Overstocking tank

[Andy16]

From what i have heard, overstocking a mbuna tank will decrease aggresion, and it will also look cool. I was thinking about doing this. Im pretty sure that an aquaclear mini and a penguin 330 or hte step below should do the job. Am i correct? My tank is 20 gallons.

[rus]

20 gals sounds too small for a mbuna tank. a 75 would be a better starting point

[ChilDawg]

Wow...one of the more interesting questions in the hobby. Yes, on the one hand, you are correct in that overstocking mbunas can reduce aggression. On the other hand, these are fish which live in alkaline waters and are thus more prone to ammonia poisoning, so water changes at small intervals are absolutely essential to keeping them alive in overcrowded conditions.

That having been said, it is not recommended by any of the authors of the Malawi books in my possession, nor by those who have written recent magazine articles on the subject (as far as I know about recent articles, anyway...)

Also, your 20 is wayyy too small for any mbunas. I agree with the suggestion of a 75+, but I would carefully stock it with juveniles of unrelated species (as much as possible, in order to avoid hybridization), and not overstock it.

[JSchmidt]

In my experience, overstocking isn't much benefit in tanks smaller than 75 gallons. The point of overstocking is to disperse aggression. As the aggressor fish chases a target, he gets distracted by another fish, goes after the second target, and then a third, etc. The idea is that no single fish gets constantly hounded and harrassed. Smaller tanks (i.e., <75 g.) just don't have enough swimming space for the aggressor to get distracted and he will continue to pursue his victim.

Overstocking puts you much closer to the edge, in terms of the margins of error. Management of the nitrogen cycle is terribly important, because these fish produce lots of waste and because the high pH makes any ammonia present much more toxic. Also, if there is a power outage, the risk of oxygen depletion in the water is much greater. Finally, you have to be prepared to do a LOT of water changes if you overstock, or you will have chronically high nitrates and other pollutants.

Finally, I strongly agree that a 20 is much too small for almost all Rift Lake cichlids, no matter how many. You might be able to house a couple shelldwellers in that size tank, but I'm not so familiar with those species.

HTH,
Jim

[Sum-X]

Wow, Jim pretty much mentioned it all...

I agree with him in thatit doesn't make fish less aggressive, it just occupies the one that is always chasing around the others... In saying this, I don't even think I'd put one Mbuna let alone overstocking a 20 with them...

I suggest you either go with some smaller shelldwellers, or some dwarf species (e.i. Rams) Or maybe some Kribensis.

[ChilDawg]

Meeki Man, would Neets be a good suggestion for a tank that small? All the color of Tropheus, but a lot less of the size...I just don't know about aggression levels...

[Andy16]

I got the idea of starting my whole tank over. I might make it a single species tank. Like fill it with a lot of small malanochromis auratuss. It would look cool and maybe they would breed. Then i could sell them and get a 50 gallon tank. Then i could breed some bigger ones. That would put me up to a 100 galon tank. I could start breeding frontosas and hit it big and buy the 900 gallon tank AND the girl discussed in this thread...http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7510. :D
(first i would have to tell my parents that they should go help the soilders fighting in Iraq so i could get it while there gone.

[ChilDawg]

hehehe, you could store the girls at my house while your 'rents are around ;)

[Andy16]

lol childawg.

[JSchmidt]

Personally, I think a 20 is too small for a breeding colony of auratuses. Further, those guys are so common, I have a hard time imagining you could make enough profit from breeding them to buy fish food, much less a new tank.

Sorry...

Jim

[ChilDawg]

That's a good point. To make any money with your 20, you would have to start a breeding colony of one of the rarer shell-dwellers.

[Andy16]

Who would you sell the fish to then??? would like a petco or my lfs buy them?

[ChilDawg]

That would be something to ask them...but I don't think that PetCo would buy them as they generally have relationships with larger distributors.

[Andy16]

I am taking this idea into consideration. I am going to my lfs tomorrow and i am going to ask the guy about it. I was thinking like somelamprologus ornatipinnis or signatus. I also saw thuis cute goby cichlid that i thought i might be able to try. It is called a tanganicodus irsacae. Lamprologus calliurus could also be a possibility. I would have to restart my 20 gallon tehn and get rid of all my fish. I guess it would pay off though because it will further educate me, now with tanganyikan species. I think it is time to move away from my mbuna and try something else. There is just too much to learn with only one 20 gallon. I have to convince my parents to get me another tank. I really love my mbuna but i need to try something else.

[ChilDawg]

Best of luck, then, with the sales pitch! :):):):):)

[Andy16]

lol thats probably not gonna happen but ill try. Ive never tryed to breed any thing yet so i dont know how it will go.