How many malawi cichlids for a 100gal tank??

[fishboy123]

Hi'
I have an African cichlid tank and i have some cichlids here is some pictures
There has been some chasing about and I heard on the internet that I need to have an overstocked tank to keep the aggression at bay?? I have 11 cichlids at the moment. How many more can i add to keep the aggression at bay??

 

[acewiza]

...I heard on the internet that I need to have an overstocked tank to keep the aggression at bay??

I would say quite the opposite has been true, in my experience. Don't believe everything you see on the Internet.

 

[Mcfly]

I would not recommend 'overstocking' any aquarium. "Filling" your aquarium isn't a bad thing. 11 Cichlids in a 100 Gallon tank gives the fish plenty of room to establish territory, and once the have a spot, they'll defend it.

Cichlids chase each other about a lot. They're active fish. If your seeing certain fish get beat up, try and re-arrange the ornaments, and provide plenty of caves and rocky 'hideouts' they can call home... Over 1/3 of my cichlid tank was rocks, with lots of caves and hidey holes. If there's only 1 or 2 safe places, the fish will fight for the good spots.

Research the type of fish you're putting in the tank.

Groups Cichlids — Seriously Fish

As for "how many" you can put in the tank, the species of fish, size of full grown adults, amount/type of filtration, as well as other variables all factor in, so there's no straight answer... It's like me asking, "How many marbles can I fit in this jar?" without knowing the size of the jar, or the size of the marbles.

Try using this calculator: AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

This will give you an idea of where you are now, and maybe some direction for the future.

 

[acewiza]

An old rule of thumb I heard back in the day was 1 inch of fish per gallon of water as a general guideline. Abundant filtration could support more, but I wouldn't try it.

I wonder where that overstocking against aggression thing comes from. Fish just all too terrified to do anything?

 

[Brookster123]

An old rule of thumb I heard back in the day was 1 inch of fish per gallon of water as a general guideline. Abundant filtration could support more, but I wouldn't try it.

I wonder where that overstocking against aggression thing comes from. Fish just all too terrified to do anything?

That's an extremely outdated method. With Africans you need a highly structured setup with a healthy stocking. They will pester non stop otherwise. Overstocking spreads out the aggression, they are aggressive fish.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[fishboy123]

So do I get any more to spread the aggression or not??

 

[Brookster123]

Yes. You should research everything you get, learn how to sex them and know exactly what you're putting in your tank.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Tbox]

Imo the corydoras and clown loach should be rehomed too. They've got different needs and they'll probably get bullied down the road.