Peacock Goby - Fish for the Planted Aquarium

Round Head · 10-23-2007, 08:18 PM

Another little fish I just bought but have not introduced them into my planted tank yet.
What do you guys know about this fish?

Thanks in advance.

BryceM · 10-24-2007, 05:11 AM

I assume you mean Tateurndina ocellicauda which is also sometimes called the Peacock Gudgeon. I bought four of these guys about a year ago. One male died fairly quickly but the other three lived for several months. I'm not sure they really found my tank to their liking since they never really seemed to thrive. One pair did spawn however and there were quite a few free-swimming fry in the tank for a while. It actually took me several days to find the male while he was guarding the eggs.

They're pretty, but not all that active and their behavior is sort of bland - sort of a fish version of a tree sloth.

DLOBREAKS · 10-24-2007, 07:24 AM

I had a beautiful one about a year ago but it somehow wriggled it's way between my filter floss and the filter opening and got sucked in. Took me 3 days to find it!! Always wanted to get another but there hasn't been any good specimens at my lfs in a while.

D

pawslover · 10-30-2007, 05:39 AM

I have 2 pair of these fish and they are some of my favorites. Peaceful, colorful, easy. When I first got them, they were spawning a good bit for me, but I didn't have any luck with the fry rearing. I just recently put one pair in a 5 to see if they would spawn again and I will remove them afterwards if they do and try it that way. Hoping the fry would make it in a tank with a lot of java moss didn't work so we'll give this a shot. They seem to be very gentle and easy going fish but I wouldn't put them with anything even slightly aggressive or too busy. They did well with some threadfin rainbows for awhile, but I lost the threadfins after a large water change.

gheitman · 10-30-2007, 05:50 PM

I'm curious to know how people did with these too. I just bought three over the weekend (1 male and 2 female although that may be wishful thinking on my part).

pawslover · 10-31-2007, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gheitman

I just bought three over the weekend (1 male and 2 female although that may be wishful thinking on my part).

Once they start to reach mature sizes, the easiest way to sex them is to look at the head. The males will have a cephalic hump. The pics on this site make it easy to distinguish the male & female:

http://www.tolibra.com/fish/tateu.htm

mtundu · 11-05-2007, 01:53 PM

Peacock gudgeons are now among my favorite fish. They are beautiful and (I think) quite interesting. Not slothlike at all! I have a breeding group of 3m and 2f in a planted 10gal and they produce more fry than I can raise. The fry grow slowly but can breed before reaching their adult size of 1.5-2.5in.

Here's a pic of a couple of my fish courting. The male is the one in front with the big head. Also, when being courted the females show a black edge on the unpaired fins (although I did find one picture on the web in which the male also had this edging). I've been able to sex my juvies pretty young because even before they reach their full coloration and adult size/shape you can see the females' eggs quite easily. Basically, there should be little doubt about the sex of these fish.

I've sold a few of these on AB with good reviews and I currently have a week-old spawn in the grow out tank so stay tuned. I also have 2 juvie males from the last spawn if anyone needs to round out a breeding group (I sold mostly mff trios on AB so I ended up with some extra males). PM me if interested.

I have been keeping track mentally of what works and what doesn't so maybe this thread will prompt me to actually write up and post some of my experiences to share with other peacock gudgeon afficionados. So, to be continued... probably.

mtundu · 11-05-2007, 03:53 PM

Here's a page worth of my experience with peacock gudgeons, as promised (attached as a Word doc rather than taking up too much forum space). I can't claim that my methods are the only ones that will keep them happy and poppin' out babies -- indeed this fish seems very easy to keep and breed -- but they have worked for me so far. I'm surprised and sad to see that other folks here have not had good luck with this species. I guess it wouldn't do much good to ask how long they can live? I will say at least two years and going strong but I can't say much beyond that.