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Fish Crazy
Here is a quick read for anyone in the hobby. Credit goes to Josh at Livefishdirect. I find it useful so others might also.
1. Stocking Levels VS How big is the tank in gallons
a. These notes explain how many fish can fit into the tank. For example the first line is
Explaining that in a 30 gallon tank 8 would be lightly stocked, 12 would be average
stocked, and 15 would be densely stocked.
i. 30 gallon = 8, 12, 15
ii. 50 gallon = 15, 20, 25
iii. 75 gallon = 25, 30, 35
iv. 90 gallon = 30, 35, 40
v. 125 gallon = 35 , 45, 50
vi. 150 gallon = 40, 50, 60
vii. 250 gallon = 60, 80, 100
viii. 500 gallon = 100, 130, 175
b. Stocking levels will determine a balance between water quality and aggression
i. The lighter you stock the less you will have to change the water but the
more the fish can damage each other due to aggression
ii. The heavier you stock the tank the less likely your fish are to damage each
other due to aggression. They will still chase each other around all day but
this method of dense stocking I have deemed “chaos theory” and it works.
2. Water Chemistry
a. PH … We are at 7.8 here. It is easy on cichlids to be dropped into water as high as
8.6 Tanganyikans can be as high as 9.2
i. As far as a sudden ph adjustment goes it is much easier on a fish to be
suddenly dropped into a higher PH than they are used to then to suddenly
be dropped into a lower PH
b. Temperature
i. 78 degrees will be optimal
ii. 78-72 degrees will progressively lessen aggression but will dull the cichlids
activity and metabolism and leave them a little more susceptible to
parasites. If taken down slowly the fish should be fine. This will reduce fish
waste as it will slow down their metabolism causing them to eat less grow
slower live longer reduce aggression and cause fish that ordinarily would
not be compatible to live together. Also lower temperature can be effective
in preventing bacterial blooms due to uneaten fish food. For example if you
are letting your children feed the fish and you don’t trust they will refrain
from overfeeding you may consider lowering the temperature.
iii. 78-84 degrees will progressively increase their metabolism and cause the
fish to be more active and colorful. They will breed better. They will be
more aggressive. The increased feed will cause quicker shifts in water
quality and can only be balanced by bigger and more frequent water
changes. 84 degrees can kill parasites quickly but can cause quicker blooms
in bacteria if they are over fed and there is any left over fish food that is
uneaten
1. Stocking Levels VS How big is the tank in gallons
a. These notes explain how many fish can fit into the tank. For example the first line is
Explaining that in a 30 gallon tank 8 would be lightly stocked, 12 would be average
stocked, and 15 would be densely stocked.
i. 30 gallon = 8, 12, 15
ii. 50 gallon = 15, 20, 25
iii. 75 gallon = 25, 30, 35
iv. 90 gallon = 30, 35, 40
v. 125 gallon = 35 , 45, 50
vi. 150 gallon = 40, 50, 60
vii. 250 gallon = 60, 80, 100
viii. 500 gallon = 100, 130, 175
b. Stocking levels will determine a balance between water quality and aggression
i. The lighter you stock the less you will have to change the water but the
more the fish can damage each other due to aggression
ii. The heavier you stock the tank the less likely your fish are to damage each
other due to aggression. They will still chase each other around all day but
this method of dense stocking I have deemed “chaos theory” and it works.
2. Water Chemistry
a. PH … We are at 7.8 here. It is easy on cichlids to be dropped into water as high as
8.6 Tanganyikans can be as high as 9.2
i. As far as a sudden ph adjustment goes it is much easier on a fish to be
suddenly dropped into a higher PH than they are used to then to suddenly
be dropped into a lower PH
b. Temperature
i. 78 degrees will be optimal
ii. 78-72 degrees will progressively lessen aggression but will dull the cichlids
activity and metabolism and leave them a little more susceptible to
parasites. If taken down slowly the fish should be fine. This will reduce fish
waste as it will slow down their metabolism causing them to eat less grow
slower live longer reduce aggression and cause fish that ordinarily would
not be compatible to live together. Also lower temperature can be effective
in preventing bacterial blooms due to uneaten fish food. For example if you
are letting your children feed the fish and you don’t trust they will refrain
from overfeeding you may consider lowering the temperature.
iii. 78-84 degrees will progressively increase their metabolism and cause the
fish to be more active and colorful. They will breed better. They will be
more aggressive. The increased feed will cause quicker shifts in water
quality and can only be balanced by bigger and more frequent water
changes. 84 degrees can kill parasites quickly but can cause quicker blooms
in bacteria if they are over fed and there is any left over fish food that is
uneaten
3. Compatibility
a. Mbuna and Victorian Cichlids are more colorful at a small size. They are the
heartiest, cheapest, and most colorful. They are our favorite. They are also the most
aggressive. They can be kept with peacocks and haps with no problems as long as
they are introduced with a size disadvantage to the less aggressive species. A really
nice look for a cichlid tank is to have a bunch of smaller mbuna and Victorian cichlids
running around with some bigger showier male peacocks and haps. Peaocks and
haps get along fine for the most part. Males have to develop color all females are
brown.
b. Cichlids are more compatible if they are all added when young and are raised
together. If you have a larger tank I usually recommend going in 6 packs of small fish
to reduce costs and increase the chance of getting a nice cherry male of the group
you will be proud of because you raised them yourself. By starting all the fish off
young and raising them together I have seen fish tanks that would be considered
completely incompatible but they have no problems. This is just like raising a puppy
with a kitten.
c. Cichlids get along better in larger sizes if there are smaller more aggressive fish
around to distract them from picking on each other. You can keep a batch of
aggressive male haps and peacocks from hurting each other by adding some small
colorful but aggressive mbuna cichlids that are hardy. We call these “dither” cichlids
as they help create the “chaos” mentioned above.
d. Males that look just like each other will quarrel the most. This will bring out their
best color but may be stressful to watch as they go at it. As long as you use the tricks
mentioned earlier such as stocking densely and using dither fish similar males
should not do any real damage to each other. However the aspect of Male
dominance must be accepting in Cichlid tanks. Fighting is just what they do!
5. Adding the fish to your tank.
a. Fish tend to do better if added in waves of larger groups
i. If you add fish one at a time to an aquarium you will get “pick on the new
guy syndrome”
ii. Adding cichlids in larger groups will reduce the chance of aggression
between them. This will cause a two week time period which will be critical
to the water quality while your biological filter catches up that will be
addressed below.
b. It can always be a good idea to add a dose of preventative medication to a tank
when adding new fish from any source
i. Like with people fish tend to contract sickness when they are stressed.
Moving fish from one take to another whether by shipping them or simply
picking them up from a local petstore can cause stress which can in turn
allow a disease like Ich that would normally not be able to pierce the
immune system to suddenly show up out of nowhere.
ii. Anything that treats a tank for parasites would work when receiving large
batches of fish. Or even something very mild like Melafix is a great idea to
treat with for a few days after receiving fish.
c. Water changes help when adding a group of fish to an already established fish tank.
i. Hopefully you have decided to add fish in larger groups instead of one at a
time which is a good thing because now you will consolidate the hassle of
the new fish introductory water change schedule to only a few periods of
stocking your tank with life.
ii. Whether you are adding fish to a brand new tank or a group of fish to an
established tank I recommend the following water change schedule as your
fish will love you
1. Change 40% of the water 3 days after adding the new wave of fish
2. Change 40% of the water 7 days after adding the new wave of fish
3. Change 40% of the water 14 days after adding the new wave of fish
4. Change 40% of the water in two week intervals forever after that
and your fish will love you!
iii. That is a lot of water but you can find a better way if it is taking you to long
as this step will truly insure you have a healthy fish tank forever. No amount
of technology I feel is adequate to the effectiveness of a good old fashioned
water change.
1. Think about how you can become more efficient at this process
a. Think about sterile garbage cans, hoses, and pumps. I will
usually siphon the water out of the tank into a nice large
plastic garbage can right outside of it. Then drop in a rio
pump power head connected to a hose to pump it outside
(great for your garden) or to a drain. Then I will hook the
hose up to the faucet to get warmer tap water to fill the
garbage can. Then pump from the garbage can back into the
tank.
b. Or Python water changers are nice they hook right to your
sink. But they can be slower then the method above
d. Acclimating a fish purchase from livefishdirect.com
i. First float the bags in the tank until the temperature stabilizes.
ii. Don’t open the pouches until the temp is stable
iii. Cut open the bags and strain the fish water in the bag through a net into a
bucket or bowl.
iv. Drop the fish right in the tank.
v. Do not slowly add tank water to the pouches this will raise the ph causing
any ammonia in the bag to go from a non toxic to a toxic form and cause the
fish to suffocate. The only time I recommend this method if you are dealing
with very large fish that have been packed to tight but it is risky either way
in that situation.
6. Trouble shooting fish disease
a. Fish diseases can get complicated in fact they can be just as complicated as the
diseases that affect us.
b. Look for excessive scratching which can be parasite.
i. A fish scraping its side on the bottom might just be a way for it to stir up
some fish food but if they are doing it excessively and a lot of them are
doing it you have a outbreak of parasites. The good news is if you treat it
early it is easy to fix. The bad news is if you wait until everything is covered
in white spots (soars) they are most likely a goner.
1. To treat cichlids with parasites I recommend. Salt, Copper,
Malachite green, Quinine, or a special combination of those.
c. Open soars or wounds or bloody veins are a sign of a bacterial infection. If they
will eat consider medicated fish food. If they won’t eat and the situation is
looking bad then you need some serious bacterial meds
