Opinion Poll - Number of Fish

Hello all, I am new to this forum, but not new to fishkeeping. I have had fish tanks in the past, but never a cichlid tank. I have been researching/reading for over a month now...I have always been slow on pulling the trigger on something, and this is no exception. I pretty much have decided on a 75 gallon tank 48X18. But I can find no DEFINITIVE info on how many fish to keep, in ANY size tank. I realize that this depends on a lot of different factors, such as their eventual length, etc. So, I ask a generic poll question based on a 75 gallon tank, only Malawi with a MAX length of 5"...what is the most I can put in there safely? Any thoughts would be appreciated, although just a vote would be a big help if you don't feel like typing anything.

Of course there are exceptions because as you state, it depends. If you said auratus the number would be different for example.

Oh and that is for a mixed-gender tank with 1m:4f of four species, no look alikes and no duplicates on genus.

An all-male tank would be different.

I don't think that this question can be answered as asked... I mean, 2 male kenyi in a 75g tank would still be a massive problem no matter the number of tank mates...

Number6 said:

I don't think that this question can be answered as asked... I mean, 2 male kenyi in a 75g tank would still be a massive problem no matter the number of tank mates...

Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying. I was trying to be very generic. Perhaps a better way of asking would have been this...

Assuming all relevant behavior concerns are addressed, what is the max number possible in a 75 gallon tank? And I was asking about a mixed tank with both male and female.

Well, personally I can mix a good 2 dozen into a 75g tank... I can't recommend it though... my usual advice for a first timer is to pick 3 species (as different as you can) of the medium level aggression cichlids and get 6 of each... so that puts my usual advice at 18
See why you can't get a "definitive" answer? :lol:
:thumb: good to see someone doing their research!

Somewhere between 18-20 seems like a good answer to me. 8)