# 55 gal. Max stocking?



## JPA (Apr 28, 2010)

I have a general question about stocking a 55 gal all Mbuna. Basically I am over filtering 10x over. Every fish in the tank would be 4-6" max. My wife is saying 1 inch of fish per gal of h2o, but I thought that wasn't the same if you are over stocking africans. Other wise thats a good rule of thumb. Second, she is saying that with all of our rock work, we have water displacement and we don't even actually have 55 gal of h20 in there anymore. To make a long story short, is 24 fish in there too many? I really keep up on my maintenance of this tank. Its crystal clear. My water parameters are always in spec, and the fish are happy and healthy. Any input would be great.


----------



## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

In my opinion, 24 adult 4-6" fish is too many for a 55 gallon. If you had some fish from dwarf species that max out at 3", then it would be possible.

The 1 inch per gallon rule doesn't apply to mbuna because they measure their territory by floorspace, not gallons. That's why a 40 gallon long tank (48" X 12" x 16") can house more mbuna than one of those tall hexagonal tanks which might be 70 gallons or more.

Lastly, I know you didn't ask about the species in your stocklist, but I took a look at your stocklist in the "my tanks" section. Far more important than the sheer number of mbuna that can coexist in any given tank are the identity of the species and their gender ratios.

Furthermore, big problems can arise when you try and keep 7 different species in a 55 gallon tank and 2 or 3 of your aggressive males want to breed at the same time. That leaves the upper corners of the tank left as territory for your remaining 20 fish. Those kinds of conditions lead to stress and illness, regardless of how clean your water is.


----------



## JPA (Apr 28, 2010)

good detective work Kanorin. I am trying to weed out the tank as we speak, being that I didn't put all of those fish in there. Now I am trying to correct the problem, as I stated in my "my tanks" section. All I wanted to know, is what would the max number of fish be (in whoevers opinion) for a standard 55 gal. all mbuna tank. With each fishes adult size of 4-6". Im trying to be as specific as I can. I want whats best for the fish, thats why I am correcting the problems while they are still juvies. If I didn't know any better, then I would just leave them be.


----------



## srook23 (Feb 21, 2009)

24 fish in a 55g is way too many IMO. I had all males in a 55g at one time and the max I kept was about 15. In my 120g tank I only have 28 so 24 in a 55g sounds a bit much to me.


----------



## JPA (Apr 28, 2010)

Thats what I thought as well. We currently don't have that many in there but my wife just wanted to know for sure. I wasn't 100% positive so I figured I'd ask the experts. We are shooting for 15 as well. This is my plan so far. I'm trying to weed out everyone and end up with, Labidochromis caeruleus, Melanochromis johannii, and Metriaclima lombardoi. I am going to do a Male to female ratio of 1:4.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Johannii and Lombardoi are exceptions for stocking in a 55G because they are more aggressive than the average mbuna. You might want to shoot for a 75G minimum for them and stock 1m:7f to spread aggressive.


----------



## Sosay (Mar 18, 2015)

Johannis and Lombardoi are both knuckleheads who constantly are starting trouble . If you want to keep more fish in your 55g , then I would consider going with different species. But to answer youre question :If you had a relatively chill group of Mbuna in there I'd say 18-20 tops


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My "recipe" for 55G is 3 species with 1m:4f of each so 15 fish.

Look for peaceful species. The total number might go higher if one of the species is demasoni, but 15 is a good guideline.


----------

