75 Gallon cichlid tank

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F1guy

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
22
This is my tank. Mostly African Malawi Cichlids.
2 Convicts
4 Mother of Pearl Cichlids
4 Yellow Labs
2 Cobalt Zebra Cichlids
5 Rusty cichlids
3 Peacock cichlids
1 Electric Blue Hap
1 Red Zebra Cichlid (I have a female and she is orange)
2 Bumblebee Cichlid
1 Pleco
? Fry (I have seen baby fish on a regular basis)
 

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I know, I have had them since the beginning, and I can't get rid of them, besides they can hold their own against the African cousin, lol lol.
Glad you liked my tank! 
 
Thanks.  I clean it once a week. Every Saturday.
 
I clean it once a week because it keeps my nitrate level low. My aim is to keep my no3 levels under 20ppm. My tank is probably getting close to double stocked if you use the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.
 
I clean it once a week because it keeps my nitrate level low. My aim is to keep my no3 levels under 20ppm. My tank is probably getting close to double stocked if you use the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.

The one inch rule doesn't always apply. Our beautiful Mbunas are one if the many exceptions to that rule.
I have a 55g Mbuna tank (working towards a 75g) and proper stock amount is 15 fish. Which if the the 1" rule applied would be 4-5 to many depending on their growth. So depending on how many you actually have, you could be just fine.

Just for informational purposes, the no-no for African and NW Cichlids isn't because of aggression. The Africans are mostly semi aggressive and the Convicts are aggressive, which is why they can hold their own, they are more aggressive. It's their water requirements that are different about them.

Just out of curiosity, what type of Pleco do you have? I admit, I am a huge Pleco fan.
 
Not sure. My lfs says it a spotted pleco.
I have 25 fish, that includes pleco. Here is a pic of him.
I understand about the water requirements, it was my understanding that as long as the water chemistry does not change quickly that Convicts were fairly adaptable to most water conditions.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
 

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I clean it once a week because it keeps my nitrate level low. My aim is to keep my no3 levels under 20ppm. My tank is probably getting close to double stocked if you use the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.

I zoomed in on the photo to count your fish & you may be a few over but not by a lot. If you were to re-homed the NW Cichlids (Convicts) and depending on what type of Pleco you have you should be OK.
 
I counted before I posted. There are some hiding in the rocks.

Could two Convicts live in 20 gallon tank?
Thanks for your advice. 
 
Not sure. My lfs says it a spotted pleco.
I have 25 fish, that includes pleco. Here is a pic of him.
I understand about the water requirements, it was my understanding that as long as the water chemistry does not change quickly that Convicts were fairly adaptable to most water conditions.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

I wouldn't say wrong, but just because they can adapt, doesn't always mean that they can thrive after they've adapted. Fish are surprisingly tolerant of a lot of things that aren't good for them.
I mean look at how well Malawi Cichlids eat blood worms. So well in fact, they will eat them until they get bloat and die. The disease it causes is even named after them.
Given the size of your tank and the 25 fish and the Pleco, IMO it would still be better for your Convicts to have a separate or new home. And it would give the rest of your fish a little extra room. Especially since you also have a Pleco in your tank.But it is your tank, your choice.

But speaking of Plecos, I was also wondering if your Pleco is just a Spotted Pleco or a Spotted Sailfin Pleco? As juveniles they look a lot a like. The only reason it matters is that a Spotted Pleco grows to be about 7-8" and a Spotted Sailfin Pleco grows to be 20" or so.
If you cut back on your Cichlids, the 75g will be OK for an adult Spotted Pleco. But for the Sailfin Spotted Pleco, a 75g tank is to small. It needs closer to 100g or bigger. The Sailfin is very close in size to the Common Pleco, there for, they need a lot of room and have a LARGE bio-load to deal with.

All this stuff aside, I wanted to tell you, your tank is beautiful and very clean and clear. It's obvious that you take very good care of your tank, to give your fish the best possible place to live in.
I'm only saying the other stuff to help you avoid problems later on. But you are doing a great job on your tank. It looks great.
 
I counted before I posted. There are some hiding in the rocks.

Could two Convicts live in 20 gallon tank?
Thanks for your advice. 

They need a 30g minimum. It's the floor space rather than depth that makes the most difference for them. Even a 20L would be pushing it.
The 20L is 30"L x 12"W, the 30g is a full 6" longer. It may be only 10g, but it's how those 10g are placed that counts. A regular 20g is only 24"L x 12"w, which gives it a full square foot less floor area. So again IMO, a 20g won't work as long term housing. As a temp. home or QT it will work, until you can get either, another tank that's a minimum 36"L x 12W (48" would be better) or you find them a new home.
Sorry, every time I answer it a negative one. I hate having to do that.
 
WendiDell said:
They need a 30g minimum. It's the floor space rather than depth that makes the most difference for them. Even a 20L would be pushing it.
The 20L is 30"L x 12"W, the 30g is a full 6" longer. It may be only 10g, but it's how those 10g are placed that counts. A regular 20g is only 24"L x 12"w, which gives it a full square foot less floor area. So again IMO, a 20g won't work as long term housing. As a temp. home or QT it will work, until you can get either, another tank that's a minimum 36"L x 12W (48" would be better) or you find them a new home.
Sorry, every time I answer it a negative one. I hate having to do that.

Np I like to hear other people's opinions.
 
WendiDell said:
I wouldn't say wrong, but just because they can adapt, doesn't always mean that they can thrive after they've adapted. Fish are surprisingly tolerant of a lot of things that aren't good for them.
I mean look at how well Malawi Cichlids eat blood worms. So well in fact, they will eat them until they get bloat and die. The disease it causes is even named after them.
Given the size of your tank and the 25 fish and the Pleco, IMO it would still be better for your Convicts to have a separate or new home. And it would give the rest of your fish a little extra room. Especially since you also have a Pleco in your tank.But it is your tank, your choice.

But speaking of Plecos, I was also wondering if your Pleco is just a Spotted Pleco or a Spotted Sailfin Pleco? As juveniles they look a lot a like. The only reason it matters is that a Spotted Pleco grows to be about 7-8" and a Spotted Sailfin Pleco grows to be 20" or so.
If you cut back on your Cichlids, the 75g will be OK for an adult Spotted Pleco. But for the Sailfin Spotted Pleco, a 75g tank is to small. It needs closer to 100g or bigger. The Sailfin is very close in size to the Common Pleco, there for, they need a lot of room and have a LARGE bio-load to deal with.

All this stuff aside, I wanted to tell you, your tank is beautiful and very clean and clear. It's obvious that you take very good care of your tank, to give your fish the best possible place to live in.
I'm only saying the other stuff to help you avoid problems later on. But you are doing a great job on your tank. It looks great.

Thanks for the advice.
I was going to trade my pleco for a Synodontis njassae,
 
F1guy said:
This is my tank. Mostly African Malawi Cichlids.
2 Convicts
4 Mother of Pearl Cichlids
4 Yellow Labs
2 Cobalt Zebra Cichlids
5 Rusty cichlids
3 Peacock cichlids
1 Electric Blue Hap
1 Red Zebra Cichlid (I have a female and she is orange)
2 Bumblebee Cichlid
1 Pleco
? Fry (I have seen baby fish on a regular basis)

The tank does indeed look good but you have allot of incompatible fish in there. First off as you know are the convicts, NW/SA/CA cichlids should never be mixed do to different dietary, water parameter needs and levels of aggressions.

As for you Africans, Haps, Mbuna and peacocks shouldn't be mixed because each requires a different set up, dietary needs and has different aggression levels. I would rehome the EBH and then decide if you want Mbuna or peacocks. If going for Mbuna pick 3 different species/ ones that the females do not look the same and get to be around the same size and have the same aggression levels. Then stock to a 1 male to 4 female ratio, rehoming any hyper aggressive males as you come across them. You will end up with 15-20, that would be a good number for that tank.
 
The tank does indeed look good but you have allot of incompatible fish in there. First off as you know are the convicts, NW/SA/CA cichlids should never be mixed do to different dietary, water parameter needs and levels of aggressions.

As for you Africans, Haps, Mbuna and peacocks shouldn't be mixed because each requires a different set up, dietary needs and has different aggression levels. I would rehome the EBH and then decide if you want Mbuna or peacocks. If going for Mbuna pick 3 different species/ ones that the females do not look the same and get to be around the same size and have the same aggression levels. Then stock to a 1 male to 4 female ratio, rehoming any hyper aggressive males as you come across them. You will end up with 15-20, that would be a good number for that tank.

For the 75g she can get 4 different males and 4 ea of the females. 20 Mbunas in that tank would be very happy.
But your are right about the Convicts, Haps and Peacocks needing a different home. Which could be another tank in your home or in someone elses home.
 
I know basicly nothing on African Cichlids, but your fish look amazing and that is one beautiful and clean tank!
 
WendiDell said:
For the 75g she can get 4 different males and 4 ea of the females. 20 Mbunas in that tank would be very happy.
But your are right about the Convicts, Haps and Peacocks needing a different home. Which could be another tank in your home or in someone elses home.

I said 3 because I was taking the plecos bioload into consideration/ the possible addition of Snyo cats.
 
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