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I have inherited the care of a couple of 140 gallon aquariums - one of which has about 10 or 12 Cichlids (1 Midas, 1 Convict, 2 Maswa, 1 Protomelas, 2 Aurora Yellow, 4 yet to be identified, 1 pleco).

The tank is 6' long by 18" wide by 24" deep. The fish vary in size from 5" to the 10" Midas. Do you think this is overstocked? I'm only present for 1/2 to an hour almost (but not quite) daily and when I'm there, there doesn't seem to be any overly agressive activity. The Midas is definitely the boss and when I vacuum the gravel I'm pushing him around the entire time because he's snapping at the siphon tube. There's a bit of regular chasing of the smaller fish but there are lots of caves for them to hide in so they seem okay.

If this is overstocked - by how much? Also, how do I reduce the number? I'd love to trade a couple for community fish to stock up the second tank - any thoughts on a way/source to do that?

I looked into setting up a cichlid tank and every local trusting fish store told me the same thing, as long as you filter it right, you want to be over stocked to avoid aggression.

Other wise if you under stock the tank, fishes will end up dead.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I second that. It doesn't sound all that bad, just make sure to stay on top of the tank maintenance and you should be fine.