How many Mbuna could I put in my 55gallon? I've got a Fluval 404,penguin 350, and aquaclear 110 on the tank...... right now ive got 10 in there showing no aggression even with 3 of them breeding. Usually all they do is chase one another around for a second or two then go back to normal,never any biting or lip locking. biggest one is 2yrs old at 4"s... albino zebras, red zebras, yellow lab and blue johanii are my current cichlids
Help me overstock my tank
- Thread starter baybgrl81
- Start date
Ive heard people with 20 or more.Yellw labs seem to be key theyre more active and less agressive seem to break things up.
I have more than 20 (some juvenile) with less filtration than that. with a heavy stocked tank, keep up on water changes and filter maintenance. Also with Mbuna....lots of rocks for hiding.
im about to put my 14 in my 55 with just 2 penguin 350's, i have tropheus/peacocks/haps/mbuna/etc etc. i have a little bit of it all.
Im going to try and get 20-30, mainly albino zebras sense mine are breeding. We do like 20-50% water changes weekly, and we sometimes drop the tank water all the way to the bottom,leaving just enough water for the fish to swim, we clean all the filters ETC and rinse off rocks.....
20-30 seems a little high for 55... Have to think of what that would be like when they are all full grown... if you plan to up grade one day then do not worry. I have about 20 in my 55 with about that much filtration and I did water changes weekly and still could not keep up with such a high bioload. Plus I lost a lot of fish to being too stressed... it was temp until we moved the house... it was only like that for 3 months... when I cleaned it I found out where the 10 fish that disappeared went... dead in the rocks... I have the whole bottom and and up about half way with rocks for hiding...
Of course I am thinking about when the fish are full grown. Just some of these sites say fish get so large,when I've owned a few and they never seem to grow as big. My big male albino zebra is only 4" and I've read they usually reach 6-7". If i put 25 fish in there and some of them started to get to large I would relocate them.
thats cool, often when fish to do not reach their full normal size it is due to stunted growth. Often from being in too small of a tank...
However, if the setup is working for you, then go for it... The truth of the matter in situations such as this the only opinion that really matters is your own... but if you want some reinsurement that it can work... it has for people... just have too keep an eye on it, one wrong fish (attitude of that perticular fish not over species information as it can vary like people) can through it all to hell...
so go for it... it sounds like you want too...
However, if the setup is working for you, then go for it... The truth of the matter in situations such as this the only opinion that really matters is your own... but if you want some reinsurement that it can work... it has for people... just have too keep an eye on it, one wrong fish (attitude of that perticular fish not over species information as it can vary like people) can through it all to hell...
so go for it... it sounds like you want too...