Fire mouth with Peacocks?

So I got a 125 gallon a few days ago. And I want to get some stocking ideas. I really like the fire mouth cichlid, but I also like peacocks and Mbunas. I want to do a cichlid tank but I want the super crazy bright colors. So far those are my options, but is it possible, will it be okay if I do a mixture of peacocks a and maybe 1 or 2 fire mouths? Any other cichlid recommendations that are super bright colors that I could do? Also is it okay if I do black gravel for my substrate? And do I need any decors?

 

I can't imagine how hard it is to clean and maintain a 125 Gallon! I find it kind of difficult to clean my 29 Gal!

 

So I got a 125 gallon a few days ago. And I want to get some stocking ideas. I really like the fire mouth cichlid, but I also like peacocks and Mbunas. I want to do a cichlid tank but I want the super crazy bright colors. So far those are my options, but is it possible, will it be okay if I do a mixture of peacocks a and maybe 1 or 2 fire mouths? Any other cichlid recommendations that are super bright colors that I could do? Also is it okay if I do black gravel for my substrate? And do I need any decors?

Dont mix the firemouth with africans - mixing africans with new worlds is a no no as they have different requirements.

Depending on which cichlids you want to keep, will depend on how the tank is set up. Id give the gravel a miss personally and stick with sand - if you want firemouths they prefer to sift through the sand looking for food.

you need to decide which you want to keep, then go from there.

 

I would also advise you to skip the Firemouths. It can be done, but their water requirements are very different. They "talk" differently too, I think; South and Central American cichlids tend to lip lock when they are fighting. Africans go for a bite and chase.
For decor, go with sand. Cichlids love to dig and root around for tidbits. Sand is much better for them. If you are getting peacocks, add a few boulders and maybe a cave or two for them. My peacocks and haps use the whole tank, but they do like the structure of the boulders. Also, when they are being chased, the harassed fish can slip out of the line of sight of the aggressor and 'get away.
With a 125 gallon, you really have a lot of options for fish. I love my peacocks. They add a ridiculous amount of color and they are mostly pretty peaceful. I also have several haps in my tank, which adds some different shapes, different colors and some different personalities.
Check out the Star Sapphire, Red Empress, Otopharynx and Venustus for some ideas.

I've had a lot of tanks over the years, but my African tank is by far my favorite. Good luck!

 

Although Firemouths originate in Central America & frequent waters
comparable to the parameters of the African Rift lakes, IMO, not a good idea to keep Firemouths with African Cichlids.
Speaking from experience, it's also not a great plan to keep Mbuna with Peacock & Haps.
Firemouths do better in groups & surprisingly are mid to upper level swimmers. Despite their fierce sounding name & gill flaring conspecific disputes, Firemouths are really a peaceful species.
Peacocks are often described as peaceful, but that term is relative. Peaceful compared to what.
I've kept both Peacocks & Firemouths, separately of course, long term. IMO, They just aren't a good match.
Compatible cichlid species to keep with Firemouths are Geophagus or Salvini.
Full disclosure, I'm no purist, keeping a very mixed community tank of Haps, Peacocks, various Barbs & several varieties of Loaches. Mixing any foreign species with Rift Lake Cichlids takes a lot of experience to achieve success, or blind luck, Lol.

 

I agree with the others: Mixing Non-Riftlake cichlids with Riftlakers is a bad idea, additionally Mbuna + Peacocks won't work due to their different diet requirements. Yes, they come from the same Lake but in the aquarium they have to eat what we feed and the Peacock diet can kill Mbuna, while the Mbuna diet leads to deficiencies in Haps and Peacocks. It's hard work to keep that balanced and takes a lot of experience. On top they have different space and decoration requirements.
Additionally I'm a purist as far as I wouldn't even mix lakes, let alone adding non-riftlake species of any kind, cichlid or not.

 

I would also advise you to skip the Firemouths. It can be done, but their water requirements are very different. They "talk" differently too, I think; South and Central American cichlids tend to lip lock when they are fighting. Africans go for a bite and chase.
For decor, go with sand. Cichlids love to dig and root around for tidbits. Sand is much better for them. If you are getting peacocks, add a few boulders and maybe a cave or two for them. My peacocks and haps use the whole tank, but they do like the structure of the boulders. Also, when they are being chased, the harassed fish can slip out of the line of sight of the aggressor and 'get away.
With a 125 gallon, you really have a lot of options for fish. I love my peacocks. They add a ridiculous amount of color and they are mostly pretty peaceful. I also have several haps in my tank, which adds some different shapes, different colors and some different personalities.
Check out the Star Sapphire, Red Empress, Otopharynx and Venustus for some ideas.

I've had a lot of tanks over the years, but my African tank is by far my favorite. Good luck!

Question, I went to my LFS today and they had a few peacocks for a good price “10” each. The tag just says “mixed peacock cichlids” and they’re like 1.5-2 inches big but they’re all grey… why is that? Do they color as they grow ? Or will they stay like that?

 

Female Peacocks don't color up & remain a drab silver or gray.
Males of that size might have a slight hint of blue on their faces & be more aggressive towards tankmates.
Male Peacocks should show a little color at two inches.

 

Question, I went to my LFS today and they had a few peacocks for a good price “10” each. The tag just says “mixed peacock cichlids” and they’re like 1.5-2 inches big but they’re all grey… why is that? Do they color as they grow ? Or will they stay like that?

As they said above, the females of these species tend to be a drab brown/grey. The males are drab when they are really young - a survival technique, they don't want to attract attention - but as they get older, they grow into beautiful colors. Some of those fish you are looking at, at the pet store, will probably be very beautiful some day. But this is not a case of instant gratification. You need to raise them up.

Getting assorted juveniles is definitely the cheapest way to go to fill a tank, but there are drawbacks.

There are generally two types of African tank - the all male tank or the or the harem style

The all male tank is very popular. The females are drab - and they cause a lot of courtship aggression. So leave them out. Fill your tank with only males and most of them, hopefully, will color up. If they are all males they will be more likely to be peaceful, as they are not trying to impress any females or claim a territory. Honestly, you will probably still have some aggression issues, but if you balance the tank out, you can have a real piece of art.
The harem style is more natural. These cichlids are not monogamous by nature. They will not pair off. The best recommendation is to have one male of each species with three or four females. The females will still be drab, but the male will put on his full breeding dress and be outstanding. The 1 male/ 3-4 female is an important ratio. If there are not enough females, the male will harass the ones you have to death. There need to be enough females to spread the love around.
Again, the harem style will give you a more natural tank and hopefully you will see your fish living out a more natural existence. And the breeding behavior can be really fascinating to watch.

This brings us back to the assorted juvies. If you are going for a harem style tank.... frankly, the assorted batch will be really hard to sort out. Those fish could be just about anything. And they are probably hybridized already. Getting the 1/4 ratio of any one species will be extremely difficult.
If you are going for an all male tank, you have a different problem. If, when you buy your fish, you pick mostly the ones that have a little color (and if they haven't been doped with hormones to give them fake color), you will hopefully get mostly males. But you will have to grow them out to be sure. You may end up with some females on your hands that you will need to pull from the tank. What to do with them then.... is an age old problem. But you might do alright. The other option is to spend more money on older, more colorful fish. Or spend more money buying your fish from a reputable source, where they can tell you exactly what you are getting.
I currently have three fish from an unreputable dealer. I regret buying them fiercely. I suspect they are all females. They are certainly drab. Well, to be honest, two of them are drab to death. The other one has a beautiful red color - but I have seen it holding eggs in its mouth (African cichlids are mouth brooders.) The fish were all doped up on male hormones when I bought them. The red one got really messed up.

The rest of my fish are from a reputable source. I found a breeder in my city with access to all sorts of different species. My fish are gorgeous, and getting prettier all the time. None of them are female.

On a further note: when you add African cichlids to a tank, it is best to add them about 6 at a time. Buy them in batches. The increased numbers will spread out the aggression. If you buy 3 fish, the dominant fish may take a disliking to one or both of the others and kill them. If there are more fish, the aggression gets spread out, and hopefully no one dies. Hence the six. You especially don't want to add these fish one at a time to an existing tank. The solo newcomer will get destroyed by about everybody in the tank.

In a harem style tank, you could pick 3 or 4 species? Mac or A201 could tell you best. In an all male tank you could do... maybe 15-20 different fish? There is no hard number of what is right, but you want the tank to be a little crowded.

If this all sounds a bit complicated, don't sweat it too much. This is just the fun research time before you put everything together. Enjoy it. There is a lot to learn, but it is very rewarding. My biggest advice would be to just take it slow. A couple extra weeks of research time before you add fish, can save you months of headaches later on.

 

In a harem style tank, you could pick 3 or 4 species?

With Peacocks proper (Aulonocara) 2 species who's males should look as little alike as possible. If you also count Sciaenochromis, Copadichromis or Protomelas you could do 3 species, depending on the size, 1 per genus. Ratio should be either 1:3-5 (3 species) or 3:5-8 (2 species). If you have more than two males of one species plus even more females the aggression is spread quite even. Otherwise 1 male without innerspecies competition is best, so the aggression is spread among the females, but then only and relentlessly so.