Peacock Gudgeon

With red spots on its lilac-blue body, yellow and red banded fins and a black eyespot at the base of the tail, the peacock gudgeon is one of the most colorful bottom-to-midwater fish for small aquariums. It looks like a goby but belongs to the "sleeper" family (Eleotridae); its pelvic fins do not form a suction disc as they do in gobies.

It stays under 7 cm, is peaceful and looks superb in planted tanks. It gets used to dry food over time, but its colors and willingness to breed increase when it is fed live and frozen foods.

It lives in eastern Papua New Guinea, in slow-flowing streams and rivers running through forested areas, along planted, shaded banks.

• Volume: at least 60 liters and 60 cm in length for a pair or a small group.
• Caves: a small cave, root hollow or clay pipe for each pair; necessary for breeding and territory.
• Water: 23–25°C, soft to moderately hard, close to neutral. Gentle flow.
• Decor: Dense plants, roots, dark substrate; dim light brings out the colors.

It leans toward a carnivorous diet. Frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops; small live foods. Most individuals accept small granules over time.

Peaceful and somewhat shy. During the breeding season males defend the area around their caves, but injuries are rare.

Good companions: small, calm species: rasboras, pencilfish, small tetras, Corydoras, otocinclus, rainbowfish (small species). There are usually no problems with adult dwarf shrimp.

Avoid: large, fast-eating species, aggressive cichlids, fin-nipping barbs. Shrimplets may be eaten.

Kept as a pair or as a small group of several pairs. If you keep a group, give each male its own cave; females can outnumber males.

It spawns in caves: the female sticks her eggs to the ceiling or wall of the cave, and the male guards them while fanning. The fry become free-swimming after a few days and are fed infusoria, then newly hatched brine shrimp. The parents usually do not attack the fry, but raising them separately is safer.

• Poor water quality: fading color and refusing food.
• Nutritional deficiency: colors fade on a single type of dry food.
• In general it is a hardy species.

Males have a humped bump on the forehead that becomes more pronounced with age, and their colors are brighter. Females are smaller; during the breeding season their bellies turn bright yellow.