Mdoka peacock

Care at a glance

Overview

A sand-hunting peacock for a Malawi community, kept as one male with several females so the male can display without hounding a single fish. It hovers over open sand below the rocks in the lower and middle water, hunting small prey hidden in the substrate. It is more assertive than some peacocks, so give it firm but not oversized tankmates and choose them with care. Feed sinking foods and frozen invertebrates rather than a heavy protein diet. A harem does well in about 200 liters or more with open sand and rock cover at the edges.

In the wild

Aulonocara aquilonium comes from the northwestern coast of Lake Malawi around Mdoka, where sand meets rock at roughly 12 to 25 meters down. Set up a tank with a generous open sand floor for it to hunt over, backed by rockwork for shelter and spawning caves. Keep the water hard and alkaline, warm at 24 to 28 C with a pH of 7.6 to 8.6, and provide clean, well-filtered conditions.

Good to know

This species belongs to the Cichlidae and reaches about 13 centimeters. It is a northern peacock, males lighting up steel blue below a chalk-white edge to the dorsal fin, which earns it the trade name Mdoka white top. Females mouthbrood the eggs, and it breeds at medium difficulty. Peacocks carry rows of enlarged sensory pores on the head that pick up prey hidden in the sand.

Did you know

Peacocks hunt by feel rather than sight. Hovering just over the sand, Aulonocara use rows of enlarged pores along the head and jaw to sense the tiny movements of invertebrates buried below, then strike down at prey they never actually see.

Common questions

Related species

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