Golden Peacock Bass (Cichla kelberi)

Meet the Golden Peacock Bass, the kelberi peacock bass

The Golden Peacock Bass (Cichla kelberi) is the yellow peacock bass of Brazil: a heavy, golden fish with three black bars, a black eye-spot ringed in yellow at the base of the tail, and orange-red lower fins covered in small pale spots. In the trade it is usually called the kelberi peacock bass. It is a true predator that grows past 50 cm, and the juvenile you receive at 5–6 cm will eventually need one of the largest aquariums in the hobby.

Sven Kullander and Efrem Ferreira described the species in 2006 in their review of the genus Cichla. They named it after Dieter Kelber, a recreational angler, in recognition of his promotion of peacock bass as sport fishes and for the photographs he supplied of the tucunaré amarela (this species) and the tucunaré azul. Its native home is the Rio Araguaia drainage and the lower Rio Tocantins in Brazil. FishBase lists it as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Check the names on the label

For decades this fish was filed under other names. Kullander and Ferreira write that it had long been confused with C. monoculus, which it resembles in shape and general colour, and that older Brazilian fisheries papers called it C. ocellaris. The only feature they found to separate it from C. monoculus is unique in the genus: adults carry small light spots on the pelvic fins, the anal fin and the lower lobe of the tail. Our Monoculus Peacock Bass is that other species, and comparing the two pages shows the difference.

The Golden Peacock Bass has also been moved far beyond its native rivers. The same review records it in reservoirs in Rio Grande do Norte, Minas Gerais and Ceará, in the Rio Paraíba do Sul and the Rio Paraná, and cites a 1999 angling source that lists thirteen dams in the Brazilian Paraná basin where it occurs. A predator this successful should never be released into any water.

Browse our South American cichlids, the South American cichlid category, our centrepiece fish and our rare and collector fish for related species.

Know what arrives and how it will change

One purchase supplies one live Golden Peacock Bass of about 5–6 cm. At that size it cannot be sexed and it looks nothing like the adult in the photographs. Kullander and Ferreira describe a 48 mm juvenile as pale, with greyish vertical bars each holding a dark brown blotch, the rearmost blotch joined to the tail spot by a narrow dark stripe, and clear fins. Young fish of about 150–195 mm are brownish with three dark bars and the first light spots on the fins.

The golden colour comes with size and maturity. The authors describe breeding males as yellow or golden with a greenish head, a white chest and belly, black bars, small black spots on the back, and white or yellow spots on the dark soft dorsal, anal and pelvic fins, with a prominent dark grey hump on the forehead. Breeding females are yellowish to golden with an orange throat. Large adults outside breeding can be greyish to olive with maroon anal and lower tail fins.

Answer four questions before ordering

1. Will a tank of about 244 × 91 × 91 cm be running before the fish outgrows its first tank?
2. Is there a floor and stand that can carry over two tonnes?
3. Can you commit to large weekly water changes for years? OATA notes that American cichlids can live for several years in a well-matured set-up.
4. Will every companion stay too large to be eaten?

If the answers are yes, read our delivery and Live Arrival Guarantee information and prepare a mature, heated aquarium first.

Size the golden peacock bass aquarium for 50 cm and more

FishBase records a maximum of 58.5 cm standard length, measured from the snout to the base of the tail, and a published weight of 4.9 kg. It gives 20.7 cm as the length at first maturity, so a fish can breed long before it stops growing. The largest specimen Kullander and Ferreira examined was 276 mm standard length. Plan for a fish of at least 50 cm.

No published aquarium size exists for this species. The nearest guide is Seriously Fish's profile of the Orinoco peacock bass, a species of about 60 cm, which needs a tank of at least 8 × 3 × 3 ft (length × height × width), about 244 × 91 × 91 cm and roughly 2,000 litres. FishBase's maximum for the Golden Peacock Bass is close to that size, so treat 8 × 3 × 3 ft as the minimum for one adult. Seriously Fish's genus page gives 10 × 3 × 4 ft for the bigger species, which is where a pair or a mixed group should start.

Use a three-step space check

1. Footprint first: at least 244 cm long and 91 cm front to back, so an adult can turn without touching the glass.
2. Volume and load: our tank volume calculator gives the litres; at about a kilogram per litre, 2,000 litres is roughly two tonnes of water alone.
3. Companions at adult size: enter every fish at its grown size in our stocking calculator.

Seriously Fish allows smaller aquaria for young fish but says plainly that you should not buy a peacock bass you cannot house long term. A mature grow-out tank is fine for the first months while the final aquarium is built.

Furnish for swimming room

A peacock bass needs open water more than décor. Seriously Fish recommends furnishing fairly sparsely, with large pieces of bogwood and robust plants. Fishkeeper, the care library of a UK aquatics chain, suggests soft sand, which is easier to clean than gravel because these fish are messy eaters, or a bare floor, and robust Anubias or Java fern grown on the wood.

Divide the tank by function

Fishkeeper warns that these fish can move rockwork and recommends bonding any stones with aquarium silicone. It also suggests keeping heaters in a sump, out of the main tank. OATA recommends a secure lid for American cichlids.

Hold warm, clean water steady

No water values are published for C. kelberi itself. For C. monoculus, its look-alike and close relative, Seriously Fish gives 25–28°C, pH 6.5–7.5 and up to 15 dGH. Fishkeeper gives 24–27°C, pH 6.5–7.0 and up to 15 dH for peacock bass in general, and OATA gives 22–27°C and pH 6.5–8.0 for American cichlids. Aim for 25–27°C and pH 6.5–7.5.

Separate habitat values from waste readings

Seriously Fish describes peacock bass as hardy fish that adapt to a variety of conditions, so a stable reading inside these ranges matters more than an exact figure. Compare your tap water with the table using our water matcher and read the water chemistry guide.

Filter for a heavy feeder

Big predators eat big meals and produce matching waste. Fishkeeper calls for powerful, oversized filtration and well-oxygenated water, prefers a sump to several huge canister filters, and says frequent partial water changes are absolutely essential because peacock bass will not tolerate raised nitrate. Seriously Fish also recommends external or sump filtration for these large, messy fish.

Follow a weekly maintenance sequence

1. Test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
2. Remove uneaten food the same day; whole frozen fish and shellfish foul water quickly.
3. Change at least 25% of the water, OATA's weekly minimum, and more when nitrate climbs; match temperature and use conditioner.
4. Rinse mechanical media in removed tank water.
5. Check heaters, pumps, pipework and the lid.

Seriously Fish sizes filtration at four to five times the tank volume per hour in its species profiles; for 2,000 litres that is roughly 8,000–10,000 litres per hour. Our article on aquarium filtration explained covers sumps and media.

Feed meaty foods and teach it to take pellets

In the wild the Golden Peacock Bass is a fish-eater. Seriously Fish recommends meaty foods for peacock bass such as prawn, mussel, lancefish, whitebait and other white fish. Fishkeeper suggests bloodworm, Mysis and chopped seafood for small fish, then earthworms, prawns, cockles, mussels, crab, crayfish and whole small fish as they grow, and lists cichlid pellets among suitable foods.

Build one measured meal

• Starter foods: frozen Mysis and chopped large frozen krill.
• Pellet staple: Tropical Cichlid Carnivore Medium Pellet, moving up to Cichlid & Arowana Large Sticks.
• Larger items as it grows: frozen mussel meat, frozen smelts and earthworms.

Offer a pellet at the start of each meal, while the fish is hungry, and follow with the frozen food it already knows, so the pellet becomes part of the routine from the first weeks. OATA advises feeding American cichlids once a day, only what they eat within a few minutes, because they can eat a large amount at once. Live feeder fish are not needed and bring a disease risk.

Introduce it to a matured aquarium

The first tank must be fully cycled, with ammonia and nitrite at zero. Our first tropical tank guide and the article on the nitrogen cycle explained show how. Use the floating-bag method OATA describes: lights off, float the sealed bag for about 10 minutes, add small amounts of tank water over up to 20 minutes, then net or pour the fish in with as little bag water as possible. See how to acclimatise new fish.

Use a first-week checkpoint plan

Choose tank mates that cannot be eaten

Seriously Fish describes peacock bass as territorial and moderately aggressive, able to live with other large fish such as arowana, stingrays, large catfish and other large cichlids only in an extremely large aquarium, and ready to eat any tankmate small enough to be food. Fishkeeper recommends a single fish or a known mated pair and never more than one male in a tank, however spacious.

Screen each companion

The Oscar Cichlid and the Leopard Sailfin Pleco from our range fit the description of large, sturdy companions. Predatory relatives such as Regan's Pike Cichlid and the rest of our pike cichlids, or the Parachromis guapotes, are better kept as alternatives than as companions. Read our Oscar care guide and cichlid care guide, and check any plan with our tank mates tool.

Watch for problems early

OATA describes a healthy fish as having clear, bright eyes, undamaged fins, intact scales, no ulcers or bumps, normal swimming and steady breathing. Learn your fish's normal feeding response in the first weeks: a change in appetite is often the first warning.

Pair each sign with an action

Understand sexing and breeding

Seriously Fish notes that males grow larger and develop a hump on the forehead as they mature, and Kullander and Ferreira describe a prominent dark grey hump on breeding males of this species. Aquarium breeding of peacock bass is rarely reported. Fishkeeper describes the genus as biparental substrate spawners that lay their adhesive eggs on a cleaned flat rock, hatch them in about three days and then carry the young in their mouths to a pit in the sand, while Seriously Fish records broods of 700–800 fry for C. monoculus. These accounts are for related species, not this one. Because the species reached many reservoirs through stocking, it is a reminder to keep any fry you raise inside the aquarium hobby.

Answer Golden Peacock Bass buying questions

What is a Golden Peacock Bass?

It is Cichla kelberi Kullander & Ferreira, 2006, often sold as the kelberi peacock bass. It is a large, fish-eating cichlid native to the Araguaia and lower Tocantins rivers of Brazil, where it is called tucunaré amarela, the yellow peacock bass. Adults are golden with three black bars and orange-red lower fins dotted with pale spots.

Is the Golden Peacock Bass the same as Cichla monoculus?

No, although the two were confused for decades. Kullander and Ferreira separate them by one feature unique in the genus: adult Cichla kelberi have small light spots on the pelvic fins, the anal fin and the lower half of the tail. Our Monoculus Peacock Bass is the other species.

How big does a Golden Peacock Bass grow?

FishBase records a maximum of 58.5 cm standard length (without the tail) and 4.9 kg, and gives 20.7 cm as the length at first maturity. The largest fish Kullander and Ferreira examined measured 276 mm standard length. Plan for a fish of at least 50 cm.

What size aquarium does it need?

No figure is published for this species. Seriously Fish gives 8 × 3 × 3 ft (about 244 × 91 × 91 cm, roughly 2,000 litres) as the minimum for an adult Orinoco peacock bass of about 60 cm, a similar size. Treat that as the minimum for one adult Golden Peacock Bass.

What does it eat?

It is a predator that eats fish in the wild. In the aquarium, feed meaty foods such as prawn, mussel, krill, earthworms and white fish, and train it on to a carnivore pellet. Feed once a day, only what is eaten within a few minutes.

Can it live with other fish?

Only with large, robust fish that are too big to swallow, such as oscars and big armoured catfish, in a very large aquarium. Keep only one male peacock bass per tank.

Why is my young fish not golden?

Juveniles are plain and pale with three dark blotches along the side, the last joined to the tail spot by a dark stripe. Kullander and Ferreira describe the golden body, black bars and spotted fins as adult and breeding colours that develop as the fish grows.

How many fish come with one purchase?

One live Golden Peacock Bass of about 5–6 cm. It is a juvenile, it cannot be sexed, and its colours will differ from the adult in the photographs.

Consult the care references

• FishBase: Cichla kelberi — maximum length and weight, size at maturity, diagnostic spotted fins, etymology and IUCN status.
• Kullander & Ferreira 2006, Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 17(4): 289–398 — the revision of Cichla that described this species: native range, translocations, juvenile and adult colour patterns, largest specimens and local names.
• Seriously Fish: Cichla orinocensis — the smallest peacock bass profiled: adult tank of 8 × 3 × 3 ft, water values, décor, filtration, diet and temperament.
• Seriously Fish: Cichla monoculus — a close relative: size, adult tank, water values, maintenance, diet, compatibility, sexing and breeding notes.
• Seriously Fish: genus Cichla — sizes and adult tank sizes of the peacock bass species it profiles.
• Fishkeeper: Peacock Bass (Cichla spp.) — UK retailer care profile for peacock bass: water values, set-up, filtration, water changes, tank mates, foods and breeding.
• OATA: How to look after American cichlids — UK guidance on American cichlid water quality, aquarium size, lid, feeding, introduction and health checks.
• Tropical Fish Co delivery policy — current dispatch days and Live Arrival Guarantee terms.