Overcrowding Americans

[Chet]

Check out this guys tanks and fish. What does everyone think about housing Americans like this?

http://arofanatics.com/members/dovii/mycichlids/

Does overcrowding Americans really work and can you have such a community tank in the long-run?


Check out the Manaconda. I'm not real big on hybrids, but that's a beautiful fish.

[Rudy]

If you look at this guys tank. It has basically no decorations and no territory. Crowding americans works as they do it in the pet store all them time for short periods of time. It is not fair to do for life. Personally disagree with it as americans are very territorial by nature and need more. If there is no territory there are less disputes. It is different then overcrowding africans. They are overcrowded in the lakes that is how they live. Concept is the same, but circumstances are completely different.

[Rex Karr]

It works, but that guy has to many in some of his tanks. You have to be knowledgeable with the cichlids you intend to keep and have some experiance to pull it off. I prefer to call it a Community tank rather than a controlled overcrowded tank because, if done right, it is more of a community tank than just an "overcrowded tank". I have a Striped Labiatus in a 125g with several other cichlids and I plan on adding more to even out the aggression. Under normal circumstances you are limited to only keeping the single Red Devil in this tank. To do it right you should allow 15-20g per cichlid. This usually gives them PLENTY of swimming room and minimizes aggression. The tank in that article only gives around 6g per cichlid. It is hard to explain how to do it. But I'm writing an article right now on how to do it right. When I finish I will post it.

Some basics are:

#1. Don't try to keep any "Midas Complex" fish in tanks under 125

#2. Try keep mostly peaceful fish and small to medium cichlids (Vieja, Herichthys, Thorichthys, Astatheros, Heros, ect.)

#3. Decorate with larger rocks, drift wood, and fake plants, but keep as much space open as possible

#4. Don't let any aggressive fish breed

#5. Feed the fish well and keep the temp. on the low side

#6. You can't introduce a 13" Midas into a community tank and expect everything to be ok (the same goes for any real aggressive cichlid)


When you do it right, the fish look like they actually enjoy each others company. Rather than the tank in the pic where the fish look packed like sardines and would rather have the tank to themselves.

[Chet]

Yeah, those fish do look way overcrowded, but on the other hand it would be nice to be able to keep more than one fish in a tank. I am very much looking forward to your article Rex. It should be very informative. In theory I guess you are trying to have enough space that the water isn't constantly fouled and the fish have room to swim, while having enough fish that no one can really establish a territory. I guess then it really comes down to it, all you can do is experiment with different mixes of fish until you get it right.

[Chet]

Actually, this tank brings up another valid question. I thought you were not to mix conspecifics, particularly with aggressive cichlids? Yet, he has mixed several Amphilophus and Vieja species. What the forum's feeling in this regard?

My first fear would of course be breeding between two closely related fish, resulting in hybrid fry, and more aggression in the tank. Neither of which would be positive.

In general aren't cichlids more aggressive towards there own species or similar species?