# African Cichlid tank- how many fish



## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi. We just started a 90 gallon Cichlid tank because after visiting and checking out fish stores we liked the African Cichlid, next to not being able to do a saltwater aquarium, imo. So how many haps and peacocks African Cichlid can I have in a 90 gallon tank. I also want to add later on some clown loaches and the synodontis catfish. Although clown loach is prone to ich. Please advise on how many fish in 90 gallon and if I need additional filter, we currently have fluval 406 canister filter. Thank you much for your time.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The fluval 406 is only about 400 gph, so I would suggest you get another filter also.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Some people overload their African tanks to cut down on aggression. That works well enough, but requires heavy maintenance. I would add two more filters and come up with a way to pre-treat large amounts of water and store it and aerate it for a couple of days before use. That will make it easy to change water every week without it stressing the fish.
Then you can add fish until you notice they quit fighting.

Clown loaches are not good fits for african cichlid tanks, not at all. Africans have some pretty extreme water chemistry requirements, and clown loaches don't like that kind of water. Oh, they'll live, but they won't be happy. Synodontis catfishes like it fine, though.

If you keep africans for awhile, you'll have no trouble with saltwater someday. You'll find they're very similar in most ways. ( except one major way-- saltwater can't be crowded because salty water doesn't hold much oxygen )

As for your original question, you can put 12-16 of those fish in a 90-gallon tank if you're willing to work at it. Bear in mind that they get large.
That goes very much against the usual stocking advice for an aquarium, but stocking africans at lower, more "sensible" levels often winds up in fish fighting over territory like crazy. Crowding takes away their reason to fight.


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## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you for answering all my questions, and for your time. I originally was thinking 30 fish (as I was told by the store owner that I could), I like a lot of the species, can't make up my mind, but now I'm debating to cutting it down to 20, it seems like 30 would not fit in the 90 gallon tank or am I wrong? How often would the water changed be? I'm being told by the local store once every two weeks. As for the filter, add one of the same type/capacity, fluval 406? Will this mean less frequency on water changed? 
My other question is if it's okay to add bigger fish to the tank now, and how big can I go. So far I have in tank one small (1-2") yellow blaze, two 3" fishes, regal blue and red top lwanda, and 1 maybe 4" t. Intermedius who is taking over the tank right now. I've taken out two smaller ones after two weeks due to body spot. Is it okay to add bigger fish this time? How big can I get them next time I add, it seemed like the smaller ones are prone to sickness affected by stress. I was trying to save money by starting with smaller fish, but I guessed I was wrong on that account, should have started with bigger sizes.


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

20 fish? Try like 15...

Most "african cichlids" can get 4-6inches

More fish will cut down aggression but it will also make it harder to keep your water clean
I have a 150g with sa cichlids and I have 400g of filtration and I do 20% wc weekly on that tank


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

You really need to start researching the species of fish you want to keep. Hap's and peacocks can't be packed together like mbuna, and there's a wider range of territorial space requirements for them as well. Check out cichlid-forum.com and click on the library tab to the left of the start page. There's plenty of useful info there as a starting point, and you can address more specific stocking questions through forum searches and posts.Quite likely you'll find just about any combination of fish in whatever size tank have been discussed somewhere there, lol. 
As for filtration, I run 2 aquaclear 500's on my 90's. Supposedly max flow rate with both running is around 1000 gph, but that's not likely to be accurate, particularly as the filter media loads up. They do provide quite a bit of circulation throughout the rocks and cover though, and keep the debris from settling on the sand. I just use 2 sponges in each, and rinse them out with weekly water changes. Adding filtration doesn't mean you can do less (or less often) water changes, particularly in a heavily stocked tank. Nitrates and othe organic compounds build up regardless of how much water movement you have. You do want to shoot for a flow rate 8-10x the tank volume per hour.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Agree with the research, research, research. Malawi "haplochromines" come in many sizes and decor preferences. True peacocks are relatively small and like rocks. Small "haps" like red empress like open water. Lovely electric blues ahli and placidochromis would build a nest in sand in the lake, but in a tank often spawn on top of a structure like an inverted strawberry pot. And there are some huge pretty fish-eaters that don't do well in community tanks. The larger the fish, the fewer you can have. 

The two common ways to do malawi is either make it a bachelor tank with all males or to provide harems of fish you'd like to spawn with 3 females to each male and no 2 closely related or similarly colored fish in the tank. ( think one peacock, one placido like Moori, one "utaka" hap like red empress). 1 or 2 males and 4-6 females of 2 or 3 fish would make for a long lasting colony (fry are much easier to rehome if there is no chance of hybrids).

Test your tap water's gH or TDS. Much of the county needs nothing added to mimic Malawi water (pH >= 7.5, TDS 250-400 ppm). If your water is soft (mine is 60 ppm TDS) you can add a diy cichlid salt, the recipe is on cichlid-forum.com

Agree with 10X gph or 900 for a 90. You can add an Emperor 400 (400GPH) or two (cheap, but noisy and needs buildup cleaned up), another canister or sump, or a pond-sized sponge filter or 2 with a large power head.


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## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you all for the time and all the shared advice and info. I should have mentioned that I'm stocking males only, would not want to mess with breeding. I just added 3" sulfur head and ruby red and 4" insignis and moori dolphin. I'll keep all advices in mind and look into adding another filter.


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

Yellowblz said:


> Thank you all for the time and all the shared advice and info. I should have mentioned that I'm stocking males only, would not want to mess with breeding. I just added 3" sulfur head and ruby red and 4" insignis and moori dolphin. I'll keep all advices in mind and look into adding another filter.



Sexing African cichlids is tough to do... Be sure you know which are males if even one female of a close species gets in it can throw your whole tank out of order.

Make sure you're venting all new fish to make sure they are males


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## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

I have so far 8 in my tank, the t. Intermedius that is about 3 or 4" is chasing the moori dolphin (badly), which is the same size. What to do? I will stop this weekend at the lfs to get more rocks for hiding hopefully , although the moori likes to swim out in the open and he keeps swimming up and down the corner tank.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Break up the sight lines. Tall plants or a high rockpile. cichlid have great eyesight and a dominant male may try to control as far as he can see. If they don't settle down in a week or so you may have to swap out more fish.


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## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you again for your time to respond. Swap out more fish....that was acutally my other question in mind. Overcrowding helps, so how fast can i stock this fish. I've been cycling it for 5 weeks now. Water parameters good, I've done one water change and lfs advise is not to water change until two weeks from now cuz were still establishing the tank (bacteria) so to speak. I have so far 8 in the tank, sizes 3-4 inches. Three of the 8 fishes i just added last weekend. How fast can I stock the tank, I know my limit is about 15 for 90 gallon tank (although i would prefer more)  Anyways, can I add another 3 this coming weekend? Can i keep stocking it every week until the limit?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Add a small bottle of Tetra SafeStart to your tank when you add 3-4 new fish, and your tank will have no trouble keeping up with the new bioload.


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## Yellowblz (Jan 6, 2016)

I added the bacteria 4 weeks ago before adding my first batch of fish in tank. Treating the tank now with ich, and ammonia a bit high, 0.50 ppm. Did 25% water change, without cleaning substrate, ammonia ok then treated tank with copper sure. Is it okay to still add this tetra safe start when I add my next batch? Of course after my tank is treated, could be in 4 weeks. Copper is in tank for a month per instruction, with this new problem I probably should not add more fish until after a month. ....Thinking of getting a tall plastic plant to help with aggression. Also hoping not to get ammonia spike with this new tank. I'll be checking in 3 days again, if ammonia again, we'll do another water change. Hoping not to have to do water change again, since copper is still there treating the tank.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Do delay adding new fish whenever you have detectable ammonia or a disease in a tank. 
I've give it 6 weeks at least after the last sign of disease is gone.
If you have trouble getting/keeping ammonia down even after seeding it may be a time to get another, bigger filter.
There is a "background" plant that has parallel string of plastic plant intended to cover the back of a tank, I have used them hanging from the center brace to make a sort of "wall" in a tank. 
Zoomed has a floating plastic log in several sizes. They look nasty but give a chewed fish an out-of-sight place to hide. So does the big bushy plastic plant with the round base. I don't remember the brand.


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