Dwarf Cichlids

[Eugene]

How many diffrent types of dwarf cichlids could I put in a 180 gallon tank?

[jesp]

That is an odd question.......I've never thought about figuring out the max.

I guess it depends on how much ground space there is. They need territories, and they stick to the bottom, so height will not do anything. If you have too much clutter in the tank it will take that room away, but you still need to provide barriers between territories.

Then, I guess you could put in one of each kind after that, if you just wanted the most types. Personally, I think 50 individual different dwarf cichlid would be an odd site in one tank.

[The-Influence]

It All Depends On The Dwarfs Yer Looking At Getting . I Have 2 Trios In My 40 gallon ( Peru Inca / Inka 50 ) And I Cant Put No More Due To Territories And There Breeding ... Now I Got 3 Bitaeniata Sp. Reds

4 Bitaeniata Sp. Orange And 2 Cacatuoides In A 25 Gallon And No Problems At All ....

Blake

[Jaykit]

Okay so here's my thought, its a little crazy but it could be done. These are bottom dwelling fish so why not maximize the area of your 180g. If its 2x2x6 then you need to buy 2 - 2x5 plexi sheets and built a horizontal sump style tank. Therefore you've got yourself 16x2 of "bottom" surface area while still maintaining 8" height clearance on each level with 1' on each end for water flow. Then you have your canister intakes at the bottom corner and outputs at the very top portion. If needed extra powerheads can be added at the end of each level to increase water flow as well. This could easily give you 3x the amount of dwarf cichlids in your tank.

Edited December 18, 2010 by Jaykit

[Jayba]

Okay so here's my thought, its a little crazy but it could be done. These are bottom dwelling fish so why not maximize the area of your 180g. If its 2x2x6 then you need to buy 2 - 2x5 plexi sheets and built a horizontal sump style tank. Therefore you've got yourself 16x2 of "bottom" surface area while still maintaining 8" height clearance on each level with 1' on each end for water flow. Then you have your canister intakes at the bottom corner and outputs at the very top portion. If needed extra powerheads can be added at the end of each level to increase water flow as well. This could easily give you 3x the amount of dwarf cichlids in your tank.

Dwarf cichlid condos! Awesome!

I would think also that it depends on the breeds in the tank, floor space and how well it is divided up. I would think approx 1-1.5 square foot per pair or so maybe.

[jvision]

In the wild, Apisto population densities are crazy! I've read reports where Cackatoos crammed under every little bit of leaf litter in a very small area. If your bottom was strewn with almond or oak leaves, you could probably go with 50 or more. The typical territory of a male Apisto is between 1-2'sq, and you can have 3+ females within that territory. You could probably push it if you had more caves.