The Complete Guide to Peacock Gudgeon Care

Native only to eastern Papua New Guinea, the peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda) is a small, peaceful sleeper fish, also called the peacock goby, that reaches about 3 inches (7.5 cm). Keep a group of 6 to 8 in a planted tank of 15 gallons or more, at 72-79°F (22-26°C) and pH 6.5-7.5, with gentle flow and a tight lid.

Last updated: October 18, 2026. Facts checked against the sources listed at the end of this article.

Often overlooked as a suitable option for a community aquarium, Peacock Gudgeons are stunning fish with distinct and fun personalities. They will add both beauty and life to your aquarium environment and you’ll enjoy developing relationships with them.

In addition, they are not difficult to care for (although they are, by all accounts, picky eaters.) They are peaceful fish that play well with others in the aquarium.

We’ll introduce you to the Peacock Gudgeon, covering their origin and history, and tell you all you need to know about caring for these beautiful creatures. Let’s dive right in to explore their behaviors, appearance, optimal tank conditions, diet, and breeding so that you can decide if Peacock Gudgeons are right for you and your tank community.

Peacock Gudgeon Facts & Overview

The word peacock sparks an immediate visual of the stunning bird with colorful feathers completely open. The Peacock Gudgeon is justifiably named after the famous bird, sporting myriad colors and patterns on their tiny bodies, including the trademark peacock eyespot.

The Peacock Gudgeon, scientific name Tateurndina ocellicauda originates in Papua New Guinea. In the wild, Peacock Gudgeons live only in eastern Papua New Guinea, in lowland rainforest streams, rivers and ponds.

Sometimes called Peacock Goby, the Peacock Gudgeon does not actually belong to the Goby family; instead, it’s a member of the Eleotridae family (the sleepers or gudgeons) and the only species in the genus Tateurndina.

Though they originate in Oceania, most Peacock Gudgeons sold for home aquariums are bred in captivity. Easy to care for, Peacock Gudgeons are an excellent choice for novice hobbyists, and interesting enough to pique the attention of even the most seasoned aquarist.

The hobbyist will need to pay a little more attention to care when it comes to breeding these vibrant beauties, and, as with all aquarium habitats, providing high-quality nutrition and pristine tank conditions.

Peacock Gudgeons will appreciate a lush and decorated environment and excellent filtration.

Typical Behavior

A generally peaceful community member, the Peacock Gudgeon will not stir up the pot when they are around other fish that are also non-aggressive. They prefer to be in groups of 6-8, but will do just fine in a pair, just make sure you have at least one buddy for them.

Sometimes the males in the group will get a little hot under the fin and get aggressive with each other, but tempers usually cool quickly, and injuries are uncommon.

The most fun you’ll have is watching the Peacock Gudgeons swim and play with the plants in their surroundings. It’s so satisfying to watch these beautiful and vibrant fish swim around with unabashed joy. It improves the hobbyist’s mood just watching them frolic.

When they feel really untethered and calm, you’ll see them swim out in the open, almost as if displaying their unique appearance.

Pro tip: It’s important to note that Peacock Gudgeons are gifted jumpers, so you’ll want to make sure your aquarium is equipped with a tight-fitting lid.

Make sure you give these Peacock Gudgeons plenty of hiding places so that they have an escape if they feel threatened.

Appearance

Peacock Gudgeons are truly a joy to behold. With their vibrant coloration and signature peacock eye, these little fish really add sparkle and life to your aquarium community.

The body of the Peacock Gudgeon is a silvery blue with red lateral dots. As we mentioned, although they are sometimes referred to as gobies, they are not true gobies and do not have the fused pectoral fins that mark a genuine goby. Their bellies are colored in a mellow yellow hue, and you’ll see yellow on the edge of their fins. Females can be distinguished by the added black stripe on their fins.

Of course, the aforementioned eyespot at the base of the tail fin is how the Peacock Gudgeon gets its name.

In addition to the blackfin stripe in females and the forehead hump in the males, you can distinguish males and females by their length, with females being a little shorter than males. Females also develop an obvious yellow patch on the abdomen when they are preparing to spawn.

Juvenile Peacock Gudgeon

It takes 6 to 8 months for young Peacock Gudgeons to reach maturity. They may grow a little larger after this point, but they are essentially full-size.

Habitat and Tank Conditions

Peacock Gudgeon does not swim as much as some other nano fish like the bloodfin tetra, so they don’t need quite as much room for swimming.

If you’re just keeping a school of 6 or more Peacock Gudgeon, a 15-gallon tank should suffice. Increase the tank size for a larger school or a community tank that has myriad species.

In terms of habitat, they prefer a lush and decorated aquarium, as it harkens back to their natural habitat in the streams and ponds of Oceania. You will notice your Peacock Gudgeon thriving in plant-heavy environments.

Anubias, Java fern, and water wisteria are excellent choices for Peacock Gudgeons. It’s important to provide them with a plethora of vegetation so that they have places to hide if they feel threatened or stressed, and they enjoy swimming through plants in the tank, and you’ll really see content fish when they are surrounded by plants. You will probably even see their colors become more vibrant when they’re surrounded by live plants.

Choose hearty plants for your Peacock Gudgeon tank; they spend so much time interacting with the plants that more delicate varieties will not last long.

For a substrate, choose darker sand that reminds them of their natural habitat. Try to avoid gravel as it could scrape their bottom sides and injure them.

As we mentioned, they like to hide in the plants when they feel threatened, and adding decorations to your aquarium like caves or castles can provide even more hiding places for Peacock Gudgeons. And as you’ll see later, you’ll need a cave if you’re planning to breed them, or if they decide to breed.

Rocks and driftwood are other tank additions that will help keep the Peacock Gudgeons content.

Water Conditions

In their natural habitat, Peacock Gudgeons swim in slow-moving streams or even still ponds, so you have to be careful that your home tank flow is not too strong or fast, or they’ll get overwhelmed and stressed out.

They’re also acclimated to warmer temperatures, so make sure your water temperature is in the 72°F to 79°F (22.2 to 26.1°C) range.

The optimal parameters to ensure a close match to their natural habitat are:

• pH levels: 6.5 to 7.5 (around 7.0 is best)
• Water hardness: 5 to 10 dGH
• Water temperature: 72°F to 79°F (22.2-26.1°C)

You want to make sure to keep nitrate levels low in your tank, so choose a filtration system that can do the job, keeping in mind that the filter you need will vary depending on how many in total are in your community. If you have a school of 6 in a 15-gallon tank, your filter needs will be quite different than if you’re hosting a number of species in a 60-gallon tank.

And again, these creatures are accustomed to slower moving water, so you don’t want to choose a filter that’s going to create a stronger current than they can handle.

If the current seems too strong for your Peacock Gudgeons, you can reduce the flow by placing the filter against the glass of the tank or putting a plant or decoration in front of the flow.

What Size Aquarium Do They Need?

A 15-gallon tank is our minimum recommendation for the Peacock Gudgeon. The size goes up from there depending on how many other species you have in your community tank. We know of hobbyists who house their Peacock Gudgeons in a 90-gallon community tank.

How Many Can Be Kept Per Gallon?

There’s no exact per-gallon rule: plan on a group of 6 to 8 Peacock Gudgeons in at least 15 gallons, and add space for a bigger group or a mixed community. A small group should thrive in a 15-gallon tank, but of course, if you have a larger tank, that’s even better.

Tank Mates

Peacock Gudgeon is pretty chill and will do just fine with other peaceful fish that are about the same size as they are. You want to be careful of putting them with more aggressive fish and fish that are larger than they are: it both stresses them out and endangers them. Larger fish are likely to swallow your Peacock Gudgeons whole.

If you’re including any fish that are more territorial, make sure you have an aquarium that is large enough for the other fish to carve out their own space so that the Peacock Gudgeons do not feel threatened.

Suitable Tankmates

• Apistogramma
• Bumblebee Goby
• Celestial Pearl Danios
• Cherry Barb
• Cory Catfish
• Ember Tetra (or other tetras)
• Harlequin Rasbora
• Kuhli Loach

Keeping Peacock Gudgeons Together

Peacock Gudgeons are happiest when you keep them in a group of 6 to 8 fish. You may find you can successfully keep a single pair, but you want to make sure they are not alone in the tank. But certainly, a school of at least 6 will keep them content and unstressed.

Diet

Peacock Gudgeons are not huge fans of flake food. A number of hobbyists report that their Peacock Gudgeons turn their noses up when presented with flakes. Peacock Gudgeons live up again to their name: proud as a peacock, they demand a more interesting diet.

Though the Peacock Gudgeons in your home tank were likely bred in captivity, they maintain an affinity for the food that their species finds in the wild: food that is rich with protein that they can prey on, such as insects, larvae, and other small critters.

Offer them frozen or freeze-dried high protein food, and mix in some live snacks like bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia. They may well partake of the flakes if you offer them their favorite meaty food to go along with it.

Remember that the protein and fat content from the live food provides the nutrients they need to stay healthy and happy; you’ll see a difference in their coloration when you feed them well, too. If you notice that their colors are not as vibrant as you’d like, you may need to add some meat to this omnivore’s diet.

Care

Like all aquarium fish, Peacock Gudgeon is susceptible to a variety of diseases. Keeping your aquarium clean with regular water changes and monitoring the water quality, as well as following the above feeding advice will do much to protect your Peacock Gudgeons from falling ill.

Ich, named for the parasite that causes it, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, attacks when freshwater fish experience stress. Providing a stress-free environment for your Peacock Gudgeon is paramount in preventive care.

Stress can be caused by a number of things: improper tank mates or loneliness; overfeeding or lack of nutrients; incompatible tank or water conditions can all rob your fish of contentment, which makes them more susceptible to disease.

Fish infected with ich need to be quarantined because ich is incredibly contagious. There are many medicines on the market to treat ich. Just be careful as many of the medicines available are copper-based, and some of your Peacock Gudgeon’s tankmates may not do well with copper-based medications.

Besides ich, the Peacock Gudgeon’s head is somewhat susceptible to Hole-in-head disease, which they can contact through feces. Obviously, if you keep your tank clean, you will drastically reduce the chance that your Peacock Gudgeon will contact this disease that more commonly attacks larger fish.

Hole-in-head disease is visually unmistakable by the sores and pits in the poor fish’s head.

Also common are worms and parasitic infections: anchor worms latch onto the Peacock Gudgeon’s body and head, and they will rub against any hard items in your aquarium in an attempt to scratch themselves.

Fluke attacks are another condition that you should be on the lookout for. Small lesions are created when tiny little worms attach themselves to the skin and gills of the Peacock Gudgeon. If you catch the flukes early, you can usually treat the fish successfully with antibacterial and antifungal medications.

If the flukes are not identified early and the case is more severe, it could prove deadly for your Peacock Gudgeon.

Breeding

Peacock Gudgeon bond and form close relationships easily, unlike some other species that join only for reproduction and otherwise fight.

To set up a breeding pair, follow these steps:

1. Watch for two Peacock Gudgeons that have formed a romantic match.
2. Move them to a special breeding tank equipped with a cave, pot, short length of pipe or some other cavity.
3. Feed them lots of quality live food.
4. Change the water to set the stage for spawning.
5. Keep other fish out of the breeding tank, because they will eat the eggs if they can reach them.

The male will entice the female with a little dance, flaring his pectoral fins and swimming around the entrance to the love cave.

If the female is interested in sealing the deal, she will swim into the cave, laying her eggs (FishBase gives about 30 per spawn). Because the eggs are adhesive, they may be on the side or even the ceiling. And then she’s out.

The rest of the breeding process is left to the male.

The male fertilizes the eggs and stays with them, watching over them as they incubate and watching over them like the protective father he is.

After the eggs hatch (Seriously Fish gives 24 to 48 hours, FishBase about 6 days), the male Peacock Gudgeon will leave the fry to take care of themselves. When this happens, the male and female can be returned to the community tank.

Until they grow enough to be able to handle baby brine shrimp, you should feed the Peacock Gudgeon fry powdered food and infusoria. They become free-swimming 2 to 4 days after hatching, but they are tiny, so they’ll need you to keep them fed so that they can grow sufficiently.

Sometimes you might find that your Peacock Gudgeon prepares their own spawning set up in the community tank, especially if you provide a clean and well-appointed environment. They will arrange a proper egg-laying cavity and get down to business. In this case, you should keep an extra watch for the fry to make sure they’re safe from any other tank inhabitants until they are strong enough to survive on their own.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are peacock gudgeons aggressive?

No. Peacock gudgeons are peaceful with other small fish, although males can be a little territorial with their own kind. Seriously Fish describes most squabbles inside a group as flaring and display rather than real fights. Keep them with calm species of a similar size, and give them plants and caves so each male can claim a spot.

How big do peacock gudgeons get?

Peacock gudgeons grow to about 3 inches (7.5 cm) at most, according to FishBase, and Seriously Fish gives the same 75 mm maximum. Adult males end up a little larger than females and develop a hump on the forehead. Their small size is why a 15-gallon tank is enough for a group.

How can you tell a male peacock gudgeon from a female?

Males have a hump on the forehead and brighter colors, while females have a yellow belly that males lack. Seriously Fish adds that males are a little larger, and that in young fish most females show a dark bar along the outer edge of the anal fin, which helps you sex them before the hump appears.

Can you keep one peacock gudgeon on its own?

It’s better not to. Peacock gudgeons swim in loose shoals in the wild, according to Seriously Fish, so keep at least a pair and ideally a group of 6 to 8. Buying a group of young fish also lets them pair off naturally if you want to breed them later.

What do peacock gudgeons eat?

Peacock gudgeons eat small live and frozen foods such as bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp, and many ignore flakes. Seriously Fish notes that they accept dried food but show better color and come into spawning condition faster on meaty foods, so offer flakes or pellets alongside those rather than on their own.

Is the peacock gudgeon a goby?

No. Although it is often sold as the peacock goby, the peacock gudgeon belongs to the Eleotridae, the sleeper or gudgeon family, according to FishBase and Seriously Fish. In the wild it lives in rainforest streams, rivers and ponds in eastern Papua New Guinea, where it forms groups that hover just above the bottom.

Are Peacock Gudgeon Suitable for your Aquarium?

Yes, if you keep a peaceful, planted community of small fish. Whether you’re a seasoned hobbyist or a novice, the Peacock Gudgeon really provides everything that you might need in a community member: they’re lovely to look at, are pretty adaptable and easy to care for, and have fun personalities.

A more advanced aquarist might just be up to the challenge of breeding these vibrant little fish, too. The fact that they get along with other tankmates and can be included in a larger community is an added bonus that might encourage you to choose 2 or 6 of these stunning fish.

Are Peacock Gudgeon your favorite community tank fish? Let us know why in the comments below…

Sources

• Seriously Fish: Tateurndina ocellicauda (range, habitat, size, water parameters, behavior, sexing, diet, breeding and hatch times). Read October 18, 2026.
• FishBase: Tateurndina ocellicauda (family, maximum length, distribution, egg count, hatch time, IUCN status). Read October 18, 2026.