Is my tank over crowded? / how bad is it?

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krieger7117

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 20, 2012
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I have a 75 gallon cichlid tank and I'm pretty sure i have way too many fish. I have the following....


1) 10" midas cichlid
2) 5"+8" jack dempsys (they had fry on a few occasions last year)
3) 5" red devil
4) 4" green terror
5) 7" severum
6) 4' flower horn
7) 3" Hypsophrys nicaraguensis
8) 4" sengal bichir
9) 12" pleco
10) 6" pleco
11) 5" knife fish (has not grown at all over the past two year)
12) 5" green texas
13) 2" red texas???

All the fish seem very healthy, other then a few tattered fins or missing scales every now and then.

I have plenty of hiding spaces, and have more than enough filtration (I have three filters being used in the tank, one is rated for 50gallons, one for 75, and one for 100gallons).

I know i need to get rid of some of these fish, but how many is the question.
I really like all the fish and am dreading giving many away, but I also want the fish in my tank to be healthy and happy. Also it would be nice if they grew a bit quicker too :)

Thanks for any help!
 
krieger7117 said:
I have a 75 gallon cichlid tank and I'm pretty sure i have way too many fish. I have the following....


1) 10" midas cichlid
2) 5"+8" jack dempsys (they had fry on a few occasions last year)
3) 5" red devil
4) 4" green terror
5) 7" severum
6) 4' flower horn
7) 3" Hypsophrys nicaraguensis
8) 4" sengal bichir
9) 12" pleco
10) 6" pleco
11) 5" knife fish (has not grown at all over the past two year)
12) 5" green texas
13) 2" red texas???

All the fish seem very healthy, other then a few tattered fins or missing scales every now and then.

I have plenty of hiding spaces, and have more than enough filtration (I have three filters being used in the tank, one is rated for 50gallons, one for 75, and one for 100gallons).

I know i need to get rid of some of these fish, but how many is the question.
I really like all the fish and am dreading giving many away, but I also want the fish in my tank to be healthy and happy. Also it would be nice if they grew a bit quicker too :)

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

Lol...thats not good. & yes you're way overstocked. I would upgrade to at least a 125g (72x18x21), this will give them more space and more territories, also they will probably fight a whole lot less. Not only that but your fish will also grow quicker like you want them to. & since you say you'd hate to get rid of some of the fish, what about getting rid of some of the ones you don't like as much? Maybe the plecos? They produce quite a bit of waste and probably will grow even bigger if common plecos.

Oh and your 5" knife fish hasn't grown at all in the last two years? It should have grown quite a bit over that time, I'd say its stunted. Not saying you caused it to be stunted, but...

Also sorry if I sound a bit arrogant, not trying to be & I hope this helps...
 
Think I could keep all of them in a 125g?

Also will the knife fish start growing again if in a bigger tank? Or will he be little his whole life?
 
krieger7117 said:
Think I could keep all of them in a 125g?

Also will the knife fish start growing again if in a bigger tank? Or will he be little his whole life?
Click to expand...

Ya, but even then it might be kind of crowded, but it would be much better than the tank they're in now. If you could get a tank bigger than 125g, I'd say go for it...a 180g-220g would probably be ideal IMO.

& if your knife fish is stunted, it will likely not grow again even if kept in a bigger tank from now on
 
Wow, you need 200+ IMO. Suprised there all getting along though.
 
You have some aggressive fish that will no doubt start killing off some of your stock down the road. I would give up the Midas, Flowerhorn and the Red Devil just for starters unless any of those are the fish you're attached to. Otherwise. you'll probably only be able to have 1 of those 3 in that tank with not much else. I don't know if this stock list is for real or not but there is no way all those fish will co-exist in that tank long term. Oh, and is that severum ok in with that mix and you have a Red and Green Texas in the tank too?
 
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