How many fish!??

[Polly91]

What are the guidelines for how many fish you can out in a tank?
I have a 5 foot tank and I have American cichlids..

 

[ilostnemo]

what size tank gallon wise? how many cichlids do you have? how much rock/decor do you have?

 

[Polly91]

Well I know it's about 300 liters which I think is about 80 gallons.
At the moment I have 12 small fish(only got them a week ago) which include firemouth, brasiliensis, blue acara and kribensis. I plan on havin them breed, and also want to place Texas holey rock in my tank.a fair bit of it too.

 

[HUKIT]

I would not use Texas Holey rock with South/Central Americans since they prefer a little softer water and the rock will raise the PH level.

 

[Polly91]

Is there anything else u could suggest?

 

[HUKIT]

Lots of driftwood is what I prefer for these guys, my favorites are Manzanita and Malaysian. Rocks are fine just find some that don't raise of buffer the PH like limestone.

 

[Polly91]

From what I have read, a ph of 7-8 isn't to bad for these fish???

 

[HUKIT]

They are fine with that PH level but depending on what your tap water is at the limestone will raise that number higher. I generally keep F1 cichlids which are fry from wild caught fish and replicating the proper enviorment is important but if your purchasing store bought tank bred fish then they will be fine.

 

[Polly91]

So back to my original question,how many fish should I keep in an 80 gallon tank.taking into consideration they will grow a fair bit...

 

[Ant329]

Id say about 8-10

 

[Polly91]

That doesn't seem like much at all!

 

[ilostnemo]

That seems like a lot to me because amercians get big. Id honestllly say just 2.

 

[Ant329]

I never had a problem keeping 2 in my 29 gallon.. My theory is why have a big tank if your only putting in 2 fish.. I understand they grow big, but it just looks empty

 

[Polly91]

That's what I think.
This fish I have at the moment are 2 of the following:
Brasiliensis
Firemouth
Kribensis
Blue acara
Severum

I was really hoping on getting more of these especially the kribensis.
The other thing is that maybe I have understated the amount of gallons in my tank.I know it's 5 foot long and is 300 liters which I think converts to 80 gallon but not 100% sure...

 

[ilostnemo]

Because they have a very good chance of killing each other

 

[Ant329]

Not usually the case when intrduced at the same time.. Also not starving them helps more

 

[ilostnemo]

True. But there is still a good chance. And even went tons of eating there will still be a good chance

 

[Polly91]

Even if they are the same size?

 

[HUKIT]

Not usually the case when intrduced at the same time.. Also not starving them helps more

That's the most ignorant thing I've heard today, these fish are aggressive by nature being molded this way in thousands of years of evolution and if you think feeding them alot will curb their natural behavior you couldn't be more wrong.

 

[Hungrytony037]

Correct me if I am wrong but from what I see in my tanks. Especially in the ones with cichlids from the Americas, aggression rises at meal time. When I introduce food some of the dominant fish will attempt to scare away the weaker ones. Once food is gone they all calm down and go to their respected areas. Quite a few animals will do the same including dogs and humans. But you can train and check them.