# is my tank too crowded



## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

hi everyone... :fish: i am new here and figure this is as good a place as any to start talking lol.
how many fish is too many for a 125g? here's what i got:
2 female kenyi
5 acei
blue ahli
peacock
yellow lab
female aruatus
red zebra
6 clown loaches
fire eel
ghost knife

WOW! it seems like too much when i type all that, but they all seem to be happy and not fighting.


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## Scatsinmytanktoo (Sep 3, 2010)

I don't really know a for sure answer 125g's is awesome.I would imagine you could put a lot in that a tank that size. My tank was doing great with that many fish except one of my biggest so I took him out.And a couple others that weren't really adding to my tank. I thought maybe I had to many myself.Now they fight constantly so I'm buying more today.mine seemed the more the better.I don't know if your fish are happy I wouldn't change a thing.That seems to be when problems happen...your real name isn't Aja is it?Just curious my cousin's name would be awilson also...just wanted to make sure


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

real name is allen wilson.
i had to make changes too to my tank. main one was removing my male kenyi, as he was ruling the center third of the tank. was fun to watch but other fish were not enjoying it lol.

my reason for asking about over crowding is because i am doing a weekly water change of 40 to 50% and only feeding one per day to keep the waste down. except for the loaches that get fed twice.
doing it in this way keeps my nitrates to 30 to 40 before i do the water change.
i guess i am worried that it gets dirty too fast.

love to watch them all though... So much activity! opcorn:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You do not have too many fish, but your mix may cause problems.

The knife is not a cichlid, so heresay here, but I thought they did not like a rambunctious tank? Which you will have with mbuna in the tank. Things will get more rambunctious and possibly even deadly when the fish mature in 6-12 months.

If you are going to have more than 5-7 species, you want an all-male tank with one of each species and no females.

I you want a mixed gender tank, think in terms of 5 species and 1m:4f depending on the species.

Auratus and kenyi are exceptions to the 1m:4f...because they are so aggressive, they need 7 females for the one male.

The fire eel is a high risk of eating the cichlids. Eventually, and possibly after months/years of not doing so.

The fryeri (ahli) will crossbreed with the peacock.

The metriaclima estherae (red zebra) will crossbreed with the yellow labs.


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

i do agree with DJRansome here :thumb: . if you have a spare 55 gallon or a 40 gallon move the 6 clown loaches and knife to that tank.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

wow, that's some good comments. i did remove both of the male kenyi and auratus, because as you said, they were being territorial. all the rest of the cichlids are male cept for the female kenyi and auratus.
all of the cichlids are mature, about 5" each, well a few may be closer to 4.5 lol.
i honor your knowledge cause i am learning so much, but i hope it stays as is since they are getting along now. do you think it will get worse for me?
as for the ghost knife, he is actually happy! and i think i got lucky with him. he actually comes out and swims along the bottom and top, be it day or night, and even checks out some of the cichlids. but i will admit that the ahli gives him warnings at times  
but over all i get some cichlid chase happening some but mostly the tank is fairly mild.
i will have to try to capture a video later, that's when it gets lively with the loaches and the fire eel :dancing: 
i am so glad you both think it is'nt over crowded. thanks


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

i do have a spare, but is it possible it may work? it is such a lively tank... fun to watch.
my biggest concern was over crowding... am i needing to face a aggression issue in the future? is it possible that it can work? they have been housed together for a good 4 months so far. that being the ghost knife being added 4 months ago. the loaches have been in there for near 8 months and they actually will chase the cichlids for the food lol.
keep the comments comin! it is food for the fishes soul.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If it is working, don't change a thing. No one may be able to explain why. :lol:

If you had an ideal mix I would have said add fish...a lot of them...maybe even double. But adding fish might upset your balance, and you like what you have now.

Shoot for a max of 20ppm nitrates before your weekly water change. You can do 50% or even higher (I seldom do less than 75%) weekly.

You also don't want to go too low, especially if you have plants, anything under 10ppm can lead to plant die off and cyanobacteria.


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

i read from a post somewhere on here that say you won't know if have a successful tank until after 2 year. so i'm guessing after 2 year or so you will know if all your fish can coexit together if they start to die before the 2 year is up that mean your can't coexit together. i would advice you to keep a really close look at your fish tank for any aggresstion from any mbuna and the fire eel to their tankmate. everything normally happen in 6 month to a 1year. good luck on your fish keeping.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

wanting to put pictures of my tank on here. how do i do that?


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

let me see if this works


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

hmmm okay i guess i don't know opcorn: :fish: opcorn:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You have to first post the pic on a free website like photobucket. Then copy the img link they provide into the post.


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## awilson0001 (Sep 2, 2010)

thanks for the help on the pic loading. alanvickiuk helped me some too. now i just gotta practice, so bare with me hehe


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## torin32 (May 24, 2010)

fire eel is pretty peacefull i dont see a problem with the ell they love sandy buttoms to bury themselves. They eat brine shrimp and blood worms so watch for bloat when feeding cause your piggy mbunas eat diferent food and can get sick from blood worms and brine shrimp.


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