About 6 months ago, my wife ran into a guy who was giving away his 225 gallon tank and equipment. Wow! She got the contact info from him and the next day I picked the thing up... FREE! I've spent the last few months getting the tank into good condition. Fresh sealant, etc. etc.. I'd been debating on what to put in the tank, but have decided to dedicate it to Cental and South American cichlids. I've kept some of these guys before (Oscars, Jag, Midas, Green Terror, Texans, Convicts and also a variety of africans.), but it has always been in a smaller tank, 80 gallons being the biggest I've had. I've kept fish most of my life (I'm 28) so I'm not a "newbie". I do need help. This is the biggest tank I've ever had, as I said, and I really don't know how to figure the best way to stock the thing. I intend on keeping medium-largish cichlids in the thing. I currently have a baby jag in a 55 gallon that will be a resident when all is a go in a few months, but I am wondering how many other potential 6-12 inch cichlids I could put in there? I've never had more than 3 cichlids together before, in the 80. That worked pretty well... So should I shoot for say 6 6-12 inch fellas in there? Should I maybe slightly overstock the tank as is recommended for africans? Hmmm... If you have any advice and personal experience stocking a big tank, what do you suggest? Thanks.
Stocking levels for a 225 gallon tank
- Thread starter Demonfish
- Start date
It's my understanding that an Oscar requires a bare minimum of 55 gal, so I would imagine a smaller cichlid would require only slightly less. I have a 240 gal tall tank, with the same footprint as a standard 180, so you dont have as much swimming room, length wise. Currently, we have 3 baby Oscars in this tank. (and, yeah, it looks very empty) 
It's our plan to add possibly a small catfish or two at some point, and I think that will be plenty. This tank has a 55 gal sump for filtration.
I am far from expert, but have done a fair amount of reading and my boyfriend has kept fish for years. Anyway, that is just my .02 worth.
It's our plan to add possibly a small catfish or two at some point, and I think that will be plenty. This tank has a 55 gal sump for filtration.I am far from expert, but have done a fair amount of reading and my boyfriend has kept fish for years. Anyway, that is just my .02 worth.
That is a lot of tank to work with but coming from an experienced New world cichlid fanatic the best advice I can give you is to monitor the temperament of your fish as different individual specimens can vary greatly in aggression.
So your jag might be ok with 10 other cichlids or it might need a tank to itself the sooner you put the fish together the better your chances of success will be.
If it was me I would just go for a breeding pair of your favorite large cichlid. But another option would be to stick with 1 a piece of 6 to 10 different cichlids and try to avoid the breeding and the carnage that follows
I am currently growing my Dovii up in a 90 to get a monster tank to breed them in this summer which will leave the 90 for my cubans to have all to them selves
Good luck and always have a backup plan when adding new fish in case they do not get along
So your jag might be ok with 10 other cichlids or it might need a tank to itself the sooner you put the fish together the better your chances of success will be.
If it was me I would just go for a breeding pair of your favorite large cichlid. But another option would be to stick with 1 a piece of 6 to 10 different cichlids and try to avoid the breeding and the carnage that follows
I am currently growing my Dovii up in a 90 to get a monster tank to breed them in this summer which will leave the 90 for my cubans to have all to them selves
Good luck and always have a backup plan when adding new fish in case they do not get along
trail and error with lots of water tests....
congrats on the new tank and be sure to post some pics!
congrats on the new tank and be sure to post some pics!
Get at least an oscar, they are awsome fish. I think that an 8" fish is about half the biomass of a 12" fish if you figure that if the fish a 1/3 the legth then its a 1/3 the hieght and width to. One oscar in a large tank takes about 40-50 gallons. A school of silver dollars looks good with big cichlids also and it cuts down on aggresion toward each other.