So like African cichlids the more the merrier for aggression
Wouldn't say they are that much like africans, behavior of the two groups is very different. I wouldnt recommend haphazard overstocking with any cichlids, but I think there are different perspectives on how to keep ca/sa cichlids, and people's goals differ as well.
I think it's possible to keep healthy fish in tighter quarters or more densely than alot of us would recommend. Rusty Wessell, in his fish house, keeps mostly tanks that many would consider "overstocked". His care and system work though and fish must be in good health and thriving, but there is a tradeoff
you can see at 8:40 here, half the fish in the tank are being kept on one side by a breeding pair. Rusty collects all or most of his rare fish himself and breeds them, which is allows other hobbyists access to new species. There are multiple species named after him even. Because his main goal is to breed these fish, he keeps all genders of different species very densely, and it works for him. For someone who wants a peaceful low stress setup for their living room this might not be the way.
Like in the video, breeding aggression makes these fish very territorial to the point they will keep all other fish pushed in a corner. Very stressful and not great for the other fish. So, if you wanted to keep a larger number of CA cichlids together, it is usually better to go with only one sex. An example of a setup like this would be
sbgbuddy
's 300 gallon all-maleamphilophus community
(20) Amphilophus community. | MonsterFishKeepers.com
Some would say you should only keep one or a pair of those fish in a tank that size, and that would probably work too, just a different approach. But he is able to keep a larger number of all-male fish and they are not unhealthy from the looks of it. A setup like this, whether same species or mixed, can require adjustment and not be very stable, but can be made to work.
On the other hand, in the wild, the fish would be much less densely distributed and in a much bigger area. So, if you wanted to keep the fish in as natural a setup as possible (of course not fully, because it's only a few hundred Gallons, not a cenote or lake), you would probably stock less densely.
I want to keep all the fish that I get (except the feeders) so I dont want to spend a bunch of money on Jack Dempsey's just to have the final contestant left in the tank. All experiences and suggestions are welcome including electric blue and electric pink Jack Dempsey's since I've heard they're less aggressive but I know they're more susceptible to everything.
