I recently bought a 50 GALLON tank from Petsmart and thinking that this may not be enough. The fish I have are the following: 2 blood parrots, 3 Leleupi (skinnier, smaller Lemon Cichlids that can go up to 3 1/2 inch), 1 medium pleco. 1 tiny tetra. My tank has live plants such as java fern, anubia and another kind I am hoping to flourish. The fish are not quite fully matured yet. Anyhow, the point is (please excuse my annoyance) that I get annoyed with the idea of having to see 60 gallon or 90 gallon tanks with only 2 cichlids in it. For example, some people seem to have big tanks with only 2 adult oscars and the like.Do we really need that big of a tank for cichlids? Is my tank truly not enough or is it enough for what I have? A link to my actual tank photo here: DSC02692 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!. Would using 2 filters a must. I got a good FLUVAL C4 hob and just removed an underwater filter as I thought the hob is enough. I dont mind cleaning and doing water change weekly, of course, if it's enough....with only much concern when I go for a month vacation. I may not be able to rely on my daughter to clean the tank at all or as I do it. That's why I was thinking maybe putting 2 filters when I'm away would help. Anyhow, I hate having to have another 'tank syndrome' that is keeping on getting larger tank and so on. Also, I thought using too much filtration may not be good or not necessary for planted aquarium. Cichlids can be messy when eating food as they take the food and spit it out. Some debris settle on the gravel. I wonder how often people clean their tank's gravel and do water change? Is that why a 60 or 90 is preferable?