Over Stocked Tank?

[fishmad135]

I have noticed some people on this site are saying that you can ovver stock you tank if you have the time to look after it.. is this possibe?? If so what sort of things do you have to do to look after it..?

 

[Truck]

Whether or not you're over stocked is a matter of opinion, about 2-3 inches per gallon is what I use, but I use filters that are bigger than they need to be, IMO stocking should be based around what looks right and what works for you, in terms of how the fish interact, if they're fighting for space, then you have a problem, if they're not and you're not getting any detectable ammonia readings then things are fine.

Normally bigger water changes are recommended on heavily stocked tanks, but personally, the use of plants reduces the need for water changes on my tank, and also, don't get too wound up on nitrate levels, the nitrate test kits we use are useless, so aim to do 25-50% water changes fortnightly.

 

[bitteraspects]

basically you will need added filtration (meaning turnover, circulation, and bio-media) and a religious WC schedule. depending on how "overstocked" the tank is you may need to do them more than once a week. i would suggest no less than 25-30% weekly.

 

[OldMan47]

It is possible, if you are willing to do the work, to stock a tank so heavily that it needs daily 50% water changes just to control nitrates. A tank being maintained that way would mean you come to dead fish if you go away for the weekend, so I am never tempted. On the other hand, a tank that has a light enough population to easily survive a power loss of a whole day is not very lightly stocked but can probably go 2 weeks between 30% water changes. When I make conscious choices, I always favor the second kind of stocking. Power failures do happen and a 12 hour wait for power to come back is not unusual. That 12 hours would seriously harm the fish in the crowded tank that I first described. In all fish keeping, you need to understand the results of your decisions and it is best to consider the vulnerabilities that it leaves you facing. Sooner or later you will have that power failure and sooner or later you will want to go away for the weekend. No amount of filtration will reduce the water change needs or the ability of fish to survive that power loss so choose wisely.

 

[Assaye]

Extra filtration and water changes do not magically create more space in the tank for swimming and terriatories. It is possible to break the rough "inch per gallon rule" and push it up to 2-3 inches per gallon but it requires you to have very heavily planted tanks and/or do very large weekly or bi-weekly water changes. It is also more of a problem if something happens to your filter (power cut, filter breaks, etc) and you would end up losing a lot of stock if your cycle crashed.

However big the filter is, the fish still need space for appropriate decor (and enough of it) and to swim without feeling cramped and over crowded.

 

[Julia1904]

I have a 30 gallon tank, with a 50 gallon filter, and lots of live plants, I do water changes every 4-5 days and I clean as needed, I use the vacum everytime I change the water 10%-20%,
I know I got carried away with the fish, but how overstocked am I , and how bad is it going to be when they reach adulthood. they are all babies now.

1 male betta
4 long fin rosey barbs
5 zebra danios
6 cardinal tetras
3 red wag platies
2 mickey platy
2 rainbow fish
1 crab
3 ghost shrimp

tank measurments: 30 1/2 inches length, 12 1/2 deep ,and its fairly tall not sure how tall? probably about 20

 

[Assaye]

I have a 30 gallon tank, with a 50 gallon filter, and lots of live plants, I do water changes every 4-5 days and I clean as needed, I use the vacum everytime I change the water 10%-20%,
I know I got carried away with the fish, but how overstocked am I , and how bad is it going to be when they reach adulthood. they are all babies now.

1 male betta
4 long fin rosey barbs
5 zebra danios
6 cardinal tetras
3 red wag platies
2 mickey platy
2 rainbow fish
1 crab
3 ghost shrimp

tank measurments: 30 1/2 inches length, 12 1/2 deep ,and its fairly tall not sure how tall? probably about 20

You're quite overstocked, without taking into account the crab (who shouldn't really be in there as they are highly predatory and will eat small fish) and the shrimp (who don't make much of a difference to bio-load).

The rosy barbs are the problem, really. These guys can reach 5 inches and so just having the 4 of them is an additional 20 inches of adult fish! Without those you'd only have about 40 inches of adult fish which is fine for a 30 gallon with good filtration and plenty of live plants.

Only two other problems that I can see are that the rosy barbs should have a couple more members to their shoal and the rainbow fish need some friends as well. 6 is a good number for them. However, this would push your stock up even further. You might want to consider juggling things around as bit to get 30-40 inches of adult fish and make sure all the fish are in the groups they need to be in.

 

[Julia1904]

I have a 30 gallon tank, with a 50 gallon filter, and lots of live plants, I do water changes every 4-5 days and I clean as needed, I use the vacum everytime I change the water 10%-20%,
I know I got carried away with the fish, but how overstocked am I , and how bad is it going to be when they reach adulthood. they are all babies now.

1 male betta
4 long fin rosey barbs
5 zebra danios
6 cardinal tetras
3 red wag platies
2 mickey platy
2 rainbow fish
1 crab
3 ghost shrimp

tank measurments: 30 1/2 inches length, 12 1/2 deep ,and its fairly tall not sure how tall? probably about 20

You're quite overstocked, without taking into account the crab (who shouldn't really be in there as they are highly predatory and will eat small fish) and the shrimp (who don't make much of a difference to bio-load).

The rosy barbs are the problem, really. These guys can reach 5 inches and so just having the 4 of them is an additional 20 inches of adult fish! Without those you'd only have about 40 inches of adult fish which is fine for a 30 gallon with good filtration and plenty of live plants.

Only two other problems that I can see are that the rosy barbs should have a couple more members to their shoal and the rainbow fish need some friends as well. 6 is a good number for them. However, this would push your stock up even further. You might want to consider juggling things around as bit to get 30-40 inches of adult fish and make sure all the fish are in the groups they need to be in.

Wow 5 inches I didnt realize they got that big, maybe I will set up a seperate tank for them in the near future, my rainbows seem happy just the two of them one male one female, I cant really get more rainbows because they can get really big, If I set up a 10g with lots of live plants and a 20 g filter, would that be better for the barbs than being in my community tank?
Also I have 3 pregnent platies, where can I sell or give away those babies, asuming any dont get eaten?

 

[OldMan47]

The 4 rosies in a 20 would be a full stocking for that tank and would probably do better than in the larger community tank. It would still be a bit of a challenge to add in two more to a tank that size though. Without the rosies, I would have said the bioload presented by your fish were fine but bioload is not everything. The compatibility issue comes into things with the crab. Crabs eat fish that they can catch, and they can catch fish.

 

[Julia1904]

The 4 rosies in a 20 would be a full stocking for that tank and would probably do better than in the larger community tank. It would still be a bit of a challenge to add in two more to a tank that size though. Without the rosies, I would have said the bioload presented by your fish were fine but bioload is not everything. The compatibility issue comes into things with the crab. Crabs eat fish that they can catch, and they can catch fish.

I found my crab dead yesterday so I guess that solves that problem.....

 

[Julia1904]

The 4 rosies in a 20 would be a full stocking for that tank and would probably do better than in the larger community tank. It would still be a bit of a challenge to add in two more to a tank that size though. Without the rosies, I would have said the bioload presented by your fish were fine but bioload is not everything. The compatibility issue comes into things with the crab. Crabs eat fish that they can catch, and they can catch fish.

I found my crab dead yesterday so I guess that solves that problem.....

Well my mickey mouse platy gave birth to 22 fry this morning, now im really overstocked, I didnt have the heart to let the other fish just eat them, hopefully i can find them all good homes in a few weeks.

 

[slene_108]

Hi All

I have a 4foot tank (375L)with a 300watt light and a trickle filtration system.

15 Neons
9 Head & Tail Lights.
9 Platys. (one is about to give birth) Buying a breeding trap tomorrow.
5 Harlaquine.
5 Male Guppy (4 Neon coloured & 1 Flame Red.)
1 Marble Brislenose Catfish.
3 Cory Catfish.
3 YoYo Loachs.
1 Pictus catfish

I think i could possable add a few more female guppy's or a brislenose, however I am unsure coz of my Pictus catfish (which is almost fully grown & hasn't attacked ANY of my others yet)...