Why so many Mbuna and peacocks in the tanks these days?

[BigFlyMM4]

Why are the majority of people keeping African Cichlid tanks stocking them so heavily? In my opinion they are missing out on allot of interesting behavior by overstocking. Can you really control the aggression in a tank of aggressive fish by overstocking it? You may spread it out but at what cost? Aggressive fish are aggressive by nature regardless of number of tank mates. I was really surprised to see a ton of overstocked tanks on Youtube videos and many claims to peaceful aquariums by doing so. What happened to managing your African tanks by moving overly aggressive fish out or moving the fish that is being harassed to a different tank?

What are your thoughts on over stocking to control aggression? Sounds like a good way to sell more fish!

Lon

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome to MFK Most African cichlids are extremely aggressive to each other especially mbuna's. It depends on if its male and female, or all male's. Crowding breaks the line of sight on the weakest so they can get a break from harassment from the dominant fish.

 

[BigFlyMM4]

I am familiar with African Cichlid behavior. Just not with the over crowding the tank approach. I have kept Mbuna, Alonacara, Frontasa, Haps etc together in tanks without overcrowding the tank to control aggression. The overcrowding approach was never an option for me 20 years ago as the Afriacnas in my area where very expensive and hard to come by. I always kept things in check by having more hiding places than fish and that always allowed for some aggression but rarely resulted in damaged fins or dead fish and allowed the fish to display really interesting behavior like the shaking and strutting to protect or claim a spot in the tank or digging out a cave etc. So many fish in the tank that they are bumping into each other seems kind of wrong with a species with so many interesting behaviors.

 

[tlindsey]

I am familiar with African Cichlid behavior. Just not with the over crowding the tank approach. I have kept Mbuna, Alonacara, Frontasa, Haps etc together in tanks without overcrowding the tank to control aggression. The overcrowding approach was never an option for me 20 years ago as the Afriacnas in my area where very expensive and hard to come by. I always kept things in check by having more hiding places than fish and that always allowed for some aggression but rarely resulted in damaged fins or dead fish and allowed the fish to display really interesting behavior like the shaking and strutting to protect or claim a spot in the tank or digging out a cave etc. So many fish in the tank that they are bumping into each other seems kind of wrong with a species with so many interesting behaviors.

You are absolutely right experience also is important, and I will admit it personally don't enough when it comes to Africans.

 

[markstrimaran]

Welcome to MfK.
I have 2, 75 g mbunaTanks. Male and female extended family. Lots of cover.
All my culled fish were over 1.5". When purchased. All my fry raised fish get along.
I think that people want colors and mbuna, peacocks, and Haps are all " African Cichilds".
So they spend some cash on older fish. That have no hierchy. Put them in a tank, and keeping the prettiest fish. When the fight starts. They have no way of controlling the fire. Except add more fish to spread out the aggression. Getting rid of any females that cause the boys to misbehave. Rearranging the rocks a few times. To settle turf wars.
Then settling in on the couch. To watch a bunch of circling fish.

I started with 2 blue psudotrophus, and 2 yellow labs. M/f I have not had any issues. Every thing I read was about 5 to 1 stocking. I could only afford 4 fish.+ 2 female labs latter. As I got 2 male labs initially.

I have about 50 now, I have not had any killed from aggressiveness. Except two jerk fish I bought as adults. That thought they had to be the Alpha fish. Both were "hybrid peacocks" dragons blood mix.

 

[DJRansome]

I agree excessive overstocking can work but likely because there is 24/7 mass confusion and those tanks remind me of goldfish feeder tanks...I don't like the look.

There is an appropriate level of overstocking that will help manage aggression, but I have found it is even less than some of the recommendations. For example I like 12 individuals that mature <= 6" in a 75G male tank. I tried 18 but for me 12 worked better.

Why the trend? I think we have a lot of newbies in the hobby who want all the fish they like and only have one tank. Or maybe the newbies are just the most vocal since those with more experience have fewer questions. They think...I saw it on YouTube, and the fish were not killing each other in the vid, so it must work. And they hear the advice to overstock to manage aggression, and think more is always better.

After you have been in the hobby for a number of years and have had the opportunity to observe for yourself how the fish behave in lighter versus heavier stocked tanks and in mixed lakes versus biotope type tanks, I think you make different decisions.

 

[flukekiller]

Just like what was said.. overstocking doesn't stop the aggressive behavior just spreads it out.. I had 25 Mbuna in a 75 and I loved it...it was also planted.. minor scuffles as expected but not one death in the 5 years I had the tank up and running.

 

[Allan01230]

I always stock lightly I keep a ton of texas Holey rock in the middle of the tank therefore many hiding places

 

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

I am relatively new to the care of africans (Only about 2 years of experimenting) but I agree with you to a point. I had far more success by getting rid of my tank bullies (originally a venustus in my first build) and being sure there is a tank boss (i.e. a fish that is a bit larger and can establish dominance, but does not feel the need to actually fight). My current theory is that you need one larger fish who does is not innately over-aggressive (see nimbochromis anything imo). My current set up is predominantly 4-5" haps with one 6.5" Protomelas Marginatus and I have yet to see any battle for territory or dominance. With that said, I did notice some fights when I only had 4 haps in the tank. I think that if you are going with that few fish, you are better off just doing a species tank rather than mixing male haps together.

 

[krichardson]

I kept Africans years ago but I was never a big fan of mbunas.People were packing them in their tanks back then as well so it's not really a trend but rather a common practice.Another thing I would notice was fake corals and other saltwater decor in mbuna tanks but that is for another discussion I guess.