Is there enough room in here

[Mr Meaty]

I have a 55 gallon, Inside I have 13 African Cichlids that range from 1" - 4" along with 4 small fry. They have been fine and very active, I ve had them in this tank for about a year. But is this really enough room for them?

[rbishop]

African Cichlids is a pretty all encompassing term. Not really enough info to make a call. Any ideas on exactly what you have? Can you post some pictures or compare them to some at an LFS to identify them?

Do they look like any of the ones you can see here...

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/

Will be glad to help. Any other questions?

[corykid]

I have a 55 gallon, Inside I have 13 African Cichlids that range from 1" - 4" along with 4 small fry. They have been fine and very active, I ve had them in this tank for about a year. But is this really enough room for them?


What kind of African cichlids are they??......other than that i would have to say that the tank is over crowded

Take a look at this and tell us what type they are:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=831

[Mr Meaty]

Ive got a 2 real dark blue with black vertical stripes that i think are dwarfs, I have a blue one almost identical to the one on the site you sent me who has given birth once, 1 plain sky blue, 2 electric yellow, one purple bodied with vertical black stripes and orange fins 2 medium size yellowish orange, one being dark yellow sometimes a dark stripe down the side, the other more orangeish yellow, with a weird color pattern, 1 peach (albino) medium size, 1 plain, almost brown, 2 orange 1 1/2 in. About 3-4 lbs. of display rock and 2 peices of driftwood. I have been researching , to try and find out what kind of fish exactly that i have but am having a lot of trouble doing so. I just got a digital camera to take pictures of them. But the **** serial cable that you use to connect your camera to your computer was missing so i cant post pictures right away, but soon.

[Mr Meaty]

I only see two types that I have from that web site they are the 2 electric yellow and 2 Demosani

[corykid]

KK if ya can get those pics that would be great! have u seen much aggression? when do ya do water changes? they like good water quality and with that many fish in one tank ur gunna have to keep up on ur water changes, if all of the above are good ya should be just fine.....but will probley wanna upgrade, or get another 55g or something later, and if u do start to see aggression u could lower the numbers by removing the fish that become overly aggressive

[Mr Meaty]

I started out with about 5 to begin with, about 3 weeks later I bought about 8 more so now have 13.Right after that I moved , and one died. I quickly replaced him, then I moved again and another one died. I replaced him too. As far as the aggression, yes, there was one particular fish the established his territory and would aloow NO fish to come to the right side of the tank.(he was also the biggest fish in the tank at the time) So I went out and bought one slightly bigger than the bully and the new fish put the bullying to an end. Not much aggression, but every once in while one might chase another for a min or two. To be quite honest, I dont do water changes very aften at all, although I did just get done with one about 30 minutes ago.

[corykid]

Well clearly it sounds like u have nothing to worry about right now, but most of ur fish will get bigger than 4" as i said if ya have any crowded problems u will have them sometime down the road

[Mr Meaty]

just found out what some of my fish are, 1 male chipokoa, albino zebra, and red top cobalt zebra, still trying to figure out waht my other ones are

[number1sixerfan]

It is ideal to overcrowd cichlids to tame aggression. Just make sure that you have over filtration and that you maintain at least two to three water changes a month.

[rbishop]

1-2 a week would be better.

[Mr Meaty]

So what is the exact purpose of so many water changes? Just wondering because I used to do a water change once every 3-4 months, and I've never had any problems with fich dying, cloudy water, sickness...nothing

[number1sixerfan]

1-2 a week would be better.

Yup I agree, thats what I do. It just sounds like he does then hardly once a month now, so that may be an unrealistic number for him. Either way good luck with your tank.

[rosita]

The exact purpose of water changes is to replace polluted water (fish wastes, decaying plant matter, leftover food) with clean water. This is probably the most critical aspect of tank maintenance, in my opinion--and that is based upon those who have kept fish for years.
Doing often and regular changes reduces stress on fish, disease, ailments, and makes them darn awfully happy!!! Even with frequent water changes my fish swim about as if I'd just dosed them with happy water. Generally, the more frequent, the less water changed out, but I"m sure there will be other opinions.

[DeRo316]

In my 55 I have 12 africans and 1 pleco. Some of the fish are juvies so they arent fully grown out but I dont have any aggression problems, I also have all males. If I were you just stay where you are and dont get any more. I would definitely up your water changes to AT LEAST once per week, I do them once every 5 days. From testing my water thats how long it takes the nitrates get above 10-15. Your fish will live longer and be happier because of it! + instead of waiting for something bad to happen, take the preventative measure!

[JulieC]

If you don't change the water enough, you may not see any ill effects now.

But down the line as the tank gets dirtier and dirtier, your fish will start contracting illnesses related to a dirty tank.

Popeye is a common problem for demasonis kept in a dirty tank. Popeye, if allowed to get worse (by not cleaning the tank frequently enough), can cause the eye to rupture and come off leaving the fish with only one eye.

Hole in the head is another common illness seen in fish kept in dirty conditions. If your fish gets hole in the head, there is no cure. You can only maintain the illness by keeping the tank really clean. There are several more illnesses that I will not list.

Anyway you look at it if your tank is dirty, your fish will get sick. Its just a matter of when.