[Plasmaball]

So i was at my lfs and the guy said i should have around 40 cichlids in my 55 gallon tank.
Another guy who works there said around 17.
The first guy said ask people on the boards to maybe get a rounded number as to what i should have in the tank. He warned me that soon they would start killing each other off.

Right now i have 16 in the 55 and one in the sick tank. My largest fish is around 41/2 inches.

suggestions?

 

[under_control]

Species?

filtration?

layout? rocks? plants?

Is your tank cycled?

Lots of things come into play here.

 

[DJRansome]

What species of fish? I'd go with the 15 (5 each of 3 species) end of things if the fish are "full size" when mature. And if one species is dwarf like Demasoni, then I might go closer to 25 with 15 Demasoni and 5 and 5 of something else.

 

[Fogelhund]

Aquarium dimensions are critical too.

 

[under_control]

Aquarium dimensions are critical too.

I've never seen any other variety of 55g tank than standard... 7.5 inches long, 12 inches wide and 19" high (all inside dimensions)

 

[Nutty4Mbunas]

Im sorry I cant help myself...you did mean 75 inches long right?..otherwise that is a weird configuration of a 55g. :lol: I have measured my 55g a lot lately since I had to move it and making sure that is not near any windows etc. I dont have that kind of space in my little house.
:fish:

 

[gaqua]

Im sorry I cant help myself...you did mean 75 inches long right?..otherwise that is a weird configuration of a 55g. :lol: I have measured my 55g a lot lately since I had to move it and making sure that is not near any windows etc. I dont have that kind of space in my little house.
:fish:

47.5 inches long, not 7.5....

75 inches long is like over 6 feet, that's 120G+ territory.

Though I suppose you could do a 6 foot by 6" by 6" tank and just load it with Afra or something.

 

[Fogelhund]

Aquarium dimensions are critical too.

I've never seen any other variety of 55g tank than standard... 7.5 inches long, 12 inches wide and 19" high (all inside dimensions)

There are 36" long 55's. 55 gallon Hex, 55 gallon hex back, and the standard ~ 48" long.

You are correct that the ~ 48" is the most common, by far, but being precise is far better than assuming it is a standard 55, when it turns out to be a Hex, or something out of the ordinary.

 

[CHK]

Unless you are talking about 1-2" juveniles, 40 mbuna in a 55g is hard to achieve. I have 20 or so in my 55 and the average length is about 2.5 - 3" and I am already having aggression issues with a male who wants half the tank.

 

[why_spyder]

I've had more than 40 in a 55 - size ranging from 1.5" - 3". Aggression was a non-issue - water parameters were though. I was doing waterchanges every 2-3 days to keep the water clean.

 

[Plasmaball]

Its a regular 55 with Mbuna in it.
like i said my largest ( a Red top) is 4 1/2 inches, and they go down from there.
Smallest being ( an acei) at 1 1/2 inches.

I have a fluval internal filter.
Yes the tank is cycled.

Layout-Sand with lave rocks on one side of the tank. They all seem to poop on the left side, so i keep that empty of any rocks. Easy clean up.
No plants

 

[under_control]

WIth the fluval internal filter, I'd say you could have 10-15. Max. That filter isn't capable of doing what you need it to do to overstock a tank like this.

 

[Gibbs]

We really need your entire fish list to give you good advice on what to do, you should also think about the long term, for example that Acei which is the smallest at the moment will eventually be the largest, they also are best in groups of 5 so there is already 5 fish there.
Without knowing what your fish are but knowing that you already have 16 i would say stop there. The fact that your filtration isn't the best doesn't help the matter either

 

[BrianNFlint]

A complete fish list is absolutely necessarly for us to help you.

You need more filtration.. ALOT more filtration. How much rock is in the tank? How is it arranged? How big are the lava rocks? pics would be better.

If you have a group of Red Tops and a group of Acei you dont have a lot of room left as both of these species get quite large.