Overcrowding

[CubanB]

heres one of mine. most people believe thiese guys can not be kept together, but its absolutely possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3GijIWyiN8

not the best example - none of these fish are adults. that dovii will most likely kill everything in that tank once it hits 12"+

trikkymakk - yes, i believe overcrowding can work very well, and i would almost recommend it when fish are growing up, but if your planning on keeping all these fish for life there is no way that a tank will stay at a low aggression level forever.

overcrowding does work BUT you will need to thin out numbers as the fish grow, especially large CA/SA's

just my 2c from my experience. opinions will always vary

 

[bitteraspects]

not the best example - none of these fish are adults. that dovii will most likely kill everything in that tank once it hits 12"+

trikkymakk - yes, i believe overcrowding can work very well, and i would almost recommend it when fish are growing up, but if your planning on keeping all these fish for life there is no way that a tank will stay at a low aggression level forever.

overcrowding does work BUT you will need to thin out numbers as the fish grow, especially large CA/SA's

just my 2c from my experience. opinions will always vary

the mayans and dovii are 9" and more then big enough to kill the rest of the fish. ive also since added 3 festae and a few other fish to the tank, and theyre all fine. check your facts

 

[cookiemonster]

Yes, overcrowding decreases both aggression and natural behavior.

 

[Toby_H]

Yes, overcrowding decreases both aggression and natural behavior.

In my opinion/experience, this is the best post here so far... although I would have said if CAN decrease aggression... and WILL decrease natural behavior...

Also, adult fish will respond much differently to overcrowding than juvis will...

You could also drop the temp to 70*F to reduce aggression... although I would (absolutely) not suggest it as a healthy way to keep fish...

I know it will not be appreciated by many but... leave the corner cutting to the corner cutters and please keep your fish properly... it will make both you and your fish far more happy in the end...

 

[CubanB]

the mayans and dovii are 9" and more then big enough to kill the rest of the fish. ive also since added 3 festae and a few other fish to the tank, and theyre all fine. check your facts

what facts?? you posted a link to your video and from what i observed, none of the fish are adults. also i clearly stated that when your dovii reaches 12" it would start doing some damage.

i'm not having ago at you or your tank.
everyone has different experiences with the same fish....

if you can keep all those fish in that tank until they are ALL ADULTS (my initial point) then you are my hero

 

[bitteraspects]

so your theory is that a dovii will not become aggressive ubtill its a foot long? and furthermore, its not an adult till its a foot long?

some theory.

 

[balton777]

Bitteraspects, sorry I have to agree with CubanB. Most of the fish are still juvies. The larger of your fish don't consider them a threat yet and will ignore them until they do. At the point when the fish are reaching maturity, there will be a lot of fighting and some casualties. I've personally experienced it many times.

From my experience I would not recommend this type fishkeeping.

I'm not voting on this poll but if anything, it's option 3. With CA cichlids, the aggression is always there. It might just be spread out among too many fish crammed into too small a space. The fish have miserable life living in this condition imo.

 

[bitteraspects]

thats fine, youre entitled to your opinion,. however wrong it may be. its a common practice and a successful one at that, some people just dont know how to do it right, and those are the ones who tend to disagree.

cheers

 

[balton777]

thats fine, youre entitled to your opinion,. however wrong it may be. its a common practice and a successful one at that, some people just dont know how to do it right, and those are the ones who tend to disagree.

cheers

I'm curious, do you have video of some of your successful jam packed tanks of mature adult CA cichlids? Or do they keep getting killed and that's why all the fish are babies? i.e you keep replacing the dead ones with new babies. I'd love to see it and I'm sure everyone else would too.

And btw I didn't say it couldn't work, I said when it does, it's rare and the fish are living in miserable conditions. Cheers.

 

[fishbee]

IME it will decrease aggression and to some fish it will make them mature younger @ smaller sizes (they can breed @a smaller sizes than normal). Of course it also decreases natural behaviour, coz your tank is not a natural environment doesn't matter how big it may be.