Peacock Gudgeon notes and information!

[ClownGoneFishin]

Hey yall! I recently finished stocking my 40 gal breeder! Right now, I've got a collection of corydoras julii, 5 peacock gudgeons (3 males, 2 females, I may add more females in the near future, but we'll see), and 3 pearl gouramis. I got the peacocks knowing that they're a less commonly kept species, and I'm starting this thread to take notes on their behavior and habits, partially for others to look at with questions, but partially for myself. I'll take pictures and videos as I go.


First thing I think should be noted is their sleeping habits. I've never really owned a fish that "sleeps," but my peacocks do. I have a finnex planted KLC, and have it running whatever the preset 24 hour cycle is. At around 6ish, the light get dim and the gudgeons begin to slow down. By 9ish, the lights are real dark (just a dim blue light), and all the gudgeons find little nooks and crannies and stop moving. Due to their goby-like nature, they like to sit around on the substrate and hardscape, and their "sleep" is no exception. I was down in my office last night, and turned on the lights to take a quick video for someone, and they came up swimming slowly, like they were groggy haha!

 

[Epark]

Interesting! Awesome tank!

 

[ClownGoneFishin]

I should also note these guys eat like horses. I like to cycle all my fish's food, so I do
frozen bloodworms
fluval bug bites
sera color flakes
hikari color bites
and just swap between them every day. I tried omega one frozen community bites, but I wasn't crazy about it, and my fish weren't either. These guys are total piggies hahaha! They eat everything really well, and were eating day one. They haven't started begging yet (although, the pearls started day one), but I got mine from two different LFS on two occasions, and they all ate heartily day one. I've heard people saying they're live only, but I don't see it.

Last thing I should note is aggression. I can see the potentiality for it the same way you can see it in a really peaceful betta. That said, these guys haven't shown any aggression. The males will display at one another periodically, but they wont even go after the caridinia shrimp I have in the tank. If you're doing them for community, I would be a little patient, and add them last, but I really don't see any aggression amongst them. They go right up to the shrimp and cories and pearls with no issue. When I first added the pearls, I did see one of the females take a little nip at them, but it looked more like inquisitive nature than aggression to me, the way a baby puts its feet in its mouth.

Interesting! Awesome tank!

Thank you! It was my first "real" scape I tried to make look pretty. The tank is old and second hand, so its scratched pretty bad, but you can't really see it in person! I'm hoping to get the peacocks to breed in here, so I'll make sure to note and record any courting behavior I see.

 

[FishDin]

Nice tank.

My Peacocks have never shown aggression towards anything. They started breeding as soon as I got them, but the male would follow the female and eat the eggs as she was laying them. Well I guess they never bred because the males never fertilized the eggs. They never succeded in producing fry.

Be careful with using that 24hour cycle on your finnex. I did that at first with my finnex planted HLC and in no time I had major algae issues. It was way too much light. In the end I took the time to figure out the programming and created my own light cycle with greatly reduced intensities.

 

[StarGirl]

My adult fish ate everything too.

You have lots of caves so they will lay in those. They like long one end closed tubes. Mine were in the community tank also. If you catch a Dad fanning the eggs you may want to take the eggs out of the tank to another tank. They will eat them. I think they get tired of guarding the tube. Or someone bigger sneaks in for a snack. I think they also gave up after awhile.

I did actually scoop up Dad with the eggs because he wouldnt leave. Then put him back in the big tank. I got over 100 babies. ONE THING to remember, Gudgie babies are super duper small so any baby food wont necessarily work. You may need to make infusoria for them when newly hatched. Mine were super picky, and would only eat LIVE Baby Brine Shrimp. I couldnt get to eat anything else, so they got a little spoiled.

Mine werent aggressive to my knowledge. Not anymore than any other fish.

 

[Fishfur]

hatched. Mine were super picky, and would only eat LIVE Baby Brine Shrimp. I couldnt get to eat anything else, so they got a little spoiled.

Sounds like they may be a species whose fry won’t respond to food that isn’t moving around like live prey. Vinegar eels or microworms could be other options if they can take BBS right away.

 

[GlennO]

That's a great setup for them. So many caves, they'll be spoilt for choice. I found that they bred easily though I didn't try to raise any fry. Don't be surprised if they squeeze into the narrowest crevice they can find to breed.

 

[StarGirl]

Sounds like they may be a species whose fry won’t respond to food that isn’t moving around like live prey. Vinegar eels or microworms could be other options if they can take BBS right away.

BBS was too big when they hatched. I put Hornwort from the tanks in there. They must have gotten some kind of infusoria. Everything else was too big.

 

[Fishfur]

BBS was too big when they hatched. I put Hornwort from the tanks in there. They must have gotten some kind of infusoria. Everything else was too big.

In that case if you want to raise fry you should have a culture of paramecium and/or rotifers to bridge the gap between hatching & getting large enough to take vinegar eels & BBS.

 

[Gudgie]

Gorgeous looking tank! And makes me miss having my gudgies!

I’d definitely consider upping your females, otherwise those two will likely get harassed by the males. They shouldn’t get aggressive towards them though, just might wear them out.

When my gudgeons were breeding, the males were very good at fanning and protecting the clutch. However as soon as they went free-swimming, the adults would eat all/most of them within a day or two. If you want to successfully get any offspring, you’ll either need to 1) remove the fry with very very careful siphoning/dipping as soon as they’re free-swimming, or 2) relocate the nest to another tank or breeding net. If option 2, either move the male with the nest until they’re free-swimming and then put him back in the main tank, or otherwise you can rig up an airline to ensure constant water circulation by the eggs. I never had much luck with the airline though.

Like others have said, my gudgie fry would *only* eat live food initially. I had great success with hatching BBS as well as using vinegar eels. Eventually you can start introducing golden pearls or other fry foods, but it’ll take awhile to be accepted.

They’re a fairly slow-growing species, so it takes quite awhile for them to get to a sellable size. Part of why they’re relatively expensive compared to many nano fish, I’d guess. But worth it in my opinion!

 

[ClownGoneFishin]

Nice tank.

My Peacocks have never shown aggression towards anything. They started breeding as soon as I got them, but the male would follow the female and eat the eggs as she was laying them. Well I guess they never bred because the males never fertilized the eggs. They never succeded in producing fry.

Be careful with using that 24hour cycle on your finnex. I did that at first with my finnex planted HLC and in no time I had major algae issues. It was way too much light. In the end I took the time to figure out the programming and created my own light cycle with greatly reduced intensities.

I’ve had to lower the photoperiod and intensity on my 30 (which also uses a finnex) so I’m ready if it starts looking like a problem, but I’m pretty hopeful it won’t be an issue hahaha.

I have a nice breeder box I plan on putting any caves with eggs in, but I’m still working out the kinks on live food. I have a 75 I’m planning on setting up for freshwater pipefish, so it’ll be good for them too.

I plan on getting more females in the future, but I’m having some cycling troubles atm (did fish out, but I guess the bioload went up too fast? I’m seeing a lot of nitrite. Monitoring as I go and doing daily water changes. I have a handle on it hahaha), and am a full time college student, so my plate is a little full.

I appreciate all the comments and compliments on the scape! I’m taking this a lot more seriously than the scape of my 30 (which was set up a year or two ago), so I’m really glad it looks good!!

 

[ClownGoneFishin]

Apologies for the lack of updates! I've been a little more distracted with my other tank, as my honey gouramis just had fry hahaha! Regardless, the peacocks are doing well, better than well to be honest! That said, I have been taking some pictures of the peacocks. They're sooooo beautiful, by far one of the most beautiful fish I've ever owned. I really don't like bettas, but I would argue that these guys are pretty comparable in behavior, and just as beautiful. I haven't seen any of the females pair off with the males and go into a cave to mate, but I've definitely seen the males flare at the females every once in a while, I think as some kind of courtship display? But I'm not sure, hahaha. I do want to use this post to very definitively say pearl gouramis and peacock gudgeons are fine tank mates. As I was researching, I saw a lot of posts saying no, and a lot saying yes, but I'm glad I trusted my gut.