ive got 5 or 6 small africans and s. americans a jack dempsey and two oscars is that too many fish?

What size of tank u got

We recommend a 55 Gl tank for one Oscar only, with no tankmates.
So to be honest, i don't think you have too many fish, but your tank is too small.lol
So for the fish you have, I think you need a 100Gl+ tank to keep your fish healthy.
Any chance for an upgrade?

I've often heard that you're not supposed to keep African Cichlids with South American cichlids because they require differant water parameters such as PH.
Anyone else got ideas about it?

I do it, but I keep all my PH the same in all my tanks. all PH in my house is at 7.6. That is what comes out of the tap...

my ph out of the tap is 7.2. I had African Cichlids once and I had a hard time keeping my ph up.
I know they like a high ph, the LFS told me you can put crushed coral it your filter to raise the ph gradually. But obviously you're doing greaqt with your ph at 7.6

ive have kept both in identical conditions and they both thrived. while its true in their natural environment the ph is going to be different than most peoples tap water, most of these fish now are tank bred, and said offspring would be aclimated to domestic conditions at an early age. in the wild water conditions in the african rift lakes changes quite alot season to season, so they do have a certain degree of adaptability. ph at low level during the dry seaon is no doubt different then the ph of the torrents pouring into it during the wet.

Eric J.Twk. wrote:


you could also use argonite

55

like 9 fish all together

you can go on the rule that an oscar needs 55 gallons by itself. you have 2 oscars, thats 110 gallons, and the jack dempsey fish, thats going to take about 55 gallons in its own right, they can grow nearly a foot long as well, so your looking for a 165 right there, excluding the rest of the fish. and actually you need more than that if those 2 oscars happen to pair up down the road. two years ago or so i was basically right where you are now. i had a 55, with 2 oscars, 5 pictus catfish, and 5 electric yellow labs. 7 months into it my oscars tried to kill each other, and i had to rehome one of the oscars. and by that point, i only had 1 electric yellow lab left, the rest were eaten by the oscar. now they are all in a 8x2x2. i had to either get rid of fish, or get some more water, so i got more water. now your in pretty much the same situation. its up to you how you want to do it, but soon your going to have to change something.

Win wrote:

experience is the best sample...its up to you to decide...either upgrade, rehome some
fish of take the pain in losing all fish later in that small tank. the decision is
yours. but we do encourage happy fish keeping practice... so i suggest upgrade now
or rehome some fish and get them back later when new tank is in place.