Over-stocking A Malawi Tank

[fry_lover]

TANK SIZE (water containing size) 48" long, 21" high and 20" depth, holds 300 litres / 67 gallon BEFORE adding Ocean Rock which i have a lot of, i reckon that will displace 10-15% of water maybe even 20%

Mbuna Cichlids, ranging from 2-5" mixture really, but all Mbuna,

in terms of "over-stocking" a Malawi tank i am not looking for some magical mathematic formula here, i know it doesnt exist, but how much do peeps generally over-stock, i am looking for peeps current experience and malawi set-ups,

I reckon about 2" per gallon kind of figures might be the "norm" so to speak, in terms of a general "over stock".

Assuming filtration and water changes are sufficient and ammonia and nitrite remain undetectable, in the past my average nitrate readings for cichlid tanks are about 50-60 mg/l

pH is 7.8 to 8.0 and water very hard

so, you malawi nuts, how over-stocked are your tanks if at all, also looking for cold hard figures here just so i can compare

Again, i know whats right for some body / some fish may not apply to me, not looking for a gaurentee, just some stuff to compare to!!!

 

[KhaosInc]

I'm still understocking... but then I've been stocking a 300 gallon tank and the measly 50 fish in that tank are a drop in the bucket in the overstocking catagory..

do you have the filtration to keep up with sich a thing. its one thing to cram to many fish in to a tank, its another thing to be able to handle the bioload. Personally, I have enough filtration (by manufactures specs anyway) for a tank 3 times that size on my 300.. (2 fx5's and a custom built filter)

 

[fry_lover]

I'm still understocking... but then I've been stocking a 300 gallon tank and the measly 50 fish in that tank are a drop in the bucket in the overstocking catagory..

do you have the filtration to keep up with sich a thing. its one thing to cram to many fish in to a tank, its another thing to be able to handle the bioload. Personally, I have enough filtration (by manufactures specs anyway) for a tank 3 times that size on my 300.. (2 fx5's and a custom built filter)

Eheim 2028 rated for 600 litre tank PLUS Eheim 2026 rated for... not sure LOL

enough filtration

It's more the Nitrate i am worried about

 

[adambrum]

I would say about 16 plus bottom fish max, your tank is bigger volume than the usual 50-55g most have but its the length which will really determine your stocking quantities.

I run my tank over this amount and i have paid the price but removing fish can cause as much trouble as adding fish when there adults.

 

[fry_lover]

I would say about 16 plus bottom fish max, your tank is bigger volume than the usual 50-55g most have but its the length which will really determine your stocking quantities.

I run my tank over this amount and i have paid the price but removing fish can cause as much trouble as adding fish when there adults.

16 fish altogether plus bottom feeders?

gosh, that wasn't my idea of a malawi set-up, seems quite low, although i guess it depends on species and size......

 

[LuckyCricketMafia]

The footprint is what really matters with these fish, I would say 12-15 fish would be a normal stocking. You could put more but it really depends on species and M : F ratios. I have never had any luck with over stocking.

 

[adambrum]

most species end up around the 5" mark so say you had 4 synos and 16 fish thats 100" of fish.

You can go higher than this but as a general rule a 48" tank takes about 12 fish plus bottom feeders this is normally 3 species with a ratio of 1m - 3f, this is tried and tested route to go and a good starting point for beginners. there are other ways to go ferris keeps an all male tank which is not for the faint hearted my tank had almost 30 fish in at one stage as i was planning on cutting back as they grew not a good way to go as now im facing some aggression problems 18 months down the line.

What species do you have in mind ?

 

[fry_lover]

The footprint is what really matters with these fish, I would say 12-15 fish would be a normal stocking. You could put more but it really depends on species and M : F ratios. I have never had any luck with over stocking.

do Malawi's leave footprints?

LOL - just kidding, but what IS a footprint?

okay, so 12-16 it looks like, remember this is a 300 litre (67 UK Gallons)

i know it depends on a load of variables, just never knew this size tank could only stock so few Malawi,

definitly would like to here form people who have Malawi set-ups and there currently stocking level and perhaps species list

 

[fry_lover]

most species end up around the 5" mark so say you had 4 synos and 16 fish thats 100" of fish.

You can go higher than this but as a general rule a 48" tank takes about 12 fish plus bottom feeders this is normally 3 species with a ratio of 1m - 3f, this is tried and tested route to go and a good starting point for beginners. there are other ways to go ferris keeps an all male tank which is not for the faint hearted my tank had almost 30 fish in at one stage as i was planning on cutting back as they grew not a good way to go as now im facing some aggression problems 18 months down the line.

What species do you have in mind ?

that sounds fair enough and is a clearer explanaition, cheers

well about 100" was what i had in mind, to be honest 100-120" (taking into account normal full grown size)

So without the Syno's, we would be talking 20-25x 5" fish i guess which is over and above what others think at the moment,

Species wise, i have some already and am basically re-doing and re-organising my set-ups

currently have

Yellow Labs
Greshaki
Acei
Chipokae
Trewavasae
Maylandia Pseudotropheus Zebra
Couple of Peacocks
Maylandia Lombardoi

i have more than one 300 litre tank at my disposal actually, i know the purists advocate not mixing mbuna and haps, but ihave been thus far without problems, also i am aware Pseudotropheus can be more aggressive, but havent had any issues as of yet

Quite a few of the above have room to grow, as some are only 1.5" to 2" so i am just trying to do some forward planning

 

[adambrum]

200L or 300L does not make much difference i have a afra which is one of the smaller species at 3" and when he is being a pain he will take 3 foot of tank and not let any other fish near him.

you will be able to go a bit higher because you can aqua scape better to break the line of sight between fish but dont forget in the wild a male fish can have an area of over 5 foot as his domain

 

[adambrum]

Yellow Labs ,ok but a bit boring
Greshaki , good choice
Acei ,great fish really need a longer tank but mine are fine in a 48"
Chipokae ,no no no and no, the most aggressive fish you can get
Trewavasae ,ok a bit on the large size
Maylandia Pseudotropheus Zebra ,great choice ( let me know if you want any i have f1 fry )
Couple of Peacocks ,cant really handle mbuna aggression
Maylandia Lombardoi ,dont know much about these

 

[fry_lover]

Yellow Labs ,ok but a bit boring
Greshaki , good choice
Acei ,great fish really need a longer tank but mine are fine in a 48"
Chipokae ,no no no and no, the most aggressive fish you can get
Trewavasae ,ok a bit on the large size
Maylandia Pseudotropheus Zebra ,great choice ( let me know if you want any i have f1 fry )
Couple of Peacocks ,cant really handle mbuna aggression
Maylandia Lombardoi ,dont know much about these

going to PM you mate

 

[dthoffsett]

Metriaclima Lombardoi (they've changed Maylandia to Metriclima) are also known as kenyi's, very aggressive fish.

If you are still interested in people's stocking levels:

Standard 75 US gallon
Around 130lbs of rock

6 labidochromis caeruleus
6 metriclima callainos
4 pseudotropheus acei
1 pseudotropheus crabro

That comes to right around 90" of fish. I'm planning on adding a couple more m.callainos eventually.

 

[fry_lover]

yes still interested thansks yours is about 90" for a 75 US Gallon, mine is 79 US Gallon and is going to be about 100" but a lot of the fish still have some growing to do, so i think i am going to sell some of the younger fish, other wise i would soon be up to 110-120"

 

[nukeonekitty]

You can't really do peacocks in that tank. I have a six footer and my peacock still gets picked on quite a bit. I just got rid of my chipokae after he killed 3 fish... Don't make that mistake! Feel free to PM me because I have a lot of the fish you plan to get.