Can a 250 litre tank house 6 full grown malawis?

[agoh]

To to be put in a 240 litre tank (only possibly at this stage)

2 edwardi mbuna (1 male, 1 female)

2 Melanochromis Auratus (1 male, 1 female)

2 giraffe haps (1 male, 1 female)

all appear in a 340 litre in a petshop, along with several peacocks and yellow labs - and all were raised togethor - shopkeeper claims the fish above are equally aggressive in nature but are at peace with each other in the tank, and as one observes, they are all adult and the same size.

I suppose its a question of risk, ofcourse I wouldn't want these fish to start tearing each other up in my tank. given sufficient hiding places, would this combination be the right recipe for 'controlled overcrowding' (no weaker individuals are picked on)

if I get a consensus of no, I won't risk it.

[agoh]

aha...thats the question!..although I've been to visit the shop a few times to check their behaviour they seem to be fairly tolerant of eachother...anyway its a question I posed on the fish owner, and they said they were raised from juvenile to adult and the edwardi and giraffe have spawned under their ownership...therefore its a question of honesty - hence its also a question of risk to take their word for it! Should I reveal the shops name?

[Alan]

There is no reason the shop's name can not be named.

You are only saying what type of fish he has available.

In fact he may like the advert.

Only thing I can see against it is that someone may go down and buy them under your nose.

By the sound of it you have your cheque book out already.

Those type of fish NEED crowding to be non-aggresive IMHO,

and heaps of caves and hiding places etc.

Alan 104