Overstocking..

[LolaLouie]

I was just wondering about the harms of over stocking....

I know everyone tells newbies on here an inch per gallon but when you look on other topics (e.g. scientific forum) people say things like 3 inches per gallon is acceptable as long as they are properly looked after but they still recommend telling newbies 1 inch per gallon.

I have a 24 gallon tank with an external filter designed for a 100 gallon tank.

I have the following fish:

3 Dwarf Gouramis (1xM 2xF)
6 Diamond Head Tetra (slightly smaller than Neons)
6 Cherry Barb
4 Pentazona Barb
3 Amano Shrimp
2 Otos
4 Cory Cats

Now I know lots of you would say this is overstocked but I test my tank daily and clean it out once to twice a week.

I'd really like 2 African dwarf frogs and maybe a couple of smallish top dwelling fish.

My tank doesn't look full (especially near the top) and my fish have plenty of room to swim in as well as rocks and plants.

Is there any really harm in "overstocking" if the fish have plenty of room to swim, readings for NO2, NO3 and NH3 stay at the necessary levels and a filter made for a 100 gallon is used?

I love animals and have had them my whole life and wouldn't dream of making any animal uncomfortable or suffer but looking at my tank there seems to be space (the barbs and tetras shoal leaving the rest of the tank practically empty).

Opinions please!

Thanks

 

[mrbudgie]

your filter houses extra water as well being external and the frogs will barely show on the bio load of the tank. you might get away with something on the surface like a couple of small half beaks but its up to you

 

[Spooky76]

True. Alot depends on filter size and fish choice. By the looks of it you havent any fish that cant even turn around in it.
I think as long as you know what your doing, which you do, its not a strict rule of thumb no. I always think with Plecs, clowns and such its cruel to keep them in a small tank, because they need the room to grow.

If you think its got room....your probably right and as long as you keep your eye on it your fine.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

That's a very good question.

Now, the effects of overstocking are usually that the filter is unable to cope and that the fish feel stressed because of the lack of space, both of which can cause disease and death.

I would say that with your filtration, your tank should be absolutely fine. I have been in the hobby for around 8 years and my tank is overstocked, but i know my filters will cope with it easily and i don't keep any big territorial fish. My tank is extremely healthy and all inhabitants are happy.

Overstocking is generally not recommended for the beginner as they don't have such a good knowledge of the nitrogen cycle and the various other scientific aspects of the hobby, and they don't tend to have so much knowledge about individual species and their specific requirements. More experienced hobbyists can and often do pull it off no problem.

It appears that you have all these areas covered, so although i would never recommend it to anyone, you may very well be able to cope quite comfortably with an "over-stocked" tank.

That said, BEWARE. The real issues with overstocked tanks arise when you encounter a power cut and your filters pack in.....................

Good luck with your tank.

BTT

 

[LolaLouie]

Thanks a lot for your opinions, I was worried I was going to get my head bitten off over this!

 

[Spooky76]

lol - you might yet....only 3 people have commented

 

[mrbudgie]

overstocking thread and no-ones bitten heads off or been negative lovely jubilee

 

[Jules H-T]

What do you mean by "clean your tank out"?

 

[rabbut]

You probbly can get away with it, but remember, since filtration isn't limiting here, available oxygen is. I would advise investing in an oxygen test kit, to help better judge the tanks ability to hold more fish. You want to aim for 8mg/l of DO (desolved Oxygen), if you whish to add more fish, so that if you do, the DO won't drop into the dangerous range, of 5mg/l or less.
Best of luck to you, and I hope you pull this off without any problems

Rabbut

 

[MHunt]

I agree that a tank stocked with your average community fish can be stocked up to about 2 inched per gallon. I think you're at about 32" (very roughly) so you could easily add a few more fish, especially with your very efficient filtering for that tank. I don't know about the bio load for ADF's but someone here mentioned that it was negligible so you may be all right. I would suggest getting a couple more cory's as they prefer to be in slightly larger groups than what you have.

 

[Luketendo]

You can get away with it.

 

[Azaezl]

I wouldn't recommend adf's with all those fish and corys, adf's have terrible eyesight and rely on smell to find food, all the other fish will find and eat the food first. You could try feeding at night as that will make it harder for the fish to find the food as it will be dark but more then likely you will have to target feed the frogs so if I was you I'd not add them or if you really want some then get them their own tank. A 5 gal is more then adequate for a trio of adf's and as they would be the only inhabitants feeding wouldn't be a problem.

I would suggest adding some more ottos as they prefer larger groups, so maybe another 2 or 3 ottos, 2 more corys(5/6 is usually the recommended group size for corys) and as already mentioned depending on the oxygen and as long as your test readings come back ok you should be safe to add a few more top dwellers as well to fill up that space a bit more.

Good luck

 

[LolaLouie]

I had 2 ADFs before and they were fine with all the fish, I just defrosted bloodworm and watched to make sure they ate. Also my problem with ottos is i keep hearing how they die all the time on introducing them to the tank and when i did get another otto it died after 2 days so I am hoping to get a bigger tank next week and then will probably get a Plec or something.

Thanks for the advice all btw.. as I said i'm hopefully getting a bigger tank next weekend as long as I can sell the tank i currently have.

 

[Tolak]

Overstocking is fine, as long as you have a backup plan. A spare tank, which doesn't have to be a tank, along with a heater & way of setting up cycled filtration is a big part of this plan. Knowing this you would be best served by having two 50 gallon filters running, or have a second filter that some of the media from the 100 gallon filter will fit into pretty easily.

The inch per gallon guideline is a way to keep new aquarists out of trouble. At this stocking rate they have a tank they can enjoy, which is not too labor intensive, where they can learn the basics of aquatics, while learning about fish behavior.

Everyone worrys about test results, experienced aquarists more often go on gut instinct, with fish behavior playing a major role in this. I have several overstocked tanks, and rarely do water tests. It sounds like you have a good handle on stocking the different levels of the tank, which avoids any stress on the fish while still being able to overstock.

Power outages and filters going out on an overstocked tank is always a disaster waiting to happen. O2 levels drop in half the time in a double stocked tank, 1/3 the time in a triple stocked tank. This kills fish fast. At minimum a battery powered air pump is needed to keep O2 levels up, a few box filters that your main filter media will fit into will keep bio filtration going. A small generator is your best bet, I saw a 1500w generator for $200 yesterday at the auto parts store, not a bad deal. This will pay for itself if you have a fridge full of food, as well as saving your tank.

 

[MHunt]

Overstocking is fine, as long as you have a backup plan. A spare tank, which doesn't have to be a tank, along with a heater & way of setting up cycled filtration is a big part of this plan. Knowing this you would be best served by having two 50 gallon filters running, or have a second filter that some of the media from the 100 gallon filter will fit into pretty easily.

The inch per gallon guideline is a way to keep new aquarists out of trouble. At this stocking rate they have a tank they can enjoy, which is not too labor intensive, where they can learn the basics of aquatics, while learning about fish behavior.

Everyone worrys about test results, experienced aquarists more often go on gut instinct, with fish behavior playing a major role in this. I have several overstocked tanks, and rarely do water tests. It sounds like you have a good handle on stocking the different levels of the tank, which avoids any stress on the fish while still being able to overstock.

Power outages and filters going out on an overstocked tank is always a disaster waiting to happen. O2 levels drop in half the time in a double stocked tank, 1/3 the time in a triple stocked tank. This kills fish fast. At minimum a battery powered air pump is needed to keep O2 levels up, a few box filters that your main filter media will fit into will keep bio filtration going. A small generator is your best bet, I saw a 1500w generator for $200 yesterday at the auto parts store, not a bad deal. This will pay for itself if you have a fridge full of food, as well as saving your tank.

I forgot to mention the what if's because as Tolak has said, overstocking is fine while everything works, but as soon as something stops working, things start to go wrong very quickly. An alternative to a Generator to keep the juice flowing is a UPS power supply like the type used on computer systems.