Refusal Of The Overstocking Rule.

[fishyfeet]

i have a fifty gal tank and i understock and overfilter, so can anyone tell me why that isnt best for the fish, baring in mind i have small groups and not one of this and one of that, and i havent read any stocking rule, why stock to the gunals, what if you see a magnificent fish tomorrow, ive room for it di

 

[Spurry]

sod any rules its down to can your filter handle what you have and can you maintain the tank so you fish dont die

answer A, my filter is overloaded and i can not maintain my water quality, then your over stocked
answer B, my filter is fine and water is tiptop, then your not over stocked

it all up to you

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Questioning any of the guidelines and/or deliberations in publications printed as gospel is a sure sign of experience and maturity in the field..... I, myself do not pay any attention to anything from water conditions, size per gallon, water cycling and the likes, but rely exclusively on my own experience and homemade rules to set up, run and maintain a fish tank......

That being said...... When I was a beginner (way back in 1970)..... I did need these publications to guide me into becoming experienced and to gradually disregard some of the statements and form my own opinions. So!.... where some of the information appears to be a little draconian..... they are required to cater for the worst case scenario...... It is only after many years that you can start following and implementing your own rules...... but!!... you'l know what the symptoms are and how to rectify them when you trespass!

 

[BigbruiserAl]

guildlines are just that no one can force you to take any notice. One prime example are gold fish i had a conversation at work with a girl saying her goldfish died after 3 years and thought it was good going, she informed me it was a a 30L with 2 in She thought her fish were happy she didt know they live for 20 odd years shew didt know that there internal oragans suffered as there was not enough room in the tank to grow, she didt know she had to do water changes....who made these rules, no one they are collected information from breeders and keepers to be used to ensure the fish lead a decent life and as guide

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

There is more to stocking a tank than simply overcrowding. Lets take your "60 Gallon - Cycling - Future Stock - 2 Keyhole Cichlids - 4 Kuhli Loaches - 9 Zebra Danios - 1 Bristlenose - 2 Dwarf Gouramis" as an example (having seen the Keyhole Cichlids replace a Green Terror this afternoon)...

• Temperature: All planned fish need to have matching temperature needs, which means research needs to identify sub-tropical species from tropical ones. Zebra Danios do not suit your planned stocking at all, they are sub-tropical and should therefore spend most of the year at <20C, whereas all your other fish will do much better at 23-25C, which those danios should only be exposed to for the summer. As an alternative, consider species such as Harlequin or Hengel's Rasbora, which need more typical tropical temperature (or scrap all the other fish for sub-tropicals like Redline Torpedo Barbs, Rosy Barbs, Blind Cave Tetra etc.).
• Water movement: Do your planned fish have similar "tastes" in current? No, Zebra Danios need a strong upper water current, that will stress Dwarf Gouramis in a very bad way and might be just about tolerated by the others (but far from ideal).
• Temprement: Does the group of planned fish have a good match on aggression? Despite being cichlids, Keyholes are pretty placid in the grand scheme of things, so no issues there. Male Dwarf Gouramis are aggressive with conspecifics, so you will need either two females, or a male and female. A trio or even four may help here with the tank being a good size, to spread any aggression.
• Social numbers: Do any planned fish need numbers for natural behaviour and confidence? Yes, the Zebra Danios (9 is fine) and Kuhli Loaches (4 is not fine). To have any chance of seeing these fish after releasing them, think more on the lines of 10+. Notice how in the fish shop stores that they are seen in the open, when there can easly be 40+ of them.

There is more factors that can be added to the above list, such as predation (eg. mixing Angels with live lunch Neon Tetras); water hardness; pH etc. etc.

 

[StandbySetting]

Since when was there an over stocking rule?

If you have some experience you know what is acceptable and what is not, the guidlines are there to steer beginners along the right path.

 

[dbanner]

Snake007, i have to agree here on your examples from your initial post... I have also seen crazy things such as 10 of 'x' named fish not being suitable for let's say a 20 gal tank when you know the fish in question may be an inch or 2 in length its whole life so its easy to see that in fact the fish would have more than enough space. Id only use the 1 gallon = 1 inch as a VERY rough guideline. As long as you don't exceed the number of fish you have by silly amounts or as stated, put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gal etc then i don't see the problem as long as you were to have enough filtration, as most people do. some people just take this guideline waaay too far. Like sayin you need 20 or even 30 gal for a single 3 inch goldfish lol seems silly to me

 

[Caprichoso]

The problem comes in when that "single 3 inch goldfish" grows to it's mature size.

 

[fidjet2]

+1 goldfish get quite big.....

 

[Dieses Madchen]

By definition my tank is slightly overstocked, but I am constantly changing my stocking due to fry moving on to new homes. At any given time my tank will either be over stocked or understaocked. But My water parameters look fantastic, and my fish thrive. I think that as long as you are keeping the tank within acceptable means as far as what the fish requires, then overstocking is ok, as long as you are prepared for the extra maintenance. I know that when I have a full batch of fry to unload, I need to do more than one water change a week to keep up with the extra nitrates. But I would NOT house 10 juvie clown loaches in a 20g tank or what not.

 

[Mikaila31]

Since when was there an over stocking rule?

If you have some experience you know what is acceptable and what is not, the guidlines are there to steer beginners along the right path.

+1

Stocking has a lot of personal opinion pushed on to it. There is no clear cut way to say a tank is overstock, fully stocked, or understocked. Stocking a tank depends on a lot of factors. There are no lines between overstocked, fully stocked, or understocked either, they merge into one another. Usually we all eventually learn from research and experience what levels work best for how we want the tank to function as a whole. You could also question on some tanks if they are overstocked or undercared.

As far as the OP goes the stocking is okay apart from the fish that will eventually outgrow those tanks. They have a much lighter bioload then some of my tanks.

 

[MBOU]

Personally i think people are reading this as if it is a sensible mature post with a serious question, when it isnt.

You have created post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post.... asking questions, saying you dont know too much but you desperately want to learn!

And yet you not only ignore peoples advise but you then post complaining because you dont like the answers! If you dont like/dont want to take advise, that your loss but dont start complaining at people that took time to bother advising you...

 

[Mowbz]

Personally i think people are reading this as if it is a sensible mature post with a serious question, when it isnt.

You have created post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post.... asking questions, saying you dont know too much but you desperately want to learn!

And yet you not only ignore peoples advise but you then post complaining because you dont like the answers! If you dont like/dont want to take advise, that your loss but dont start complaining at people that took time to bother advising you...

.....aaaaand theres the brakes.

Everyone comes on this forum to share their knowledge. When asking for advice, be prepared to be told your preconceptions are wrong. Ive had it, as have most of the people on here, including the more learned members.

If you want advice, ask for it. If you want someone to OK a bad decision, its time to find a different forum, as people on here are more than happy to tell you if you're wrong, rather than stand back and watch you kill fish off.

Someone once told me something that has stuck to this day;

"If someone takes the time to give you advice young boy, you bloody well stand there and listen". "You dont have to like it, and they could be the biggest fool for miles around, but if they took the time to give you advice, you take the time to listen, and come to your own conlusion".

Strangely, not only was he right, but he was my granddad, the biggest fool for miles around!


Im sorry Snake, but i cant disagree with most of the posts on here.....

 

[KittyKat]

I have also seen crazy things such as 10 of 'x' named fish not being suitable for let's say a 20 gal tank when you know the fish in question may be an inch or 2 in length its whole life so its easy to see that in fact the fish would have more than enough space.

But what was the 'x'? For example, 10 * 2 inch zebra danios would not be suitable for a 50*40*40 cm (19.5*16*16 inch) tank because they can clear a 4-5 ft tank from one end to the other in under a second. What sort of life would they have in a tank where they can't even get up to speed? There could be very good reasons for people saying that specific short fish do not fit into short tanks, regardless of the volume, which is why it is better of people use dimensions instead of volumes for tank measurements!

 

[england]

Personally i think people are reading this as if it is a sensible mature post with a serious question, when it isnt.

You have created post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post.... asking questions, saying you dont know too much but you desperately want to learn!

And yet you not only ignore peoples advise but you then post complaining because you dont like the answers! If you dont like/dont want to take advise, that your loss but dont start complaining at people that took time to bother advising you...

.....aaaaand theres the brakes.



Someone once told me something that has stuck to this day;

"If someone takes the time to give you advice young boy, you bloody well stand there and listen". "You dont have to like it, and they could be the biggest fool for miles around, but if they took the time to give you advice, you take the time to listen, and come to your own conlusion".

Strangely, not only was he right, but he was my granddad, the biggest fool for miles around!


Im sorry Snake, but i cant disagree with most of the posts on here.....

Wise Man