great answer your 100% right but that tank in the zoo is pretty packed and probably shouldn't be like that

Great video and the tank is cool!

Great info! Thanks for sharing

The Best Video I Have seen in Years!! keep up the good work n bro..

Some important info every aquarium hobbyists should know!!! Thanks for sharing

excellent answer to what is likely the most often and misunderstood question in the hobby. I think another question that is equally hard to answer is....do those fish really thrive in such overcrowded conditions like the zoo tank shown? I for one think no, but of course I am not a fish. In the wild they would NEVER permit that kind of crowding being so territorial.

wow that was the perfect video for all of us fish hobbies

Hi AL.. great share!!

A very kind way to answer this question!

Well said. 👍

I haven't seen them at the Calgary zoo but they look awesome

love this video bro and agree with ya and that is a bad ass tank omg its awesome

Agree.. and they need space to explore and swim around..

Great video!!! Filtration Filtration Filtration! Water changes water changes water changes!!!

Greetings from Brampton

You can also throw in some cichlid friendly plants like anubias to help with nitrate levels.

Good show sir!

This discussion has alway´s been going on the hobby and will go on long after we are of to the clear blue waters beyond. Still very much agree with your answer that there really is no standard answer to be given. i turned 38 today and with that mark the exact 33 years i been doing this. (keeping fish). I tend to stay at the lower end of stocking. Even if a large filter capacity is in place. Filtration/chemistry is just part of it.

I have a betta and 4 minnows in a 3 gallon. the tank has a sponge filter and i do a 30% water change everyday. The fish seem to be thriving.

I stock at most 3 fish every few weeks in my 29 gallon until I got everything that I want for the tank.

now 35likes and we got that one trolling turd down vote omg really this was a awesome video bro have 0 complaints take care buddy😊

Wow. I'm late to the party but that's cruel... Way too crowded

Having a high density of population is a good way to diffuse the aggressivity of these kind of fish. However I would suggest people to not overcrowd their tanks. You will always have fish that are heavily suppressed and being at the bottom of the hierarchy in such overcrowded tank limit their growth. This is a vast subject for which you can only acquire the knowledge by "empiric" experience. I always go for the safest approach regarding fish maintenance but everyone has his own answer. Fishkeeping is not a science and anyone with common sense and a little bit of research can be successful.

I feel pissed off about zoos. Not only their aquariums, but all animals are not only crazily packed but overall going crazy from stress. I don't ever go to zoos, just reserves, sanctuaries and such, since they don't directly interact with the animal, providing it to be freed; keep huge space, stuff like that.

50% water change weekly, a very large amount of beneficial bacteria, enough filtration to cycle tank water several times an hour helps greatly.

Feel sorry for those zoo fish

So how many ?

Those aren't rift cichlids....those are Calgary fish,eh?

The water at the zoo looks to be filthy my ocd wouldn't have it. I like pristine water clarity..

just devide your tank by two, example 75g 37 fish so 40 is a good number for over stock Africans, mind u that many fish u need to be over filtering a minimum of. 10x I am filtering at 15x, fluval 70 and 110 and canister 360 and power head 850. mind u ciclids this should be applied to 55g and up Amazon's or smaller fish, fish per gallon rule is a good rule of advise.

just devide your tank by two, example 75g 37 fish so 40 is a good number for over stock Africans, mind u that many fish u need to be over filtering a minimum of. 10x I am filtering at 15x, fluval 70 and 110 and canister 360 and power head 850.

how many fish can I fit in a .25 gallon?