Does overcrowding reduce aggressiveness

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
cichlid savage

cichlid savage

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2006
4,265
6
0
Look up
I have been reading in several post that many keepers are overcrowding their tanks to one degree or another in order to reduce territorialness and thus aggression in their tanks. Is there any merit to this practice? If so It may help me with my RD issues.:help2:
 
It all depends on the species mix involved. And, while overcrowding can reduce aggressive behaviors, the same overcrowding invariably increases stress (not to mention maintenance) on all members of the community.

Check out the book "The Terrirorial Imperative" for some great investigations into the psyche of animal communities.
 
certainly does not in my tank. I am crowded and when feeding time comes, the S.A. gets the crap beaten out of him by 4 Pacu. I can see the frustration in him, and he usually takes it out on the little guys...
 
Conrad lorenz had some interesting theories on aggression he said that overcrowding can reduce territoriality as flight from one fight will put you into another but obviously this can vary with species
 
Usually it ups the aggression levels because of lack of tank space.
 
I had thought about the added stress. I wasn't worried about the added maintenance as I do weekly water changes of atleast 35%-45%. I hadn't thought about what happens to the low man on the totem pole. Well for now its just an idea I am considering.

Keep the thoughts coming guys. I appreciate it.
 
A ton of people do this with mbunas. It spreads the aggression around and doesn't allow any one fish to claim a large amount of territory. I have seen it done and seems to work well for them.

For american cichlids... it doesn't seem to work as well. My bro had an overstocked tank... but eventually one of the fish snapped and starting killing everything one by one (dempsey). But someone just put pictures up of an overstocked american cichlid tanka nd all the fish looked healthy in there... so meh
 
Yeah my african tank is crowded and it certainly reduced aggression from when it wasn't , the fish would all seem to pick on one fish at a time till they killed it but now they dont focus on certain fish they all seem to just chase each other now and then .

But as stated above i found it doesn't work at all with S.A tanks , Oscars and such will get more aggressive
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom