Smaller Largemouths will school and swim actively in pursuit of prey. Large Micropterus rely mainly on ambush strategies to secure prey. Small and medium size Peacock basses are also gregarious and occasionally congregate on schools of forage fishes. Large Cichlas are aggressive and active predators but prey mostly on fish. Largemouth Bass feed nocturnally as well as diurnally, Peacock Basses are strictly diurnal.
Cannibalism is common with both predators.
In the aquarium, Butterfly Peacocks accepted grass shrimp but preferred any small fish, they refused crayfish, Procambarus clarkii . Largemouth Bass prey on Lepomis spp . It would seem that the Peacock bass preys mostly on cichlids because they are the most common prey item encountered. The different characters of these predators may restrict deleterious competition. In investigations on the Butterfly Peacock the GFW exercised considerable effort to accurately anticipate the effects of the introduction.