Appropriate tank dimensions?

[Stanzzzz7]

It's true. There is a cichlid for every size tank.If the largest tank you have is a 75 and you want a jag,then compromise and get a salvini.
The choice of cichlid is vast,that's why the hobby never gets old.
There is no excuse for housing a fish we can't accommodate.

 

[ehh]

So many good posts in this thread.

 

[dan518]

This thread is about how big a tank should be for the fish to feel comfortable in if that's the right word, something we don't know but can make a educated guess. Yet many people are still only going on the length of a fish, I understand why they do but it still ends up that a long skinny fish needs a bigger tank then a stocky fish, as fish flair there gills raise there dorsal fin to make them self's appear taller and wider IMO these to dimensions matter to the fish as much as length as to how big the fish thinks it is and to how comfortable it will feel in any given tank. Also many people won't agree on the max length of what different species can obtain and do you go for the average of that species or the biggest it can reach. So I don't think I agree with a minimum tank size based on the length of the fish, my 11/12 inch biffa is starting to make my 180 gal look small something that my lyonsi, jag, midas pairs of about equal length never did so maybe work out min tank size per species.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I agree with what your saying Dan,I also think there are many others factors to this.
Intelligence of the species,feeding type,breeding strategy, how large a territory said species holds,social solitary or shoaling and activity level.
This is why it's hard to give a minimum size tank
as things can be different within a genus.
If I was to generalise I would say veija need a 7x2x2 but would a hetro need a tank that big?probably not, yet argentea definitely would maybe bigger.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

There is also the consideration of tank mates.
It's difficult to give a rule of thumb tank size and a lot of keeping cichlids is trial and error.
All we can do is offer guidelines based on common sense experience and compassion for living things in our care.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

When you have more than 1 species of large growing cichlids(jaguar , festae n bass) , I guess we can take the longest growing and the one needing largest territory and then decide tank dimension. Can't totally mirror the natural living but we can use it as a reference

 

[rrcoolj]

The length and width calculation is meant to serve as a guideline. Obviously, as we mentioned, there is a lot more than just size of the fish that goes into what is an "acceptable" size fish tank. For example a 14in Tuba who loves to swim out in the open in fast moving water will probably need more room than a 14in Midas. But I think the 6x fish length by 2x fish width is a good general guideline. At the end of the day people are going to do what they want. It is up to us as responsible fish keepers to ensure we are giving our fish the best possible environment.

Dan, bifasciatus is a much more high energy fish than Lyonsi, Jag, and Midas from what I have read. That is probably why it makes the tank look small. But a full grown Jag IMO should defiantly be in something bigger than a 180. By full grown I mean 16in+. I mean we could go down every species of fish and pick a pre-set minimum based on that fish but that's super tedious. It's easier IMO to have a standard and then ask for opinions from fellow fish keepers to see if one should go bigger or smaller. Although again bigger is always better no matter what species of cichlid you have and that is the key point.

As far as picking tank size based on max size... I think people should chose thier tank based on the average size of the fish. So for Midas, expect them to get 14in because that is very believable. If they get a little bigger then you can just upgrade as you see appropriate.

It is also important to know how the fish you keep behaves in the wild. If they have large territories in the wild they may appreciate more space. But if they keep small territories then you can probably get away with a smaller tank.

 

[dan518]

I agree with most of what people are saying apart from the 6 times the length and twice the width, imo a full grown midas would be fine in a 6 ft 180 gal tank but your saying a 7 ft by 2.5 ft is a min for one, by this measurement a jag needs a 8 ft by 3 ft as a min, again I think a full grown jag in a 180 gal would suffice

 

[ehh]

I agree with most of what people are saying apart from the 6 times the length and twice the width, imo a full grown midas would be fine in a 6 ft 180 gal tank but your saying a 7 ft by 2.5 ft is a min for one, by this measurement a jag needs a 8 ft by 3 ft as a min, again I think a full grown jag in a 180 gal would suffice

He said it's a good "general" guideline. Ya know, give or take a little. I don't think hairs need to be split lol.

 

[MP_cichlid]

Ok. We are starting to repeat things, everyone is making great points. And I think the truth is that there is obviously No rule book to this. However I think if you want a guideline, look at all these threads lol. I mean these are all fantastic points. I think rather than saying one is more relevant or useful than the other, they just be combined. Like the amount of factors that go into this choice is infinite. I think that it really comes down to each individual situation.