Fire Ice Blue Peacock Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The Fire Ice Blue Peacock is a colourful ornamental form of peacock cichlid, commonly sold under the scientific label Aulonocara sp. Mature males may show an intense blue body with red, orange or fiery highlights across the shoulders and flanks, while the exact pattern varies between strains and individual fish. Females are usually smaller and much less vividly coloured.

Like other peacock cichlids, this fish belongs to the haplochromine group of Lake Malawi cichlids. It uses sensory pores in the lower jaw to detect small invertebrates and other food items in sandy areas, often sifting the substrate and hovering just above it while searching.

Peacock cichlids are generally less aggressive than many mbuna, although males can become territorial around a breeding site. They are active, observant fish with distinctive displays, and a dominant male may intensify his colours when courting or defending an area.

In the aquarium trade, the name Fire Ice Blue Peacock can refer to fish with slightly different breeding histories and colour combinations. Because the name is commercial rather than taxonomic, specimens should not be regarded as a precisely defined wild species or locality strain.

Fire Ice Blue Peacock is a trade name for a selectively bred Aulonocara-type peacock cichlid. Its ancestry is associated with peacock cichlids from Lake Malawi in East Africa, although this particular colour form is generally produced in captivity and does not have a single confirmed wild locality.

A single Fire Ice Blue Peacock should have at least 200 litres, while a group or harem is better housed in 300 litres or more. Aim for a tank around 120 cm long or larger, with additional length and floor space preferred for multiple males or a mixed Malawi community. Use fine sand or another smooth substrate, arrange limestone or other aquarium-safe rockwork into caves and broken sightlines, and leave open swimming and foraging areas. Strong filtration, good oxygenation and stable, alkaline water are important.

Males can reach about 15 cm (6 inches); females are usually smaller at approximately 10–12 cm (4–4.7 inches).

Offer a varied diet based on quality cichlid pellets or granules, supplemented with spirulina-based foods, vegetable matter and occasional frozen or live treats such as mysis shrimp, daphnia and brine shrimp. Their natural feeding style is adapted to small invertebrates found in sandy habitats, so avoid making fatty animal foods the main part of the diet. Feed modest portions once or twice daily and remove uneaten food.

Fire Ice Blue Peacocks are best kept with similarly sized, relatively peaceful Lake Malawi peacock cichlids and other calm non-mbuna haplochromines, provided the aquarium is spacious and territories are available. Suitable companions may include other Aulonocara varieties, Copadichromis and Placidochromis species. Avoid very aggressive mbuna, delicate community fish, slow-moving long-finned species and closely related peacocks if maintaining pure breeding lines matters, since hybridisation is possible.

Fire Ice Blue Peacocks are maternal mouthbrooders. Provide one male with several females and condition them with a varied, protein-rich diet. The male displays over a cleared area or flat stone, while the female picks up the fertilised eggs and carries them in her mouth for around three weeks. She may be moved to a separate aquarium shortly before releasing the free-swimming fry, which can be fed newly hatched brine shrimp and finely crushed food.

Males are larger and develop the vivid blue and red-orange colouration associated with this trade strain. Females remain smaller and are generally silver-grey, brownish or muted blue, sometimes with faint vertical bars. Males may also have more extended fins and stronger egg spots on the anal fin.