How many Cichlid in a 65 gallon tank (36"Lx25"Hx17"w)

[Btugz]

Hi everyone,

New to this forum, I have a 65gallon tank and I was wondering if I would be able to add another cichlid into the tank. In the tank right now I have a Jack Dempsey ,2 Balas and a Pleco. Along with an Eastern painted turtle. I was considering another jack dempsey or an oscar or some other type of cichlid. Turtle has not harmed any of the fish even the minnows I add for her to eat LOL . I have some plants in the tank along with some hiding places. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! New to the Aquarium world and enjoying it!

 

[Drstrangelove]

What is a Ball? What is Place?

 

[Btugz]

What is a Ball? What is Place?

LOL typo ment PLECO and BALAS

 

[Drstrangelove]

Haha. I almost guessed pleco, but I had no clue on the balas.

Well, I have had Oscars, Dempseys, and common plecos. I won't speak on Balas or the turtle as I haven't owned them. I don't know which pleco you have, although when people just say "pleco" it's my experience they are talking about common plecos.

That tank is too small imo for a single Oscar and too small for a single common pleco. So, adding more fish is something I wouldn't do.

So, I would first test the water and find out what your nitrates are. That would tell me if you are overstocked based upon you bioload and how you personally keep your fish. I would do that before I would recommend adding fish or recommend removing fish (or turtle!)

Otherwise it's a guess, and I can tell from your post that you care enough to ask, so guessing isn't what I'd suggest.

 

[Btugz]

Haha. I almost guessed pleco, but I had no clue on the balas.

Well, I have had Oscars, Dempseys, and common plecos. I won't speak on Balas or the turtle as I haven't owned them. I don't know which pleco you have, although when people just say "pleco" it's my experience they are talking about common plecos.

That tank is too small imo for a single Oscar and too small for a single common pleco. So, adding more fish is something I wouldn't do.

So, I would first test the water and find out what your nitrates are. That would tell me if you are overstocked based upon you bioload and how you personally keep your fish. I would do that before I would recommend adding fish or recommend removing fish (or turtle!)

Otherwise it's a guess, and I can tell from your post that you care enough to ask, so guessing isn't what I'd suggest.

Just tested my Nitrates they are actually a little high right now. But i had a nitrite issue for a little while and they are now 0PPM nitrate is now a tad high it was fine about 10ppm now its high. around 40-80ppm I'm bad with the color matching HAHA. And i have a Spotted High Fin place. turtle is in an out of the water not to big of a deal. i do clean the tank regularly as she is messy lol. So I would guess at this point I need to watch my nitrates and get them a tad lower?

 

[cmsbthebest]

You need to remove the Bala Sharks from the tank. Anything less than a 240 gallon is too small IMO. These are active fish that need to be in groups and grow over a foot long.

Nitrates that high indicate that you need to do more frequent water changes. 40 and above is considered too high, and really you don't want it over 20.

 

[Btugz]

You need to remove the Bala Sharks from the tank. Anything less than a 240 gallon is too small IMO. These are active fish that need to be in groups and grow over a foot long.

Nitrates that high indicate that you need to do more frequent water changes. 40 and above is considered too high, and really you don't want it over 20.

Yes tank is small for the Bala's. they are tiny right now maybe 2-3" once they start growing i will be moving them. I am doing a water change tomorrow. i had a Nitrite issue and was doing 1/4-1/2 water changes and it finally came down to 0PPM i do at least 1/4 water changes at least once every 7 days (because of turtle)

 

[Drstrangelove]

So, those are great suggestions from cmsbthebest . 65 gallons is a fine tank for smaller fish (or for fish that start off small but get much bigger IF you have a much larger tank ready for them once they are growing.)

Since you already have high nitrates that is an indicator that you already have too many fish or that you aren't doing enough water changes, but in most cases it means both.

 

[Btugz]

So, those are great suggestions from cmsbthebest . 65 gallons is a fine tank for smaller fish (or for fish that start off small but get much bigger IF you have a much larger tank ready for them once they are growing.)

Since you already have high nitrates that is an indicator that you already have too many fish or that you aren't doing enough water changes, but in most cases it means both.

could be do to my High nitrite lvls that i finally got under control. Ill be doing a water change tomorrow so hoping those levels will come down as they have been in the 5-10ppm range until i checked it today (last time i checked was last weekend and still had a nitrite lvl) everything is in range but my nitrate now. Could it be to the nitrite finally cycling out?

 

[Drstrangelove]

Well, nitrites do become nitrates, but that isn't the issue. The nitrates are not high because you had a problem with nitrites.

The issue is that the tank is being allowed to accumulate nitrates at too fast a level. More fish will make it worse, not better. And as the fish you already have grow .. and they seem to have a lot of growing to do... they will produce nitrates at much higher levels. When a fish goes from 4 inches to 8 inches, it produces 8 times as much waste.

So, even if you change your practice and start doing more and larger water changes, you may find that you still can't keep up. High nitrates with small fish that are still growing is a warning sign that things are heading in a bad direction. So adding fish at this point isn't something i'd do.