# 1 year old 90 gallons mbuna cichlids



## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

unfortunately i need to say goodbye to some fishes. is to many in 90 gallons but they looks amazing .


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Pretty! I think I see some Victorians in there?


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

yes. i have 5 Astatotilapia latifasciata inside


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## RandyS (Feb 6, 2015)

How many do you have in there? What issues are you having with the quantity?


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

i have like 35. filtration is good. Fluval fx6 and i change water every 5 days 40%. water is crystal clear. but i think they are to many. I don't know if they love that or not.


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## BugHunter87 (Mar 19, 2015)

That's not too many. I'd actually add a few more if I were you! I'm a fan of overstocking if you can handle the maintenance.


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## Butch Cooper (Jul 4, 2015)

In my opinion thats not to many at all, the tank looks great, so long as your doing your water changes you shouldnt have any problems, the FX6 should be doing its job nicely on that tank.
Worse ways worse, at least wait another 12 months and see how big they get before you make any rash moves? god job, great tank.


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

thank you all . i will keep all my cichlids . water is crystal clear and i did some water tests , everything is perfect only the nitrate is like 40-80 i think that is because i have to many fishes.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd keep the nitrates between 10ppm and 20ppm.


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## RandyS (Feb 6, 2015)

Speaking of which, man, I have a hard time telling the difference between 10 and 20 on the color chart. Anything over 5 looks like the same color to me, at least until it starts turning reddish at 40. I'm I alone here?


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

DJRansome said:


> I'd keep the nitrates between 10ppm and 20ppm.


in 90 gallon is very hard with so many adults fish to keep it 10-20. Al my fishes are super healthy .


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

RandyS said:


> Speaking of which, man, I have a hard time telling the difference between 10 and 20 on the color chart. Anything over 5 looks like the same color to me, at least until it starts turning reddish at 40. I'm I alone here?


you have right. even between 40-80 is almost the same red


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

So keeping the nitrates down contributes being super-healthy and an argument for reducing your numbers. I find 40-80 hard to distinguish, but 10-20 are easy enough for me.


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

Yeah when I am looking at the color there really is only 4 colors that I can be certain are different _ 0-10, 10-20, 40-80, and 80+...I find that if I know which of those buckets my tank is in then that is good enough.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

The API chart is a bit tough to read, I agree.

Something to try is performing a 50% WC, followed by another 50% WC the next day. Test nitrate. Keep doing these water changes until you get thet 5-10 ppm reading. Then monitor nitrate each day to see how quickly it raises. Perhaps pushing your water change up a day(to every 4 days) and increasing the amount to 50% will get you where you want to be and avoid that rise to 80ppm. If that's too much work, maybe ditch the M. Estherae which will help in overall bioload.

Beautiful tank! Love the natural layout of the rockwork and background. Awesome job...


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## cengherbogdan (Oct 2, 2013)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> The API chart is a bit tough to read, I agree.
> 
> Something to try is performing a 50% WC, followed by another 50% WC the next day. Test nitrate. Keep doing these water changes until you get thet 5-10 ppm reading. Then monitor nitrate each day to see how quickly it raises. Perhaps pushing your water change up a day(to every 4 days) and increasing the amount to 50% will get you where you want to be and avoid that rise to 80ppm. If that's too much work, maybe ditch the M. Estherae which will help in overall bioload.
> 
> Beautiful tank! Love the natural layout of the rockwork and background. Awesome job...


I will start today with 50% WC to see how it works.
thank you


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