i dropped off the big guys to be shipped to Neal.

Those are the fish you commented on in my pics thread a few weeks ago.









Again, nice stuff









PS--I have NOT forgot about your bogwood!!


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## arowspace (Jul 16, 2003)

Thanks for the kind feedback regarding the fish and photography, everyone. For those that were interested, my camera is a Nikon Coolpix 5700. Hey Brian, thanks for your comments. Would you mind popping over to PFish... there is a similiar thread over there and we could use your input on taxonomy.









I am very enthusiastic about these fish and find them not only beautiful but also love their boisterous behavior. I have been looking long and hard for the rare Cichla species including orinocensis. However, after finding these, I have since dropped orinocensis from my want list. These have similiarities to orinocensis (e.g. the red eyes and rosettes) with the added bonus of all those gorgeous golden spots. The three bars on the body usually stay faint... however, when the mood strikes, the fish will darken and intensify the orinocensis-like rosettes.

As I mentioned previously, they are currently an undescribed species and have thus far been listed only as either Cichla sp. 'Venezuela' or Cichla sp. aff. orinoncensis (I believe that Brian came up w/ this one).

These fish are temporarily housed in a bare quarantine tank. Once I move them to more permanent quarters, I will be sure to post full tank shots.


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

arowspace said:


> Hey Brian, thanks for your comments. Would you mind popping over to PFish... there is a similiar thread over there and we could use your input on taxonomy.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Hi Ed,

Your welcome









I will be happy to go to P-Fish to help out anyway that I can.

Yes, I came up with the name Cichla sp. aff. orinocensis because of the fish's overlap with true C. orinocensis. Obviously it is different of course.

Jeff then came up Cichla sp. "Venezuela" due to customer complaints that they did not have any understanding what the ".aff" meant.

Hope that helped a little bit!


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

B. Scott said:


> Jeff then came up Cichla sp. "Venezuela" due to customer complaints that they did not have any understanding what the ".aff" meant.


 lol


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

those are gorgeous p-bass.
dixon


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

Ed, dont you think all Peacockbass are Exotic?

lol nice fish man..

what areyou doing with the other 3 your getting rid of?


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Awesome...








!


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