Green Face Peacock Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

Green Face Peacock is a popular aquarium name for an Aulonocara peacock cichlid noted for the metallic green or blue-green sheen across the face and head. Mature males may develop vivid blue, turquoise, yellow, orange or red markings elsewhere on the body, depending on their particular strain and collection line. Females are usually much less colourful, with subdued silver, beige or brown tones and faint vertical barring.

These cichlids are active, alert fish that spend much of their time hovering just above the bottom and examining the substrate for small prey. They are generally less aggressive than many mbuna, although mature males defend spawning areas and can harass females or rival males, especially in cramped surroundings.

In Lake Malawi, Aulonocara peacocks inhabit transitional areas where sandy beds meet scattered rocks. Their specialised sensory pores help them detect tiny invertebrates hidden beneath the substrate, and they often pause before making a quick dive to uncover food.

The Green Face form is not a scientifically standardised species designation. It may refer to a locality form, hybrid, or selectively bred line related to species such as Aulonocara stuartgranti, so colour, adult size and temperament can vary between fish sold under this name. Responsible sourcing is important because Lake Malawi cichlids have distinct geographic populations that should not be casually mixed or hybridised.

The Green Face Peacock is a trade name generally applied to selectively identified Aulonocara peacock cichlids from Lake Malawi in East Africa. The exact collection locality can vary between suppliers because “Green Face” is not a formally defined single species name, and Aulonocara populations are restricted to rocky and sandy habitats around the lake.

A group should have at least a 200-litre aquarium, with a larger tank of around 300 litres or more preferable for a male and several females or a mixed Lake Malawi community. Aim for a footprint of approximately 120 cm by 45 cm or larger, as floor space is more valuable than extra height. Use fine sand or smooth small-grain substrate so the fish can sift naturally, together with limestone or other inert rock arranged into caves, territories and visual barriers. Leave open sandy areas for foraging, provide strong biological filtration and maintain stable, well-oxygenated alkaline water.

Males can reach about 15 cm (6 in) in length, while females are usually smaller at around 10–12 cm (4–4.7 in). Aquarium specimens may remain slightly smaller or larger depending on their lineage, diet and conditions.

Green Face Peacocks are omnivorous but naturally take a large proportion of small crustaceans, insect larvae and other invertebrates from the sand. Offer a varied diet based on quality cichlid pellets or granules, supplemented with spirulina-rich foods, frozen or live brine shrimp, daphnia and similar offerings. Feed small portions once or twice daily, and avoid relying heavily on fatty mammalian foods or large amounts of bloodworm.

Suitable tankmates include other peaceful-to-moderately assertive Lake Malawi peacocks, selected haplochromine cichlids of comparable size, and robust bottom-dwelling species such as Synodontis catfish. Avoid mixing them with highly aggressive mbuna, very small community fish, slow-moving long-finned species, or other Aulonocara forms if maintaining identifiable bloodlines is important. Males of similar appearance may fight, and multiple males should only be kept in a suitably spacious aquarium with plenty of visual barriers.

Green Face Peacocks are maternal mouthbrooders and are best bred in a harem of one male with several females. The male displays around a suitable spawning site, usually a clean patch of sand or a flat rock, where the female lays eggs and immediately collects them in her mouth. She then picks up the male’s released sperm, fertilising the eggs while holding them. Incubation lasts around three weeks, during which the female may eat very little. She can be left to release the fry naturally or carefully stripped by an experienced aquarist; newly free-swimming fry accept baby brine shrimp and finely powdered foods.

Males are substantially more colourful, developing a green or blue-green face and stronger blue, yellow, orange or red body markings as they mature. Females are smaller and mostly silver, tan or brown, often retaining subdued vertical bars; males may also develop longer, more pointed fin extensions.