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I was given custody of a cichlid tank at work and it is now my job to keep them alive.

Unfortunately nobody knows what kind of cichlids they are, just that they are very large and old (atleast 8 years old).

There are 7 of them that live in a 75 gallon tank. Each fish is about 8-10 inches long. They are all dark gray.

My guess is some type of Tilapia.

They are extremely messy and I personally think too big of a bio-load for that tank.

But my question to you is what are some basic Tilapia/Cichlid rules of thumbs or guidelines for happy, healthy fish.

If you can get some pictures, someone might be able to identify them for you and from there suggest ways to properly care for them.

sounds like they are too big

yes a picture would help

generally over-populated tanks
need frequent
very large water changes

less food can help