Sickeningly overstocked...

[PheonixKingZ]

This is ridiculous: https://lexington.craigslist.org/hsh/d/science-hill-220-gallon-fish-tank/7292974241.html

 

[Colin_T]

A lot of people keep Lake Malawi cichlids like that, especially Mbuna cichlids. It spreads the aggression around so the weaker fish don't get bashed. They usually have a heap of rock in their too. The seller might have remove the rock so people could see the fish.

 

[itiwhetu]

not unusual, not what I would do. But it looks staged to to me as @Colin_T says

 

[Guyb93]

Yeah as above , I joined a cichlids owners group about 6months ago and keeping south American cichlids I was shocked at how densely populated African tanks actually keep aggression down

 

[itiwhetu]

Cichlids are Cichlids I only managed this because I had an out plan. Another tank if things
turned nasty.

Severums having fun

This is mum dad and the kids. This was a 250 liter tank the Severums spawned multiple times and always managed to raise a few. When I sold the set up there were 30 Severums plus the two Jewel Cichlids you can see in the photo.

www.fishforums.net

 

[Guyb93]

Cichlids are Cichlids I only managed this because I had an out plan. Another tank if things
turned nasty.

Severums having fun

This is mum dad and the kids. This was a 250 liter tank the Severums spawned multiple times and always managed to raise a few. When I sold the set up there were 30 Severums plus the two Jewel Cichlids you can see in the photo.

www.fishforums.net

Cool thread , iv often wondered about mass stocking a single cichlid as I’m in a similar situation with my electric blue acara, I currently have the two parents 12 1 inch 10week old of theres and the are currently keeping around 7 of there last batch , I only let them keep them now because it delays there next spawn but do they know they are there children so in effect co existing? Sound daft I know

 

[itiwhetu]

Cool thread , iv often wondered about mass stocking a single cichlid as I’m in a similar situation with my electric blue acara, I currently have the two parents 12 1 inch 10week old of theres and the are currently keeping around 7 of there last batch , I only let them keep them now because it delays there next spawn but do they know they are there children so in effect co existing? Sound daft I know

They will spawn again when they are ready. Interestingly the young never seem to pair up, Mum and Dad keep spawning but the young don't ???.

 

[Guyb93]

They will spawn again when they are ready. Interestingly the young never seem to pair up, Mum and Dad keep spawning but the young don't ???.

That’s interesting I haven’t got that far in keeping them to maturity, see my electric blue acara they can spawn and keep 80% alive for weeks then they will slip and eat most of them and keep a few to protect but if I took these few now and put them in a separate tank by the morning they will have laid a fresh batch of eggs they are a joke lol

 

[itiwhetu]

That’s interesting I haven’t got that far in keeping them to maturity, see my electric blue acara they can spawn and keep 80% alive for weeks then they will slip and eat most of them and keep a few to protect but if I took these few now and put them in a separate tank by the morning they will have laid a fresh batch of eggs they are a joke lol

Just leave the young in there and see what happens. I love community spawning. It is great seeing multiple generations together in a tank. That is what I think is the most satisfying thing about fish keeping. Look at this

Silver dollars and their young

So you have a better idea of who I am I thought I would share this with you. After breeding fish for many years commercially I decided that the true test of a community system (furnished aquarium) was if the fish would breed and raise their young. This silver dollar picture shows the parents and...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Guyb93]

Just leave the young in there and see what happens. I love community spawning. It is great seeing multiple generations together in a tank. That is what I think is the most satisfying thing about fish keeping. Look at this

Silver dollars and their young

So you have a better idea of who I am I thought I would share this with you. After breeding fish for many years commercially I decided that the true test of a community system (furnished aquarium) was if the fish would breed and raise their young. This silver dollar picture shows the parents and...

www.fishforums.net

I wanted to get some silver dollars red hooks after that Oscar are mine , I’m interested in piranha and think they might be the closest relation I could make work. , when you start a community breeding tank , will you only ever have one successful pair or have you managed to breed different fish in the same tank for example I have a pair of keyhole cichlids in my tank with the acara and others and I’m almost certain they have paired even with spawning but will the more dominant eba pair stop them from breeding ... could you keep multiple breeding pairs of cichlids successfully in the same tank

 

[itiwhetu]

I wanted to get some silver dollars red hooks after that Oscar are mine , I’m interested in piranha and think they might be the closest relation I could make work. , when you start a community breeding tank , will you only ever have one successful pair or have you managed to breed different fish in the same tank for example I have a pair of keyhole cichlids in my tank with the acara and others and I’m almost certain they have paired even with spawning but will the more dominant eba pair stop them from breeding ... could you keep multiple breeding pairs of cichlids successfully in the same tank

With Cichlids it is touchy. Other fish not so bad. I had the Silver Dollars breeding with Sterbii cats and green emerald cats. I had another tank with Clown killifish spawning with pygmy cats. I had a tank with whiptail catfish spawning with Black Phantom tetras over them. The Cichlid thing is difficult, I have only breed multiple Cichlids with Africans, Electric yellow and Blues together it was really cool as the young are so cute and having a school of each was neat to watch.

 

[Guyb93]

With Cichlids it is touchy. Other fish not so bad. I had the Silver Dollars breeding with Sterbii cats and green emerald cats. I had another tank with Clown killifish spawning with pygmy cats. I had a tank with whiptail catfish spawning with Black Phantom tetras over them. The Cichlid thing is difficult, I have only breed multiple Cichlids with Africans, Electric yellow and Blues together it was really cool as the young are so cute and having a school of each was neat to watch.

Thanks for the info , I’m assuming success with Africans is because of the mouth brooding? I didn’t think multiple territorial egg layers would work out

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks for the info , I’m assuming success with Africans is because of the mouth brooding? I didn’t think multiple territorial egg layers would work out

More importantly just think of tank layout. Make rooms for your Cichlids so each pair has an area in the tank they can call their own. Put up rock walls dividing the tank so the fish see their territories. And then they will feel safe in their own areas of the tank.

 

[madmark285]

More importantly just think of tank layout. Make rooms for your Cichlids so each pair has an area in the tank they can call their own. Put up rock walls dividing the tank so the fish see their territories. And then they will feel safe in their own areas of the tank.

I have been working on some ideas for a Mbuna tank ie: create condos for all the Mbuna in the tank. But this may be a failure as their aggressive behavior may start once they have their own condo ie: a space to defend.

This is the concept of overstocked tanks with a decorative pile of rocks in it, none of the Mbuna have a condo of their own to defend, just mindless fish swimming back and forth ie: the screensaver tank. Not being critical of this, it is a massive display of color but not for me.

Note: I am not an expert, just passing along feedback from others.

 

[P J]

It is a lot of fish, I have kept African cichlids for many years maybe at about half this stocking level, keep filtration levels at four times normal with a nice sandy bottom, plenty of rocks and enjoy them make breeding excavations and carry young in their mouths, fascinating fish. PJ