# .5,1 or 2 inches per gallon on A.C`s



## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

I know that on average there are 18 to 22 african Cichlids per square meter in the areas they habitate in Africa....So i believe you can run 2 inches of grown african cichlids per gallon of a tank!!!! I would even say three if you run a 300 gallon or more................
But thats just me... :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## AZcichlidfreak (Nov 16, 2010)

The 1 inch per gallon rule doesn't even work for Africans, let alone telling people they can have 2 or 3 inches of fish per gallon. 
Using what you are saying in a 300 Gallon tank someone could have 60 fully mature 15" Frontosa!!!??? 
Or even in a smaller tank such as a 29G your statement suggest that you could have 10-12 mature 4-6" Mbuna.


> I know that on average there are 18 to 22 african Cichlids per square meter in the areas they habitate in Africa


This isn't true for all Africans and think about the amount of the Lakes that they don't inhabit that is just empty water that is circulated throughout the areas that are inhabitated. You are attempting to compare a fish tank that might be a couple hundred gallons compared to lakes that contain Billions upon Billions of gallons of water. It just isn't possible.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

DudeDelMar said:


> I know that on average there are 18 to 22 african Cichlids per square meter in the areas they habitate in Africa....


99.9% of the time, statistics lie.

When one looks at a reef in Lake Malawi and freeze frames a section, sure... there could be 18 to 22 per square meter. However, reality is reality and there are no walls preventing any one of those fish from swimming a couple of meters to get away from some overly aggressive fish. Couple this with the currents, upswells and rains and the volume of water above the reef that is basically unoccupied and you have a huge environment for any one given fish. Study fish in the wild... then come back and tell us that you can squeeze 18 to 22 into a 1 meter square aquarium because you "know" that they don't swim past those imaginary walls. :lol:


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Number6 said:


> Study fish in the wild... then come back and tell us that you can squeeze 18 to 22 into a 1 meter square aquarium because you "know" that they don't swim past those imaginary walls. :lol:


LMAO!


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## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

Sweet, Great insight! Keep em coming ......... Read Lake Malawi Cichlids by Mark Smith


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

DudeDelMar said:


> Read Lake Malawi Cichlids by Mark Smith


I have.... there was nothing real nor implied in that book to say that Malawi cichlids behave like trees! :wink:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The photos and videos I have seen may have that concentration in an area near a particular reef, but it does not appear to be consistent throughout every square inch of the lake...there are some sparse-fish areas.

So I guess as long as you can also include a fish-free zone 10X the size of the concentrated-fish zone in your tank it could work. :thumb:


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## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

Ok I do not believe you can run 3 per gallon I run 1.5 per gallon........ opcorn:

110 mixed malawi
83 mixed malawi
55 albino oscar Jd
55 2 jd gt
60 tiger oscar,gt
35 cory cats
35 two Red Devil fry
20 hospital
10 fry
5 just in case


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

DudeDelMar said:


> 1.5 per gallon.


16 5" mbuna in a 55 gal. or 31 6" mbuna in a 125 gal.? Maybe. You'd certainly have to change a fair amount of water to maintain good water quality. I doubt you would really need that many to disperse aggression in an mbuna tank.

There really is no comparison between a small glass cage and a humungus lake, in the wild. First of all, fish don't have to make their own living in captivity... we feed them. Major, major distinction. The limits on overcrowding in captivity are aggression, water quality and the quality of life for the inhabitants. 
But really, I'd be very suprised if the inches or weight of fish per gallon in lake malawi was anywhere near what it is in an aquarium. Your comparing billions apon billions of gallons (maybe trillions?) to drop in a bucket. I'd be inclined to think, if you were to stock a 55 gallon tank at the same inches or weight of fish per gallon as lake malawi, that you wouldn't be able to stock anything more then 1 fry.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

DudeDelMar said:


> 18 to 22 african Cichlids per square meter in the areas they habitate in Africa....


A square metre is an area, not a volume. Not too sure how you could convert that to gallons :-? ...but I supose it does relate to foot print of a tank.

A square metre is 10.5 square feet. A standard 125 gallon is 9 sqaure feet. Using this 22 african cichlids per sqaure metre, and assuming your talking about 6" mature mbuna, that equals 12.5" per sqaure foot. That's 19 6" mature mbuna in a 125 gallon tank; that's less then 1" per gallon.  Though I really think inches per gallon, are really a useless and irrelavant way to figure out the stalking of any tank.


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## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

Well as my cichlids reach 4 to 5 inches I sell them....... got a mating pair of bees a mating pair of electrics and a mating pair of blood dragon..... Holla if in Regina


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

DudeDelMar said:


> Well as my cichlids reach 4 to 5 inches I sell them....... got a mating pair of bees a mating pair of electrics and a mating pair of blood dragon..... Holla if in Regina


There is no such thing as "mating pairs" of most mouthbrooding cichlids, specifically Malawian cichlids.


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## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

they are a pair that have mated! = mating pair......................

they have done it more than once each pair, i would go on a limb and say that their are mating pairs in aquariums......................... :thumb: opcorn:


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## DudeDelMar (Mar 3, 2011)

However I am not an admin on cichlid form. I just work in W&F.... I would agree about cichlids in the wild or multiple common spieces in a tank.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

DudeDelMar said:


> they are a pair that have mated! = mating pair......................
> 
> they have done it more than once each pair, i would go on a limb and say that their are mating pairs in aquariums......................... :thumb: opcorn:


It comes down to marketing... sure, the fish have bred. But Malawian cichlids are not pair bonding fish, and that is what the term suggests, so other than being two fish, they aren't a pair in the sense people think. In the wild, it would be a chance meeting, then the fish might not see each other again.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> they are a pair that have mated! = mating pair......................


Saying you have 'two that have spawned' would be a more clear description. If you keep referring to mating pairs of malawi's, you'll just give people the idea that you're not knowledgable about the fish. I'm not saying that you're not, just telling you how it comes across.


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