Overstocked?

[pippoodle]

I keep getting messages telling me i'm overstocked so what do you guys think for the 180 litre with the stocking listed in siggy
i do 2 30% water changes a week

adding 2 pairs of german blue rams and 3 more dwarf gouramis 1 m 2 f and 3 more honeys

minnows can be moved if need be

thanks sarah x

pic of rio on 01/01/09 before platys and guppys removed but it has the same layout as now - plaNTS JUST GROWN A BIT MORE

 

[Truck]

which people are telling you that? probably someone still using the 1 inch per gallon rule ( for beginners) but you seem like you have enough experience to stretch to 2" per gallon your stokcing works out at 96" (give or take due to the cories) and the rio is roughly 50 gallons so 100 inches of stocking so IMO your fully stocked (not over stocked) just at the limit, due to filtration etc, however if you improved filtration (ie add an external to what you already have something like a tetra tec ex 1200, IMO you could add another 30 inches or so of fish.)

ignore what people say, a good fish keeper knows when a tank is overstocked( because of water quality problems etc)

cheers

truck

 

[fish are friends....]

I'd agree... you not over stock. You have a perfect balance

 

[three-fingers]

Without seeing it and roughly having an idea on water stats I cant really make a decision, but they are all pretty small fish so I'd probably add more over time if it were mine.


As long as the waters fine, the fish get on and have room to move, its all good. So just be careful and add what you feel like.

 

[pippoodle]

water stats are
nitrates 0 - 10 from tap but drop to 0 in 2 days after changes

nitrites 0
ammonia 0
ph 7-7.2 can't really tell the colour its a mx between the 2

using API master test kits

i'm adding a fluval 205 external at the weekend it's quite heavilly planted aswell with lots of floating plants , and some planted bogwood

Thanks Sarah x

 

[Truck]

water stats are
nitrates 0 - 10 from tap but drop to 0 in 2 days after changes

nitrites 0
ammonia 0
ph 7-7.2 can't really tell the colour its a mx between the 2

using API master test kits

i'm adding a fluval 205 external at the weekend

Thanks Sarah x

you havent already bought the fluval have you ?

sounds like you have anaerobic bacteria in your substrate which is good as it converts nitrates into nitrogen which gasses off.

 

[pippoodle]

water stats are
nitrates 0 - 10 from tap but drop to 0 in 2 days after changes

nitrites 0
ammonia 0
ph 7-7.2 can't really tell the colour its a mx between the 2

using API master test kits

i'm adding a fluval 205 external at the weekend

Thanks Sarah x

you havent already bought the fluval have you ?

sounds like you have anaerobic bacteria in your substrate which is good as it converts nitrates into nitrogen which gasses off.

already got the fluval just not got it on any of the tanks , i'm in 2 minds wether or not to add it i got it free with the aquaone lol

 

[Truck]

oh ok. id add it but keep the filters you have then you will have massive filtration so can be pushier on stocking, just remember look after it( lube the o rings every now and then etc) to avoid problems, if it was me i would run sintered glass in the bottom baskets and floss in the top.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Also small fish will add a small amount of waste.

 

[three-fingers]

if it was me i would run sintered glass in the bottom baskets and floss in the top.

Other way around.
Water goes from bottom to top through baskets.

 

[Truck]

if it was me i would run sintered glass in the bottom baskets and floss in the top.

Other way around.
Water goes from bottom to top through baskets.

oh ok never used a fluval

 

[OldMan47]

I have been reading a lot of comments about how a large filter makes your tank bigger and can hold more. I don't buy that but then people always think my tanks are lightly stocked. The key to getting away with overstocking is to do lots of big water changes. As long as you are willing to move lots of new water through your tank, you can stock with impunity. If you could feed in new water with a fire hose and remove it just as effectively, you could keep lots of enormous fish in a 10 gallon tank. I aim my stocking at a level that won't kill my fish if the filter stops for a few hours and won't kill them with water quality problems if I go on vacation and am not around to change water for a couple of weeks. That means I will definitely stock more lightly than many people.
Contrary to what Truck said, you do not need to have anaerobic bacteria to process nitrates. I add lots of nitrates to some of my tanks. They are the tanks with lots of plants that the fish just can't keep up with. Nitrates are plant food that plants like almost as much as they like ammonia. It will not ever build up if the plants are growing well and there are enough of them.

 

[pippoodle]

I have been reading a lot of comments about how a large filter makes your tank bigger and can hold more. I don't buy that but then people always think my tanks are lightly stocked. The key to getting away with overstocking is to do lots of big water changes. As long as you are willing to move lots of new water through your tank, you can stock with impunity. If you could feed in new water with a fire hose and remove it just as effectively, you could keep lots of enormous fish in a 10 gallon tank. I aim my stocking at a level that won't kill my fish if the filter stops for a few hours and won't kill them with water quality problems if I go on vacation and am not around to change water for a couple of weeks. That means I will definitely stock more lightly than many people.
Contrary to what Truck said, you do not need to have anaerobic bacteria to process nitrates. I add lots of nitrates to some of my tanks. They are the tanks with lots of plants that the fish just can't keep up with. Nitrates are plant food that plants like almost as much as they like ammonia. It will not ever build up if the plants are growing well and there are enough of them.

i only have one tank with just one filter in cos i'm paranoid in case a filter packs up lol
my tank survived a 10 hour power cut with no increase in ammonia etc
and that was when i had lots of guppys and platys in the tank so i'm hoping it would survive again

i agree its the plants that are munching the nitrates

 

[pippoodle]

thanks for all the replies people i didn't think i was overstocked but people were doing my head in lol

 

[Johnlenham]

So when people are talking about overstocking are they talking about the limit of filtration? The limit of the tank of a combination of both?