Overstocking to lessen aggression (American cichlids)?
- Thread starter Predator07
- Start date
They are not like African cichlids that normally occur overcrowded conditions. Too little territorial space stresses them out long term. They either get sick or snap and destroy everyone. Some ignore the crowd and specifically "hunt" down that one single fish that it hates.
IME it's just a balancing act. Sometimes you'll add fish & it'll all work out fine. Other times, all hell will break loose. I've also had experiences when it was all great for weeks/months - then one night, sh*t would hit the fan & I'd have dead fish.
You can do extensive research to find species that normally get along, but its not a guarantee. Also, having decor/plants in the tank to break lines of sight help. But be careful, because if you add caves/wood that allows fish to claim them as territory, you may run into issues.
Another thing to think of, if you have any fish that pair off - all hell will break loose. I personally liked to keep singles of species to avoid that possibility.
You can do extensive research to find species that normally get along, but its not a guarantee. Also, having decor/plants in the tank to break lines of sight help. But be careful, because if you add caves/wood that allows fish to claim them as territory, you may run into issues.
Another thing to think of, if you have any fish that pair off - all hell will break loose. I personally liked to keep singles of species to avoid that possibility.
Big friggin tank always helps.
I agree with Rocksor!
To be honest i don't like overcrowded American Cichlid tanks anyway, it doesn't look natural to me.
Sometimes adding fishes can help spreading agression, thats what i do with dither fish such as silver dollars.
I heard you kinda need to overstock if you have a Jaguar cichlid in community tank.. is there any truth to that?
Idk about overstock....the idea is that you have multiple cichlids to disperse aggression. Your tank should be sufficiently large to provide territories for each to control.
It usually takes an experienced cichlid keeper with several qt tanks to pull this off.
One tank that comes to mind is
sbgbuddy
all male amph tank. Amphilophus community.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChBcMhRk3EAJ24l84iNTtCg I try and put videos on here but I always fail. So here’s my YouTube channel if you would like to take a peak. Thanks
www.monsterfishkeepers.com
I would check out his threads to get an idea of the type of setup you would need.
I believe the term"Jaguar Community" is a contradiction in terms, unless your tank is maybe 300 to 500 gallons, or more.
Most aquarists that are successful with Parachromis, keep them as pairs tanks in the 100 to 220 gallon range, stocking only 1 adult compatable pair to each tank.
Those African cichlids most people crowd, max out at about 5 inches, and are often semi-vegetarians.
The larger African predators like Fossorochromis rostratus or Tyranochromis that I've kept, (similar to Parachromis) reject that kind of crowding as adults.
There are some Central American cichlids that do well in mixed shoals and communities, but none of the 4 Parachromis species I've kept, fit into that category, especially in an average sized 6 ft tank.
This is why I ended up with over a dozen tanks in my fish room.
Most aquarists that are successful with Parachromis, keep them as pairs tanks in the 100 to 220 gallon range, stocking only 1 adult compatable pair to each tank.
Those African cichlids most people crowd, max out at about 5 inches, and are often semi-vegetarians.
The larger African predators like Fossorochromis rostratus or Tyranochromis that I've kept, (similar to Parachromis) reject that kind of crowding as adults.
There are some Central American cichlids that do well in mixed shoals and communities, but none of the 4 Parachromis species I've kept, fit into that category, especially in an average sized 6 ft tank.
This is why I ended up with over a dozen tanks in my fish room.
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