Im (fingers crossed) picking up a 5 ft tank , 151 x 51 x 62 cm. this weekend. how many adult malawis can coexist in there ??
i currently have 3 males and 2 females. ( yes i know the ratio is wrong) in a 3ft tank ( yes i know the tank is too small( but ive got sooo many rocks and coral in that they appear happy)
dont worry im not going to rush out and buy some more fish just to fill the tank to its limit. i just wondered for the future, as both females have bred and i just wondered how many fry i should keep on - as i really want more females to even the ratio out.
how many would be comfortable in the tank....(assuming of course lots of ocean rock and dead coral) ??
how any cichlids in a 5 ft tank ??
4 posts
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miami754 - Posts: 373
- Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am
Converting your measurements into inches and then figuring out the volume, it looks like your tank would be 125 gallons (correct me if I am wrong). Typically with cichlids, you want to overpack a little (but not go crazy) to minimize aggression. Some people use this as an excuse to put a billion more fish in their tank than they should. It really just means to go a little above the limit. Keep in mind that with this overpacking comes the added responsibility of increasing the filtration. More fish in a smaller volume means need to buy more filtration than is typical for a 125.
So most mbuna cichlids reach 5-6" in length as mature adults (so let's just say 5.5 inches for the calculations we are about to do). There are of course variations, but this is the average. Haps and peacocks can get bigger so you would need to adjust for this if you plan on keeping them instead of mbunas. 90% of the people who say cichlid mean mbunas so that is usually what I assume. I know the "1 inch per gallon" rule is way too generalistic and not accurate unless you have smaller fish, but it will work to give us a ball park for your tank. So, using this rule, you would be able to keep 125 inches of fish. Now, to overpack, I would probably go up to 140 inches to 155 inches or so. This means you are looking at 25 to 28 adults in your tank.
You are right that many mbunas reproduce like crazy and you will soon be overrun with fry. You can do several different things here. You could limit the number you originally buy and then let the fry grow up in your tank. You could separate the fry into their own tank or you could just sell / give them to people or local fish stores as they are born. I do the third option. I let the fry get around 1" or so and then I sell or give them to local fish stores. I also trade them or give them to people here in town such as dizzcat.
The main thing to remember, and I can't stress this enough, is to get filtration setup on the thing like it is a 175-200 gallon aquarium. Cichlids are messy and you will be overloading the aquarium. They must have the filtration to match if you want them to be happy and healthy. And of course, as you say, you can't drop 25 fish in the tank at one time. You would build up to that number over time exactly like you said in your post.
Good luck and congrats on the new tank! Post some pictures when you get it up and running. I love looking at cichlid tanks and what people do with them.
So most mbuna cichlids reach 5-6" in length as mature adults (so let's just say 5.5 inches for the calculations we are about to do). There are of course variations, but this is the average. Haps and peacocks can get bigger so you would need to adjust for this if you plan on keeping them instead of mbunas. 90% of the people who say cichlid mean mbunas so that is usually what I assume. I know the "1 inch per gallon" rule is way too generalistic and not accurate unless you have smaller fish, but it will work to give us a ball park for your tank. So, using this rule, you would be able to keep 125 inches of fish. Now, to overpack, I would probably go up to 140 inches to 155 inches or so. This means you are looking at 25 to 28 adults in your tank.
You are right that many mbunas reproduce like crazy and you will soon be overrun with fry. You can do several different things here. You could limit the number you originally buy and then let the fry grow up in your tank. You could separate the fry into their own tank or you could just sell / give them to people or local fish stores as they are born. I do the third option. I let the fry get around 1" or so and then I sell or give them to local fish stores. I also trade them or give them to people here in town such as dizzcat.
The main thing to remember, and I can't stress this enough, is to get filtration setup on the thing like it is a 175-200 gallon aquarium. Cichlids are messy and you will be overloading the aquarium. They must have the filtration to match if you want them to be happy and healthy. And of course, as you say, you can't drop 25 fish in the tank at one time. You would build up to that number over time exactly like you said in your post.
Good luck and congrats on the new tank! Post some pictures when you get it up and running. I love looking at cichlid tanks and what people do with them.
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josmoloco - Posts: 189
- Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:21 pm
Sounds like a 100g or so tnk, I have the common 6ft 125 gallon with around 38 fish, filtration is all so important. I run an renaxp3, a fluval 404 and a 204, all with custom bio media.
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Burnt_Bunny - Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:29 pm
its a juwel rio 400 im getting.
yea i did figure the filter would have to be decent as they do poop alot. the tank is coming with 2 filters i think, if those arnt good enough then ive got some back up cheap filters that i can put in untill i can get better.
To be truthful i havnt even thought of what i could buy. i was just going to get the tank all happy with my current fish. and then spend some time on the net deciding what looks nice and isnt to territorial.
the original tank is actualy my dads, he set it up and i stocked it for him as a bday present. his interest levels kind of wavered after a couple of months, so i took over( which i dont mind :D) he wants to sell the malawis and make it into a community tank....he doesnt know yet that im buying a bigger tank....there might be a slight problem with sneaking it into the house and up the stairs as im only 5 ft too. lol! i think they might have twigged whats going to happen, as ive moved all my furniture around my room.
didnt realise i could have 25, thats great. :D
yeah i will be fine sorting out new homes.i have managed to sell over 160 guppy fry in 6 months so far. and have got someone coming round tomorrow to pick up 10 of my yellow labs. my first malawi sale. wooop!
will post some picks next week. i probably wont have the ocean rock or the background sorted, or ,many plants , as theyr all being ordered online.so the tank will probably look really naff, but will post a picture none the less.
thanks for the help so far
yea i did figure the filter would have to be decent as they do poop alot. the tank is coming with 2 filters i think, if those arnt good enough then ive got some back up cheap filters that i can put in untill i can get better.
To be truthful i havnt even thought of what i could buy. i was just going to get the tank all happy with my current fish. and then spend some time on the net deciding what looks nice and isnt to territorial.
the original tank is actualy my dads, he set it up and i stocked it for him as a bday present. his interest levels kind of wavered after a couple of months, so i took over( which i dont mind :D) he wants to sell the malawis and make it into a community tank....he doesnt know yet that im buying a bigger tank....there might be a slight problem with sneaking it into the house and up the stairs as im only 5 ft too. lol! i think they might have twigged whats going to happen, as ive moved all my furniture around my room.
didnt realise i could have 25, thats great. :D
yeah i will be fine sorting out new homes.i have managed to sell over 160 guppy fry in 6 months so far. and have got someone coming round tomorrow to pick up 10 of my yellow labs. my first malawi sale. wooop!
will post some picks next week. i probably wont have the ocean rock or the background sorted, or ,many plants , as theyr all being ordered online.so the tank will probably look really naff, but will post a picture none the less.
thanks for the help so far