Total in a 55?

[twhittle]

Hi, I am new to this site. I am making alot of posts to get to the 5 for full privelages. I have a 55 gallon with four 7-9 inch Malawis. I see people saying you can put 12-15 Malawis in a 55. With these being as big as they are, should I leave it at that?

 

[mostlycichlids]

as long as you are keeping 3 females to one male of each genuses or all males you are fine. I have 9 mbuma and 5 synodontis catfish and it is pushing the limits with those fish...I would do 12 mbuma from 3 different genuses basically 3 familys of four fish..

 

[twhittle]

If I get more, they need to be larger because of the size of my current fish, right?

 

[twhittle]

Also, as I am learning more, I realize a mistake has been made. I have a Mbuna (bumblebee), Peacock, Hap (Venustus), and a Tang. They have been together from the person I them for 4 years. Am I in trouble with this mix?? Where do I go from here with adding fish?

 

[booyah]

I not sure about the fish. I am just getting back in to fish myself. My question is how much and what kind of flirtation do you have? Will it handle the bio load?

 

[mike dunagan]

adding more mbuna will make it more difficult for the other types. Of course adding anything else could add aggression to the mbuna already there. Also when you add more fish never add just one. If they are small you can add one and hope it can be safe. I add 1 1/2 inchers to my mbuan tank often and I have lost almost none. In fact adding larger ones causes the most trouble.

 

[gomezladdams]

If theyve been together 4 years it seems theyve decided to coexist.adding any other cichlids could cause a slaughter.Or you might get lucky its really impossible to say.

 

[twhittle]

I have two HOB whisper filters that betweem the two cycle 600 Gallons per hour through the tank. I added some Mbuna's and things seem to be fine. So far the larger fish are completely ignoring the smaller ones. Here is a picture of the setup.

 

[fish head )'>]

nice lookin' tank.
You will find that there are many schools of thought on the different types of fish one "should" keep together. You will find people on the extremes: from one kind of fish per tank, to anything goes. From tankmates only from the same source, to, again, anything goes. ---and everything in between.
I will leave that can of worms for someone else.
As for stocking, many people use "overcrowding" in African cichlids tanks to help offset normal aggression and territorial issues. It seems to work well in many situations. Of course, filtration then becomes another story.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

Nice looking tank. I was thinking of converting my 55 to an African setup.

You haven't had any issues at all? I was concerned that a 55 would be to small...I guess not.