How is this possible?

[cichlid_8810]

My friend owns a 55 gallon Aquarium that he set up in 2008. He has 8 Malawis, a Flowerhorn and a big JD in there.

Yes your all thinking what?! I admit that stock does seem crazy but his tank is the most peaceful, healthy aquarium I have ever seen. It is amazing, no fighting, no disease, never any white spot, No fish loss, water conditions, are perfect.

He only does a water change once a month. Yes once a month. All but one of the fish have achieved their max length, the JD is 10 inch and the biggest Malawi being around 9 inch in length. The flowerhorn is rapidly growing out of control too.

All this in a 55. I recently visited and was astonished to see how great that set up is.

So my point is, are we sometimes being way to cautious when we say that some tanks are too small or water changes should be conducted more often. In fact whenever I water change often I stress my fish out more. My friend says that leaving the tank to settle is the best method and it seems to be working just fine for him. Or could it be that African cichlids are just not as messy?

 

[shawneedaniel]

That does sound crazy, although I can kind of agree with him. I didn't do a water change in my ten gallon for a couple of weeks due to lack of time then a random batch of guppy fry. My fish seemed completely fine and beautiful none of them acting like they had ammonia poisoning or anything, there was definitely stuff settled at the bottom but my plants seemed to grow a lot more.

I finally got around to doing a H2o change yesterday actually, before I did I did a water test, my pH was a perfect 7.0 my ammonia was nearly non-existent, it was between 0 and 0.025. or maybe it was 0.25 I don't remember what my scale is at the moment and my nitrite was very low as well.

Maybe your friend is on to a new way to raise fish.

I also know that some people will swear by continuous water changes. My currently retired LFR (local fish rescue) told me that water quality is the best way to go and that he knew someone with a drip system who's pleco grew to be 2 feet in no time at all, he attributes it to the drip system.

Who really knows honestly, there's going to be stories and trial and error that prove both ways are magnificent. Who can tell which is truly best for our aquariums.

 

[FishFreak95]

i guess some people are just lucky. I guess he all got good tempered fish, especially the Flowerhorn, they have a reputation for killing everything they are with.

 

[Aquanero]

I know a lot of people seem to overstock sucessfully, your friend's tank sounds like trouble waiting to happen. You didn't say how big the FH is but with that stock in a 55 it'll soon be a war zone. He had it set up since 2008 but he didn't have the FH in there since 2008 did he? I would not overstock and do only monthly water changes, the old saying is gin is crystal clear too but I wouldn't keep my fish in it. My two cents.

 

[fishy12]

It is also part of the fish's temperment to begin with

 

[young cichlid]

that kinda rare to see all of them together!

 

[Aquanero]

That does sound crazy, although I can kind of agree with him. I didn't do a water change in my ten gallon for a couple of weeks due to lack of time then a random batch of guppy fry. My fish seemed completely fine and beautiful none of them acting like they had ammonia poisoning or anything, there was definitely stuff settled at the bottom but my plants seemed to grow a lot more.

A planted Ten gallon with guppys isn't exactly compairing Apples to Apples. Plants do a lot to maintane water quality and water changes can be a little less frequent. However that not withstanding claen water is the best way to maintane healthy fish, I can assure his friend isn't on to anything "new". Once that FH grows into it's aggression the dynamic of that tank will change. It's not a question of if it's a question of when.

 

[jclyde13]

My friend owns a 55 gallon Aquarium that he set up in 2008. He has 8 Malawis, a Flowerhorn and a big JD in there.

Yes your all thinking what?! I admit that stock does seem crazy but his tank is the most peaceful, healthy aquarium I have ever seen. It is amazing, no fighting, no disease, never any white spot, No fish loss, water conditions, are perfect.

He only does a water change once a month. Yes once a month. All but one of the fish have achieved their max length, the JD is 10 inch and the biggest Malawi being around 9 inch in length. The flowerhorn is rapidly growing out of control too.

All this in a 55. I recently visited and was astonished to see how great that set up is.

So my point is, are we sometimes being way to cautious when we say that some tanks are too small or water changes should be conducted more often. In fact whenever I water change often I stress my fish out more. My friend says that leaving the tank to settle is the best method and it seems to be working just fine for him. Or could it be that African cichlids are just not as messy?

I don't believe that. Can you specify the meaning of "perfect"? And how often does he check his parameters, and with what kind of test kit?

 

[Jason_S]

that's definitely not going to be the norm. You say the flowerhorn is growing very fast...how big is it? usually their faster growth is on the way to reaching maturity. If that is the case and the flowerhorn has yet to reach maturity then things could drastically change once the fh is fully mature.

As for the water quality....I think he's just lucky. Shawneedaniel mentioned the drip system...IMO the drip system is the absolute best way to go. Constant water movement keeps the water constantly clean and all you have to do is maybe a monthly or bi-monthly gravel vac.

Overall, water quality is the most important factor to getting the best growth out of your fish. You could put an oscar in a 20 gallon on a drip system and it's still going to reach full size or at least close to it in that tank. I am DEFINITELY not recommending this because the poor oscar would have virtually no room to move. I'm just making the point that even in undersized tanks, large fish will grow large if the water is kept clean.

 

[JTRG05]

Overall, water quality is the most important factor to getting the best growth out of your fish. You could put an oscar in a 20 gallon on a drip system and it's still going to reach full size or at least close to it in that tank.

A coworker of mine keeps a currently 15 inch long Oscar in a 29 gallon tank, I've never held that the tank size is crucial to fish growth, though a factor due to its difficulty in keeping the water clean so that the fish can grow properly. Do I believe this a good idea? Hardly, if nothing else the psychology of not being able to move affects it.

There are a few things I'd like to know about this particular case such as just how perfect the parameters are and how long they stay this way after a month in an overstocked tank? What species of Malawai is it exactly? I've kept Malwai's before and learned that sometimes you cannot keep 3 of them in a tank together, other times 9 in a 55 gallon works great, it depends on the temperment and combination/hiding spots/tank layout/which species is dominant in the tank. How big is the FH exactly? They are a notoriously aggressive hybrid bred from an agressive line. It is possible that due to overstocking the fish show less aggression, they just don't have enough room to claim their own territory.

I am quite skeptical of this reliably working, but am always open minded. This will not be the holy grail of fish keeping epiphanies that allows us to keep fish overstocked without doing waterchanges healthily, but I also realize even if it was, the more veteran keepers would fight tooth and nail to make sure it never caught on. Keep an open mind, just not so open that your brains fall out.