15 Gallon Tank

Question
I have 4 Cichlids in this tank right now and they are getting pretty big and i am feeling bad for some of the fish.  My first question is how many Cichlids can i put in this tank?(15 gallon)  They aren't the ones that get huge, they are all solid colors and the lady at the store said they get about 4-6 inches long.
Second i have 1 Aplha fish, meaning he commands most of the tank and all hide from him.  My friend has room in his tank for some of mine.  I know this tank is too small even with all the hiding spots i have.  Is there anything i can do with still keeping all 4.  And if i do get a bigger tank how large should it be for these cichlids?  Thank you.  Brian

Answer
Hi Brian,
  There is no magic rule: x fish can fit in a tank this size.  It depends hugely on the particular fish.  However, in general, I would say that you need at least a 30 gallon tank for the 4 of them.  Equally important to overall size is the amount of rocks and hiding spots.  

 If you need to keep all four in the current tank, add more rocks, and other kinds of structure.  That should help alot.

-- Ron
   rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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