I have a 55 gallon of mixed Malawi cichlids. I started with 10
juveniles almost 3 years ago. This quickly settled to 5 who survived
to adulthood. One adult is missing - I assume fully eaten or dead
well inside an ornamental item. ??

I was unsure of species until recently when I was googling to diagnose
a perceived problem that turned out to be a brooding kenyi mom. So
now I know I have a female kenyi who is ~3 inches long, a male kenyi
almost twice her size and two other species adults between thos two
sizes.

So, Mama Kenyi whelped about 5, then almost immediately brooded
another set. Now I have the four adults described above and 10-12
juvenile kenyi, who still present as female coloration. They are
growing so fast! Most are at least an inch long and are brave enough
to swim in open water "with the big boys." If a similar percentage to
original stock mature to adulthood, I'll have 10 and if they all make
it, I'll have 17 adults. (And that's if there are no further fries!)

That's more that 100 inches of fish in 55 gallons!

What is a good guideline on tank population? Is the inch a gallon
really the best rule of thumb?

If I need to cull, any suggestions? I guess I should call pet stores
to see if they will take/buy them. I didn't get in this to breed,
just a hobby.

I have two other tanks in the house: a 30 gallon with just a few
platies and dannis; My son has a 10 gallon with the same. I guess I
could convert one of those to a second cichlid tank but not sure if I
want to.

I didn't mean to write an opus for my first post! Thanks for reading
it.

phyl
SC
(we also have an outdoor container tank/water garden with comets and a
150 gallon pond with a variety of things. Of course, we are always
planning the next bigger and better, too!