Ob Peacock Fry Advice

I've raised a few batches of OB peacocks just fine and now those fry have matured to the point of having their own fry. Now I've got 3 batches of OB fry going but they are not turning out as I'd hoped. 2 batches are from the main pair and the youngest batch is from the oldest daughter of said pair.

The problem is, they don't look like OB peacocks. There's a good portion of the fry that are not getting the marbled OB look. They look like run of the mill peacock fry with vertical baring. This wouldn't be a problem if it was only a couple out of each spawn but I'd say about half are not looking very OB.

I netted at random, the largest fry and a few others are not getting the marbled pattern.




This happened in the first spawn, there were 2 that looked like plain old peacocks. I kept one and he's very plain looking despite being a male. Plain male and sister up top.



Dad/grandpa and mom/grandma, holding again.





Is it even worth waiting for the fry to grow a bit more to see if they are OB or should I just not waste my time and cull the ones that are less than what I'm going for? These fry will be going to a good pet store once they are around 1.5-2in.

 

The only advice I can give you is, mix up the gene pool. I was just talking to the owner of my LFS about how they only send him 6 OB’s a week max, and how it must be hard to produce bright colored males.

 

Do you have a picture of the "best" male from either of the first broods?

 

Do you have a picture of the "best" male from either of the first broods?

I do, he was being shy and no he is not holding, his mouth is just full of cauliflower His colors don't show up the best but that's because he is not a dominant male. This strain in particular is almost all blue, he looks pretty much like dad.

The only advice I can give you is, mix up the gene pool. I was just talking to the owner of my LFS about how they only send him 6 OB’s a week max, and how it must be hard to produce bright colored males.

I have another male I'd like to breed all the females to, but that is kinda hard to accomplish when this male is submissive to the blue boy. I'll have to move the male and females to another tank and try it that way.

 

I ended up culling the non OB fry and will be putting things on hold till these fry are older. I won’t be pulling anymore fry for a while but will see about moving the orange male into a separate tank with the females. I just need to empty a tank first

 

I have a beutiful OB male and I bought three females, but in the first batch I got one regular grey female peacock she is almost at maturity but has no color other than grey and a stripe of orange on the edge of the dorsal fin. I guess the OB genes carry some sort of normal peacock gene too.

 

After culling all but a couple of the non OB fry things are looking good. I'm seeing a lot of blue shimmering on the gill plates of many fry, but they are still pretty far from being accurately sexed.

Today I've also got a female holding from my orange OB male. He spawned with another female a week ago but she was a first timer and didn't hold them for more than a few days. The first timer and her older sister are both looking plump but it might be a while before they spawn. I'll be getting things ready for the new batches while I wait.

 

Lots of fry from the orange male that are showing good patterns. Down side is I’ve noticed a few with slightly kinked tails and a good portion with funky pectoral fins. I’ve culled out most the non-OB fry and all the ones with funky tails. About 20 are in a 29gal and another 20ish in a 36gal. They are from two females.



This batch will be an experiment, I’ll be paying closer attention to the fin shapes to see which female may be producing the deformed ones. It may be the male’s genes too, which would be a bummer.



A not so up to date pic of my favorite male from the blue boy. He and the other 14 or so went into the display tank. They’re growing faster there.

 

Males are showing color from the orange male’s batch. There’re both light and dark bodied fish and some have a higher density of OB markings.





I cannot get a good pic of this male, he won’r hold still at all.




I’ve separated them into my personal top pics and the less pretty ones. I’ll have to add more to the “better” 29gal soon as I keep seeing some nice ones in the “lesser” tank. All but a few non-OB fry have been culled as have the runty and poorly patterned. I’ll have to comb through them again.

 

They're at breeding size now and I've got 2 batches from a blue female that spawned with one of the orange male's sons.

I'm working on selling these little buggers now and they look fantastic IMO. There's a dark boy with a touch of orange that I may end up keeping.

 

I have a batch of OB s that have a few greys in the mix so I'm curious to see what the males turn into. I was hoping that they would turn all blue from the aulonocara nyassae part of the OB strain. They are about an inch and half long and showing no color so I'm losing hope. The dominant OB male is just starting to color up and some others are showing color while the greys only have a sliver of blue on their gill plate.

 

From my experience the non OB males do turn mostly blue but only if they are dominant. Otherwise submissive males will just have a blue face. Nice looking youngsters!

 

From my experience the non OB males do turn mostly blue but only if they are dominant. Otherwise submissive males will just have a blue face. Nice looking youngsters!

Thanks for that info, maby I'll stick the bigger male with 3 or 4 grey females and see if he colors up.

 

It’s been a while since an update. The little OBs are now having their own babies. I’ve sold several on ebay and the growout tank is finally thinning out a bit.

The last blue spawn may not be very blue at all. None are looking like the blue OBs I’ve raised before, perhaps the pink male was the father.

“Blue” spawn.



Pink spawn, which has thrown a few blues as well. Lots of males and all looking fantastic.







Bonus pic of a male that I bought about a year ago. Took the little guy ages to finally color up. He has more red than pink, might use him in the next round.

 

It’s been a while since an update. The little OBs are now having their own babies. I’ve sold several on ebay and the growout tank is finally thinning out a bit.

The last blue spawn may not be very blue at all. None are looking like the blue OBs I’ve raised before, perhaps the pink male was the father.

“Blue” spawn.
View attachment 638150View attachment 638155
Pink spawn, which has thrown a few blues as well. Lots of males and all looking fantastic.View attachment 638151View attachment 638152View attachment 638153View attachment 638156View attachment 638157


Bonus pic of a male that I bought about a year ago. Took the little guy ages to finally color up. He has more red than pink, might use him in the next round.
View attachment 638154

I read somewhere that OB Peacocks don't even start showing their true blotches until 2-3 inches long and true color may not show up until when later. I've never raised them. The OB Mbunas I have haven't spawned or aren't very good parents.

 

I read somewhere that OB Peacocks don't even start showing their true blotches until 2-3 inches long and true color may not show up until when later. I've never raised them. The OB Mbunas I have haven't spawned or aren't very good parents.

OBs follow a lot more similar to their peacock side instead of the mbuna, one or two domant males show color very early( around 1.5 to 2 inches) then the others won't show much until those males are removed or they get bigger. There blotches will change a little as they grow but it's not noticeable unless you compare pictures closely.

 

I read somewhere that OB Peacocks don't even start showing their true blotches until 2-3 inches long and true color may not show up until when later. I've never raised them. The OB Mbunas I have haven't spawned or aren't very good parents.

OBs follow a lot more similar to their peacock side instead of the mbuna, one or two domant males show color very early( around 1.5 to 2 inches) then the others won't show much until those males are removed or they get bigger. There blotches will change a little as they grow but it's not noticeable unless you compare pictures closely.

Once mine got their patterns (around 1-1.25in) they didn't chance much, just got color as they matured. There are still a few smaller fish that I suspect to be male but they haven't shown much color, I did mix in some younger fry a while back so that's probably them. As for some males not showing color, that is to be expected when other dominant males are present. I've been picking the most dominant males when I make a sale on ebay, trying to keep the peace until I get them all off my hands.

 

Thanks for that info, maby I'll stick the bigger male with 3 or 4 grey females and see if he colors up.

For anyone curious about the grey obs, they turn out pretty cool looking once dominant.

 

Alright, this is going to become a full-blown OB peacock breeding thread now.

I’m finishing up the last batches from the big pink/orange OB male. I sold him and several of his spawn last week so now the other males will have a chance at breeding. I still have to select my 2 favorite males from the several I have in the 55gal, that will likely happen tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few of the males I sold recently.






I also happened upon an unexpected surprise when I was stripping fry/eggs that I had no intention of raising. A single pale fry with nothing but a dot on it’s forehead! Adorable and unlike any other OB fry I’ve produced. Needless to say, I’ll raise it and some of its siblings.




I’ll be going through the growout tank soon enough and culling some of the runty and otherwise funky shaped juveniles. Most look fine but I do see a few off ones.

I’m also introducing new blood to my line by purchasing 10 1/2in fry from aquabid. More on that at a later date.

 

Alright, this is going to become a full-blown OB peacock breeding thread now.

I’m finishing up the last batches from the big pink/orange OB male. I sold him and several of his spawn last week so now the other males will have a chance at breeding. I still have to select my 2 favorite males from the several I have in the 55gal, that will likely happen tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few of the males I sold recently.
View attachment 652135View attachment 652136View attachment 652137View attachment 652139

I also happened upon an unexpected surprise when I was stripping fry/eggs that I had no intention of raising. A single pale fry with nothing but a dot on it’s forehead! Adorable and unlike any other OB fry I’ve produced. Needless to say, I’ll raise it and some of its siblings.
View attachment 652141View attachment 652143

I’ll be going through the growout tank soon enough and culling some of the runty and otherwise funky shaped juveniles. Most look fine but I do see a few off ones.

I’m also introducing new blood to my line by purchasing 10 1/2in fry from aquabid. More on that at a later date.

You've got. Some really nice fish there!