Overcrowding Cichlids to Lower Aggression - Is this rule Correct and True?

[Bubble_B0y]

Ultimate Monster 750 Gallon Tank - MonsterFishKeepers.com - YouTube

personally, I think this tank is beyond overcrowded and breaks all the rules of the hobby.

But according to the comments, overcrowding solves the problem of aggression???
- since the aggression will be dissipated and shared amongst all the fish. And no fish will be solely targeted and bullied
e.g. Peacock cichlids in an african mbuna tank

I agree to a small extent with this principle...BUT seriously, there are limits to that rule!

Nitrates? I cannot imagine how high the nitrates will be in that tank.
Not to mention, 1-wrong step away from an ammonia spike and cycle crash!

More importantly oxygen. There is a limited amount of oxygen that can dissolve into a tank.
The more fish that is stocked, the greater strain on the biological filtration and the fish. Beneficial bacteria and the fish have to compete for oxygen.

Also, Fish need open swimming space to move FREELY! I cannot see how bumping into another fish every millisecond is not stressful.

And fish need room to grow!

This tank takes overcrowding too far imo.

 

[severum mama]

Yuck. I never really got into the "monster fish" setups that are just fish crammed into a box of water. I like decor and I'm pretty sure the fish do too. Anyway, that is JMO.

I was under the impression that the overcrowding tactic really only works for Mbuna. In my experiences with SA and CA cichlids, crowding really just makes them more aggressive.

I'm guessing this person has a water change system, maybe even continuous, to address the water quality issue as these fish have got to put out a ridiculous amount of waste. I'm also guessing there is a huge sump on this tank. But, water quality could be perfect... and these fish are still practically running into each other.

I hope I don't offend any of the monster fish crowd, as I said this is JMO.

 

[DragonFish71]

All I can say is wow, just wow.

Ok more: simply heartbreaking.

All I can think about is wanting to put the guy that owns that tank into a dog kennel (medium sized one) and let him live his life in there.

 

[Bettababe1011]

That's just sad. There's overcrowding to curb aggression...and then there is this. I would think it would just make them overly aggressive when they're always bumping into each other.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

That's...
That's highly unfair for the fish. I mean yes I understand it's a big tank, but still those fish! Just bumping into each other back and forth, back and forth. It's like being stuck in LA traffic for life *shudder* and although they have room to swim imagine what the fish are feeling inside, all aggressive and cooped up like that! I wish someone would tell the owner to rehome the fish or give them a bigger tank.