Albino OB Peacock Cichlid (Aulonocara sp. 'Orange Blotch')

Choose an Albino OB Peacock for a hard-water Malawi aquarium

The Albino OB Peacock is a pale, peach-white peacock cichlid splashed with bright orange blotches, with red or pink eyes and long, orange-streaked fins. "OB" stands for orange blotch, and this is the albino form of the OB peacock, sold under the genus name Aulonocara. It is a fish made in aquariums, not collected from Lake Malawi: there is no wild population, and every Albino OB Peacock comes from line-bred stock.

A UK species profile of OB and calico peacocks describes the strain as a hybrid, believed to start from a cross between an Aulonocara and possibly another haplochromine cichlid, with the offspring then crossed again with an orange-blotched mbuna. Breeders then selected for the peacock body shape and calmer temperament. The orange-blotch gene is the mbuna contribution; albinism removes the dark pigment, leaving the orange on a pale ground.

Know what the names mean

Because it is a hybrid strain, plan its care from the wild peacocks it resembles. This page uses the Seriously Fish profile of Grant's peacock (Aulonocara stuartgranti) as the baseline for size, footprint and behaviour, OATA's UK guidance for Malawi cichlids for water and maintenance, and Practical Fishkeeping's article on farm-bred albino peacocks for the extra needs of pink-eyed fish. Where these sources give different numbers, the page says so and recommends the overlap.

Browse more of our Malawi cichlids, the wider African cichlids range, all Lake Malawi and Victoria cichlids or the full Aulonocara peacock cichlids range to compare colour forms, including other line-bred peacocks such as the Strawberry Peacock Cichlid and the Calico Peacock Cichlid.

Check what you receive

One purchase supplies one live Albino OB Peacock in the standard size we stock. The size at dispatch is a juvenile or young adult size, not the adult size, so plan the aquarium for a fish of about 12 to 13 cm. The sex is not selected or guaranteed.

The photographs show the colour form, not the individual fish. OB patterns are irregular by nature, so the blotches on the fish you receive will sit in different places, and colour deepens as the fish matures. Young albino peacocks are often paler than the adults shown, and males usually develop the longest fins and the strongest orange.

Plan the group before you order

• Peacock group: one male with four to six females, the ratio Seriously Fish gives for peacocks, so the male's attention is spread.
• Mixed Malawi community: OATA's group guidance is at least 15 fish, kept slightly crowded, with more females than males of each species.
• Not alone for long: a single peacock is not a natural set-up; buy the rest of the group so the fish settle together.

Because sex cannot be chosen, buy a few more young fish than you need and plan to rehome extra males as they colour up. Check our delivery and Live Arrival Guarantee policy before you order, and have the aquarium matured and tested first.

Plan the aquarium around the adult size

Give an Albino OB Peacock an aquarium at least 120 cm long. Practical Fishkeeping recommends a long-term minimum of 240 litres and 120 cm for farm-bred albino peacocks. Seriously Fish gives a 120 x 45 cm footprint, about 243 litres, for Grant's peacock, and OATA advises at least 200 litres for a reasonable Malawi community, adding that larger tanks are more stable. The three agree: plan on 120 cm and 200 litres or more, and go bigger for a mixed group.

Length matters more than height. Peacocks patrol the open sand in front of the rocks, and males need room to display without pinning a rival in a corner. A tall, narrow tank of the same volume gives less of the floor space they actually use.

Use a three-step space check

Our tank volume calculator works out real litres from your measurements, and the stocking calculator helps you add up adult sizes before you buy. Fit a tight cover: startled cichlids can jump.

Build a sand-and-rock layout

In Lake Malawi, wild peacocks live where rocky shores give way to open sand with scattered rocks. Copy that zone: a fine sand floor with piles of rock and open gaps between them. Seriously Fish recommends fine sand rather than gravel or pebbles, which can hinder feeding, damage the gill filaments and be swallowed, because peacocks take mouthfuls of sand and sift food from it.

OATA suggests coral sand or a similar substrate to help buffer the water, and complex rockwork so that each fish can hold a territory and lines of sight are broken, which reduces aggression. Build rock piles on the tank floor, not on top of the sand, so digging fish cannot undermine them.

Divide the footprint by purpose

Plants are optional. Most Malawi cichlids dig and uproot them, so OATA says only the hardiest plants fixed to rocks are likely to last. Strong lighting is not needed for the fish; keep a regular day and night cycle with overhead lights.

Set hard, alkaline water and keep it stable

Peacocks come from hard, alkaline lake water and are sensitive to sudden changes. Seriously Fish warns that they should not go into a biologically immature tank. Keep the values steady inside the overlap of the published ranges rather than chasing a single number.

The UK OB profile gives a slightly cooler 22-26°C and pH 7.5-8.5, which still overlaps the aim column. Test pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every week, and more often while the tank is new or after adding fish.

Match your tap water first

UK tap water varies from soft to very hard depending on where you live, so test it before you plan. Hard, alkaline tap water may need little more than dechlorinating. In a soft-water area, raise and hold the hardness with coral sand or aragonite in the filter, as the OB profile suggests, and keep every replacement water change the same so the pH does not swing. Our water chemistry guide explains pH, GH and KH, and the water matcher compares your readings with this fish's range.

Filter hard and change water every week

Malawi cichlids are heavy eaters, so the filter has to cope with a lot of waste. OATA calls a filter essential, recommends an oversized one and asks for vigorous aeration. Seriously Fish recommends heavy filtration, such as a canister filter or sump. Our guide to aquarium filtration explains how to size it.

The two sources differ on water changes: OATA asks for at least 25% every week, while Seriously Fish suggests 30-50% a week for peacocks. Start at 25% and move towards the larger figure if nitrate climbs, matching the temperature and hardness of the new water each time.

Follow a weekly routine

1. Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and hardness before you change any water.
2. Siphon solid waste from the sand and change 25-50% of the water.
3. Treat replacement tap water with a conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine.
4. Bring the new water to the tank temperature and the same hardness before adding it.
5. If the filter flow has dropped, rinse the media lightly in removed tank water, never under the tap, so the bacteria survive.

Never replace all the biological media at once, and never add a full group of new fish to a filter that has not grown with the stock.

Feed small, varied meals

Wild peacocks feed on the bottom: they hover over the sand, sense small animals moving through enlarged sensory pores on the head, then take a mouthful of sand and sift out the food. In the aquarium, Seriously Fish recommends a high-quality fine food that includes plant matter such as spirulina, with live or frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and mosquito larvae. The OB profile adds small frozen meaty foods such as mysis and some vegetable matter.

Seriously Fish suggests three or four small meals a day rather than one large one; OATA suggests feeding twice a day, only what is eaten within a few minutes. Either works if the total stays small. Practical Fishkeeping notes that pink-eyed peacocks have impaired vision, so make sure an albino fish actually gets its share, especially among faster tank mates.

Build one measured meal

• Choose small food: sinking pellets such as our small omnivore cichlid pellets, sized for a 12 cm fish's mouth.
• Add a frozen meal a few times a week: for example Malawimix frozen food, mysis or brine shrimp.
• Spread it out: scatter food over more than one patch of sand so the albino fish can find some.
• Stop within a few minutes: remove anything left uneaten, because rotting food raises ammonia.

A fish that stops feeding is telling you something. Test the water, check whether it is being chased away from food, and look at its breathing before changing the diet.

Introduce it calmly and watch the first week

Before the fish arrives, confirm that ammonia and nitrite read zero, that the temperature, pH and hardness are in range and that the tank has space for the full adult group. Add fish slowly: each addition makes more waste, and the filter bacteria need time to catch up. OATA recommends adding the more peaceful species first and the more aggressive ones last, and moving the rockwork when you add fish so that territories are re-formed rather than defended.

Use OATA's floating-bag method

1. Switch off the aquarium lights.
2. Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 10 minutes so the temperatures match.
3. Slowly add aquarium water to the bag over up to 20 minutes.
4. Net the fish into the aquarium, keeping bag water out of the tank.
5. Dispose of the bag water away from the aquarium, and keep the lights off for the rest of the day.

Our guide to acclimatising new fish covers the same steps with pictures. Expect a new peacock to hide at first; worry only if it cannot leave cover, stays pale for days or is chased constantly.

Choose tank mates from Lake Malawi only

OATA's rule for Malawi cichlids is simple: keep them only with other Malawi cichlids or certain Synodontis catfish from Lake Malawi, and never mix them with Tanganyikan cichlids. Peacocks are relatively peaceful by Malawi standards, but the UK OB profile notes that the mbuna in the OB line raised its aggression compared with pure Aulonocara. Seriously Fish adds that peacock males are aggressive towards fish with a similar colour pattern, and that most mbuna are too boisterous to be good companions.

Ask four questions about every companion

1. Is it from Lake Malawi? If not, leave it out.
2. Will it outcompete an albino at feeding time? Fast, pushy feeders are a poor match.
3. Could it hybridise? Keep albino OB males away from females of wild-type peacocks you want to keep pure.
4. Does the tank have room for every group? Count adult sizes, not shop sizes.

Our tank mates tool checks a planned mix, the Lake Malawi cichlid guide explains how peacocks, haps and mbuna differ, and our cichlid care guide covers territory and aggression in more depth.

Watch for health problems early

A healthy Albino OB Peacock has clear eyes, intact fins and scales, steady breathing and a good appetite. OATA lists clamped fins, flicking against rocks or sand and shimmying as signs of trouble, and advises against buying a healthy-looking fish from a tank where others are sick.

Test before you treat. Many problems in Malawi tanks start with water quality, overfeeding or one dominant male, and fixing the cause is better than adding medicine to the water.

Know what to expect if they breed

Peacocks are maternal mouthbrooders. Seriously Fish describes the male courting at a chosen site, the female laying eggs and picking them up, then taking in sperm while nosing at the egg-spots on the male's anal fin. The female carries the brood for up to four weeks and does not eat during that time; the UK OB profile gives about three weeks. OATA's wider Malawi range is 21 to 40 days.

Breed responsibly

Practical Fishkeeping asks keepers not to cross farm-bred albino peacocks with true species, because it undermines fish meant to be genuine wild species. Breed Albino OB to Albino OB, label any young as a hybrid strain and never release fish or tank water into the wild. A stressed brooding female may spit or swallow the brood, so move her only with care.

Answer Albino OB Peacock buying questions

What is an Albino OB Peacock?

It is an aquarium-bred albino form of the orange blotch (OB) peacock cichlid, sold under the genus name Aulonocara. OB peacocks are line-bred hybrids with no wild population: the orange-blotch colour is believed to come from crossing an Aulonocara with an orange-blotched mbuna. The albino form lacks dark pigment, so the body is pale peach-white with orange blotches and the eyes are red or pink.

How big does an Albino OB Peacock grow?

Plan for about 12 to 13 cm. A UK species profile of OB peacocks gives up to 12 cm, Practical Fishkeeping gives up to 12.5 cm for males of a similar farm-bred albino peacock, and the wild Grant's peacock reaches 13 cm standard length. Males grow larger than females.

What size aquarium does it need?

Use an aquarium at least 120 cm long. Practical Fishkeeping recommends a long-term minimum of 240 litres and 120 cm for farm-bred albino peacocks, Seriously Fish gives a 120 x 45 cm footprint for a wild peacock, and OATA advises at least 200 litres for a Malawi community.

What water does an Albino OB Peacock need?

Hard, alkaline, very clean water. The published ranges overlap at about 23 to 26 degrees C, pH 8.0 to 8.5 and 12 to 18 dGH, with zero ammonia and nitrite and nitrate no more than 20 mg/l above your tap water.

Can it live with other peacock cichlids?

It can share a peacock or hap community, but keep it away from females of true Aulonocara species if you want those lines pure, because peacocks hybridise readily. Avoid boisterous mbuna, since albino fish see less well and can lose out at feeding time.

Is one fish enough?

One purchase supplies one fish of unspecified sex. Peacock males are territorial, so plan one male with four to six females, or a larger, slightly crowded Malawi community, rather than a single fish on its own.

What should I feed it?

A fine-sized cichlid pellet or flake containing plant matter, plus small frozen foods such as mysis, brine shrimp and daphnia. Give two to four small meals a day, only as much as is eaten within a few minutes, and spread the food so it reaches the sand.

Can I breed Albino OB Peacocks?

They are maternal mouthbrooders and will spawn in an aquarium. Because the line is already a hybrid, breed albino OB to albino OB only and never release or sell the young as a wild species.

Consult the care references

• OATA: How to look after African Malawi cichlids: UK group guidance for Malawi cichlids: water values, tank size, group size, feeding, maintenance, introduction, health signs and breeding.
• Seriously Fish: Aulonocara stuartgranti: a wild peacock species used as the care baseline for the genus: size, tank footprint, water range, sand, diet, sex ratio, hybridisation and breeding.
• Practical Fishkeeping: New Aulonocara, a man-made hybrid? (Jeremy Gay, March 2010): farm-bred, pink-eyed Aulonocara: origin, impaired vision, feeding, tank size, adult size and why they should not be crossed with true species.
• Fishkeeper UK: Hybrid peacock (OB and calico peacocks): a UK species profile of the hybrid OB and calico peacocks: origin of the orange-blotch colour, size, water values, diet, temperament and tank mates.
• Tropical Fish Co delivery policy: current dispatch days and Live Arrival Guarantee terms.