How many Africans is safe to add?

[MemphisEcho]

I have a 75 gallon tank that I think is done cycling. How many Lake Malawi can I add at first? I was going to buy the small ones, not the large ones.

 

[parker313]

Did you do fish-in or fishless cycling?

 

[MemphisEcho]

fishless cycling. There are no fish in there now.

 

[semper fi]

you want to add fish toa newly cycled tank slowly. this allows the bacteria to multiply to be able to handle the load produced by the fish. adding a large amount of fish at one time, can overwhelm the newly established bacteria.

what size is the tank and what are you thinking of adding? i would add one or two females first to let them get their hiding spots established and then add the males.

 

[MemphisEcho]

I have a 75 gallon tank that I think is done cycling. How many Lake Malawi can I add at first? I was going to buy the small ones, not the large ones.

I have it set up for mbuna. I also have a male red zebra but I'm going to add him much later because he killed all of the fish in the 20 gallon. He is also a bit bigger than most of the red zebras I've seen in the fish stores.

 

[Snowie]

Sorry to make it harder for you but one problem when adding cichlids is that they are territorial. If you add some fish later there won't be any territory for them and the already established fish will attack them.

 

[MemphisEcho]

I know but I'm afriad if I add the red zebra in with the new fish, because of his size he is going to kill all of my new ones. He may have to stay in the 20 gallon, he just seems lonely by himself.

 

[freddyk]

The whole idea of a fishless cycle is to have enough bacteria to support the fish. If you ran your fishless cycle at 5ppm then the tank should be able to handle a fair load of fish at once. Adding fish later won't be a problem as long as you add them in numbers. Adding them in the evening after the lights are off helps too.

 

[TheeMon]

you know if you move stuff around in your tank AFTER the fish are allrdy settled and when you add your red zebra then they will all find new territories...

 

[Angry_Platy]

I have small mbuna ATM...i.e. EYs and blue dolphins...all were added separately...I had no issues with territory....they pick on each other but only playfully....

 

[Oddball]

Yeah but wouldn't moving the decor about when adding new fish increase the stress on them and also promote aggression in the resident fish as they scramble for a new home?

 

[MemphisEcho]

I thought it was best to give my red zebra to my fish store, he was outgrowing my 20 gallon and I knew if I put him in the 75 gallon he would kill my little ones. I hope he finds a good home with other fish buddies. I'm starting a fishless cycle on my 20 gallon now and trying to decide what to put in it. I want to go more community fish.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Yeah but wouldn't moving the decor about when adding new fish increase the stress on them and also promote aggression in the resident fish as they scramble for a new home?

as you have moved the decor about, there will be no territory boundaries to defend and therefore not much stress trying to defend their "patch" from the invading newcomers.

if you leave the decor where it was, the boundaries will be there to defend, and defended they will be, often to the point where the newcomers are killed, and there wil be a hell of a lot of stress for all the fish in the tank.

 

[jordan barnhart]

Your 20 gallon wasn't cycled already?

 

[MemphisEcho]

I took it down and cleaned it all out when I traded my red zebra in. I wanted a different set up.