Are densely populated African cichlids tanks a good idea?

[Jacky12]

I purchased several fish from local guy who had what he called an accidental breeding, meaning he thought he had all males and noticed one holding. I was shocked to see ~40 good sized fish (most peacocks) in his 90 gallon tank. He had nicely arranged many big rocks. He also kept the room extremely dark. He explained darkness and the dense population reduces aggression, adding the darkness is part of their natural habitat. I googled and saw his ways are not uncommon. This does not sit well with me. I have fewer fish than he has in my two 90 G tanks and I don’t keep my room pitch dark. The LEDS are at low level, but not approaching his conditions. He said he turns the lights up for a hour or so in the evening.

Are these overpopulated dark tanks the better way of keeping African cichlids?

 

[Andy Sager]

I purchased several fish from local guy who had what he called an accidental breeding, meaning he thought he had all males and noticed one holding. I was shocked to see ~40 good sized fish (most peacocks) in his 90 gallon tank. He had nicely arranged many big rocks. He also kept the room extremely dark. He explained darkness and the dense population reduces aggression, adding the darkness is part of their natural habitat. I googled and saw his ways are not uncommon. This does not sit well with me. I have fewer fish than he has in my two 90 G tanks and I don’t keep my room pitch dark. The LEDS are at low level, but not approaching his conditions. He said he turns the lights up for a hour or so in the evening.

Are these overpopulated dark tanks the better way of keeping African cichlids?

Yes, for certain types. Not all.

 

[Colin_T]

For Mbuna cichlids, a lot of people keep them heavily stocked so any aggression is spread out over more fish. It means there is less chance of one fish taking over the tank and killing any other rivals. This does lead to problems if you want to breed a certain fish but can limit the overall aggression.

For most other cichlids, overcrowding is very bad and leads to fish being killed. South and Central American cichlids need lots of space otherwise the dominant fish will murder everything in the tank.

For most other African Rift Lake cichlids, you want to give them some space so they don't fight.

 

[Jacky12]

Wow, very interesting. Thanks Colin & Andy. My cichlid population may be increasing even more than I thought. I have one female and two male Maylandia lombardi cichlids in a 40 G. The previous owner said the yellow ones were girls and the blue striped one was a boy. I now see it’s the reverse. Anyways, I just noticed at least 10 tiny ones under and near a sponge filter. They’re <2 cm. I need to give greater thought to where I place them.

My males are much brighter & prettier than this one.

 

[Colin_T]

Wow, very interesting. Thanks Colin & Andy. My cichlid population may be increasing even more than I thought. I have one female and two male Maylandia lombardi cichlids in a 40 G. The previous owner said the yellow ones were girls and the blue striped one was a boy. I now see it’s the reverse. Anyways, I just noticed at least 10 tiny ones under and near a sponge filter. They’re <2 cm. I need to give greater thought to where I place them.

My males are much brighter & prettier than this one.

They are one of the most aggressive Rift lake cichlids you get.

 

[Jacky12]

Will they be aggressive if kept in an all Lombardoi tank? These 3 get along fine.

 

[Colin_T]

As a general rule, you get one male and a few female lombardoi living in a tank and all the other males will be killed. You might be lucky having the 2 males together but it could end badly if one decides he wants the tank and female to himself. Monitor them and if you find one male hiding under a rock or sitting in the back top corner and not willing to come out, then remove him because the other male has taken over the tank.

 

[Andy Sager]

As a general rule, you get one male and a few female lombardoi living in a tank and all the other males will be killed. You might be lucky having the 2 males together but it could end badly if one decides he wants the tank and female to himself. Monitor them and if you find one male hiding under a rock or sitting in the back top corner and not willing to come out, then remove him because the other male has taken over the tank.

 

[Jacky12]

These yellow boys that I thought were girls are getting along fine. If that changes, I have no idea which of my tanks I could move him to. I will be doing a lot of reading on these fish. I always admired their sexual dimorphism & a person in a local aquarium Facebook group said she was selling her FW fish to go SW, so I bought the three described as 2 females & a male. I was stunned to see the babies. Until what age/ size is a fish called fry? Upon closer inspection of the tank today, I saw 4 adult leopard catfish, purchased at the LFS. They were 4 yr old trade ins. I forgot I had them there. These are 100% nocturnal & the most boring catfish I own. Not very big. Do you think they will eat the young lombardios?

 

[Colin_T]

No idea on the catfish. Have you got a scientific name for them, or a picture of them?

 

[Jacky12]

My reply just vanished, so here goes again. The adult cats I forgot I had with the three lombardios are Synodontis petricola aka Pygmy leopard cats. The most reclusive fish I’ve ever owned.

 

[Colin_T]

Synodontis petricola are nice fish. Nocturnal and need to be in groups of at least 6 (preferably more), and they like hard water (GH 350-450ppm) with a high pH (8.0-9.0). Most people keep them at the lower end of their scale (GH 350, pH 8.0)

 

[Jacky12]

This quartet has been together for years. I’ll not be getting anymore. Boring!