# Pics as requested. 55 gallon 78 fish.



## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

I am new to these forums... This tank has been up for about a year. Was asking equipment questions on another thread and people wanted pics of my setup. Here are a few. Not having any luck with decent pictures... will try to add a short video tomorrow. There is so much action in the tank that my camera has trouble focusing.

I just did a full inventory, and counting all of the fish, there are 78 total. Of that 78, there are 5 Great Danios, 2 Mud Minnows (pulled from the local river), 1 plecostomus, 1 South American Red Belly (aka Wally), and 69 african cichlids. Of the Africans, the biggest cichlid at the moment is a Male bumble bee at 6". 15 of them are about 5 inches. 30 of them are 4 inches, 15 are between 3 and 4 inches, 8 of them are less then 3 inches.

The basics..

55 gallon tank. 
aqueon 55/75 Hob filter.
aquaclear 110 Hob filter. (running just the sponge and about 4 times the recommended biomax. 
aqueon 950 gph circulation pump
substrate is cichlid sand and cocina shells from local beach. 
salt as needed.
cichlid salt kept at 100% of recomended
50% water change weekly.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

That is a crowded tank! You must have a good water quality regimen or the fish would die. The crowded tank help keep aggression down. Most would consider this quantity over quality.

While most are Malawi cichlids, you have at least 2 American cichlids (Firemouth, some sort of Geophagus type) and two West African Riverine species (Jewel Fish, Kribensis)


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## jaymore1 (Dec 18, 2010)

U have had all these fish in this tank for a yr now?


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

noki said:


> That is a crowded tank! You must have a good water quality regimen or the fish would die. The crowded tank help keep aggression down. Most would consider this quantity over quality.
> 
> While most are Malawi cichlids, you have at least 2 American cichlids (Firemouth, some sort of Geophagus type) and two West African Riverine species (Jewel Fish, Kribensis)


Thanks noki. I understand the point of view of quantity over quality by looking at these pics... I believe you might think differently if you saw the tank in person. I can't believe how hard it is to video the tank!

Yes, the firemouth (red belly is what they are called here) is South American. The other one you mentioned I have yet to identify... The 2 jewels have given me zero issues so far. Everything else in the tank should be Malawi (except the ones previously mentioned... 5 giant danio, 2 mud minnow, and plecostomus.

Probably 80% of the fish have been in the tank for a year... Obviously there are some new additions. The only aggression I get is when adding new fish... the new fish will usually get beaten up a little, but survive probably 90% of the time.... even one inchers.

Here is a video that might help give a better representation. They are acting spooked in the picture because I turned off all the filters and circulation pump to help me focus. Trust me when I tell you that this cell phone video looks like **** compared to what it looks like in person.






Mods - I don't know how to show video correctly without link to youtube... please help.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

"Red Belly" is a new name to me. The "Firemouth" is from Central America anyway.

On the still capture on Youtube picture above, a South American cichlid with the big black spot on the side is right above the "1:48"

While the fish are active and the tank has a lot of color... eventually the fish will grow slowly or the fish will start dying, the water can only support only so much biomass. I would think of doing water changes now 3-4 times a week.


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

noki said:


> "Red Belly" is a new name to me. The "Firemouth" is from Central America anyway.
> 
> On the still capture on Youtube picture above, a South American cichlid with the big black spot on the side is right above the "1:48"
> 
> While the fish are active and the tank has a lot of color... eventually the fish will grow slowly or the fish will start dying, the water can only support only so much biomass. I would think of doing water changes now 3-4 times a week.


yes, the cichlid you are pointing out with a spot on its side... that is the one I haven't been able to identify. Whatever it is, he is perfectly happy in the tank.

The fish are all growing at a normal steady pace. There may be a day when one of the fish outgrows this tank, but that appears to be no time soon. The circulation pump (that we call the treadmill) provides plenty of swimming opportunity for the bigger fish, who all use it.

The Bio load isn't a problem... I am doing 50% water change once per week... and even right before water changes day I don't get over 40ppm. I have 4 times the normal amount of Biomax in my Aquaclear 110... plus the cocina shell substrate is all basically a biomax of its own. One of the keys is to NEVER overfeed.

I have over $1,500 worth of fish in this tank. I won't hesitate to upgrade tank size when I determine it necessary. That wont be any time soon by the looks of things.


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## cich2it (Jul 23, 2012)

Wow...I feel claustrophobic already.  ...I'm curious what the mods would say.. The fish look great though.
If I had the money I would give it to you to get a bigger tank LOL

I guess you will NEVER see fry in that tank.. :fish:


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

Looks like rush hour on the freeway.


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## ITALIAN926 (Jul 31, 2012)

cich2it said:


> Wow...I feel claustrophobic already.  ...I'm curious what the mods would say.. The fish look great though.
> If I had the money I would give it to you to get a bigger tank LOL
> 
> I guess you will NEVER see fry in that tank.. :fish:


You do understand that if you gave him a bigger tank, he'd just buy more fish, right ?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

ITALIAN926 said:


> cich2it said:
> 
> 
> > Wow...I feel claustrophobic already.  ...I'm curious what the mods would say.. The fish look great though.
> ...


Isn't that the goal? See how many fish he can do at one time? If he did the same in a 6 footer he really mix in some bigger Haps.

I'm quite impressed at the biofiltration... not surprised at the social effects of crowding... but no so much impressed with the fish, few of the larger fish are much to get excited about. I think this would be better as a Mbuna tank.


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## jimmie (Oct 23, 2002)

Need a bigger tank bro...


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## notchback65 (Apr 3, 2013)

I have a 90 gallon with 28 fish..I couldn't imagine another 50 fish in my tank...
28 seems a little crowded for my taste !


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

mcavana said:


> I am new to these forums... This tank has been up for about a year. Was asking equipment questions on another thread and people wanted pics of my setup. Here are a few. Not having any luck with decent pictures... will try to add a short video tomorrow. There is so much action in the tank that my camera has trouble focusing.
> 
> I just did a full inventory, and counting all of the fish, there are 78 total. Of that 78, there are 5 Great Danios, 2 Mud Minnows (pulled from the local river), 1 plecostomus, 1 South American Red Belly (aka Wally), and 69 african cichlids. Of the Africans, the biggest cichlid at the moment is a Male bumble bee at 6". 15 of them are about 5 inches. 30 of them are 4 inches, 15 are between 3 and 4 inches, 8 of them are less then 3 inches.
> 
> ...


First welcome to the forum. From the outside view your tank looks great but along with some others I too would have concerns for continued success with your setup. These three things stand out to me: 78 fish but not full grown; two HOB filters trying to handle the filtration for 78 fish; 50% water change weekly. The fact that you are open to upgrading your tank is great because I think it will be necessary.

Personally I have never stocked a tank this fully but my common sense tells me that you will have future problems with this current setup. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but they WILL come. Your tank is overstocked and underfiltered and your water change schedule will not be able to keep things in check forever even with the fact that you are not overfeeding your fish. Its a simple matter of the numbers.

Your financial investment in your fish is significant. I for one would not want to take the chance of losing even one of those beautiful fish. Keep us informed of how things go.


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

I appreciate the feedback guys and gals. I really do. I can very easily upgrade to a 125 gallon tank when necessary. Heck I wouldn't even have to buy a filter! Or I could go the route of multiple 55 gallon tanks. I will provide whatever ends up being necessary. 

That said, I really don't see it happening any time soon. We shall see... I will be happy to come back to this thread with updates from time to time.

BTW 2 of the 78 fish were not in the tank at the time of the video... They are in my hospital tank. They are baby frontosa that are only about an inch and were getting beaten up in the main tank. I will grow them out for a while before putting them back in.


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## Dwarfmbuna (Sep 18, 2013)

Long as there's no power outage - you're good.


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

Dwarfmbuna said:


> Long as there's no power outage - you're good.


 I am totally prepared for that. The Aquaclear 110 is on a 7 hour battery backup system... and if the power is out for longer then that and the filter dies, I have 2 automatic bubblers that will kick in. LOL, in the event of a nuclear meltdown my fish will probably survive longer then me!


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## ilm121209 (Jul 23, 2013)

i thought 27 mbuna/africans in my lower 55 tank was a lot. that tank is awesome and i love the emergency backups. what battery backup system are you using? i have an older basement sump pump battery backup im planning on hooking up. its essentially just a deep cycle boat battery, a relay and a power inverter haha. and if you dont mind my asking, how do you have the bubblers set to come on automatically? that seems like something id be interested in.


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## cich2it (Jul 23, 2012)

Hey Mcavana, just thinking about your tank and wondering how's it going??? Any changes?? 
With winter weather I thought man, you doing WC in big quantities, is it a problem? Though my tank is a 75, just doing weekly WC to outside hose, in the snow or cold/wind is a drag...but a necessity.  
Anyway hope to hear an update... :thumb:


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

mcavana said:


> The other one you mentioned I have yet to identify....


That would be _'Geophagus' brasiliensis_


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

There's is no way I would put Frontosa in that tank.


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## rmcder (Jul 9, 2005)

Dwarfmbuna said:


> Long as there's no power outage - you're good.


Temperature's not a problem, though; they can all just huddle together! :lol:


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## cichliddoc (Oct 15, 2013)

Holy s%&#, that's a lot of fish Batman!


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## jdthomas2789 (Jun 28, 2013)

they may survive but they will never thrive.


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

...looks impressive indeed...also reminds me of the feeling I have when I'm in Times Square...

I have to agree with other posters...I'd be a bit fearful that there's little margin for anything going wrong. My 55g has 25 fishinches total...worst case, I bet it would be able to ride out a week long power outage (if I kept the temp up)! Cheers


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## gverde (Mar 3, 2010)

I would at least do two 50% water changes per week or minimum 75% water changes a week. You say you don't overfeed. How often do you feed them then.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I have 30 fish with none over 4" in my 55g and even with 50% water changes every week, I am struggling to keep nitrates below 40ppm... So i'm not sure how it can work with 78 full grown fish...haha.

Wonder how that's working now 6 months later!


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## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

I don't know how I missed this before. Wow. That is just one big death machine slowly churning.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

olzkool said:


> I don't know how I missed this before. Wow. That is just one big death machine slowly churning.


Concentration tank?


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