Günther's peacock

Aulonocara guentheri

Also known as Guentheri aulonocara

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 7.5–8.5
Adult size: 5.9 in (15 cm)
Minimum tank: 74 gal (280 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lake Malawi, southeastern arm
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

This is one of the larger, plainer peacocks, calm in temperament and best kept as one male to a group of females, which spreads his courting and keeps any one female from being harried. It stays near the bottom over open sand, sifting mouthfuls of substrate for food, so give it a soft sand bed and only sparse rock. It suits a peaceful Malawi community of similar sized peacocks and haps, with no need for a species only setup, and the male simply guards a spawning site on the sand. A group settles well in a tank of about 280 liters or larger. Offer sinking pellets alongside frozen foods like mysis, brine shrimp, and bloodworm, making sure enough sinks to the sand where it feeds.

In the wild

Gunther's peacock lives over the muddy sand of Lake Malawi's southeastern arm, away from the rocks, hunting invertebrates in the substrate. Provide hard, alkaline lake water, warm at 24–27 C and near pH 7.5–8.5, over a broad open sand bed with only a few stones for structure. Keep the water clean and stable, as these rift lake fish do best with steady chemistry.

Good to know

Aulonocara guentheri is a member of the family Cichlidae reaching about 15 centimeters, one of the larger sand dwelling peacocks. Like others in the genus it feeds by cruising the sand and detecting buried invertebrates through enlarged sensory pores on the head, then taking a mouthful of substrate to sift out the food. It broods maternally, the female holding the developing eggs in her mouth, and breeding is of moderate difficulty.

Did you know

The name honors Albert Gunther, a nineteenth century ichthyologist at the British Museum who catalogued thousands of the world's fishes; more than a century on, his name still rides on this Malawi sand sifter.

Tank mates

Günther's peacock is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.