Can someone answer why if all your fish are peaceful you have excellent water quality with weekly water changes, your fish have the space to swim and reach full size then why are you overstocked? I only write this as im sick to death of reading posts where people are saying to others your overstocked when im more overstocked than them and everything is fine and has been for ages...would like peoples thoughts on this?
Very Frustrating!
- Thread starter James9114
- Start date
People use different criteria to decide what stocking level is correct.
I use the following (you will see me using and posting this often):
max fish size
temperament
type of food
quantity of food
metabolism
fish compatibility
coral compatibility (for reef tanks)
invert compatibility
substrate requirements
swimming requirements
swimming ability
flow requirements
sensitivity to changes in parameters
sensitivity to water quality issues
sleeping habits
rock work requirements
lighting preference
body shape (deep keeled vs shallow)
territorial requirements (I can only keep 1 male clown goby in my 210 gallon tank and that fish is tiny).
escape and jumping potential
temperature requirements (temperate vs tropical also temp range and how temp affects metabolism)
growth rate
Some people use the old "fish-inch" method of stocking which really doesn't work when you think about it. For example, an eel might be a foot long but require very little swimming space so by some standards the eel alone is enough to make a tank overstocked. I like to use the above because it takes more things into consideration than just how many inches of fish per gallon.
I use the following (you will see me using and posting this often):
max fish size
temperament
type of food
quantity of food
metabolism
fish compatibility
coral compatibility (for reef tanks)
invert compatibility
substrate requirements
swimming requirements
swimming ability
flow requirements
sensitivity to changes in parameters
sensitivity to water quality issues
sleeping habits
rock work requirements
lighting preference
body shape (deep keeled vs shallow)
territorial requirements (I can only keep 1 male clown goby in my 210 gallon tank and that fish is tiny).
escape and jumping potential
temperature requirements (temperate vs tropical also temp range and how temp affects metabolism)
growth rate
Some people use the old "fish-inch" method of stocking which really doesn't work when you think about it. For example, an eel might be a foot long but require very little swimming space so by some standards the eel alone is enough to make a tank overstocked. I like to use the above because it takes more things into consideration than just how many inches of fish per gallon.
One of the things I personally like about this method is that it requires research to answer those questions and I feel that research leads to happy fish.
I agree totally with what WILDER said above...people are concerned about the fish and their health and that's why you see so many comments about being overstocked.
My reef tank for example is way understocked for the size of tank it is (210 gallons) but it keeps my fish happy.
I agree totally with what WILDER said above...people are concerned about the fish and their health and that's why you see so many comments about being overstocked.
My reef tank for example is way understocked for the size of tank it is (210 gallons) but it keeps my fish happy.
Electric Warrior
Fishaholic
I don't know if I find all of the overstocking comments frustrating, but I do understand that overstocking in general, is something that a large percentage of newbies end up doing. Just like not cycling a tank properly, etc. and how many of those threads do you see where someone is like "Help, my fish are dying/acting strange," and it turns out that they bought a 10g tank, put bacteria in a bottle in, and the next day added three clown loaches, two RTBS, and common pleco, because the lfs didn't really care what they were buying. I do think that keeping fish that need similar water parameters in a tank is just as important as stocking/overstocking, IMO.
The thing is, there is really no cut a dry one size fits all criteria for stocking a tank. While I could have a 220g tank, with 40 Malawis in it, and be perfectly fine, I can't have 40 oscars in it. This is where research and, I hate to say it, common sense kicks in.
Ive seen people make a fuss over someone that was supposedly two inches over stocked. And if its a newbie, no matter what they post (is my platy preg, my new betta, what kind of plants grow in low light et cet) they are borderline harassed for their water parameters even tho it had nothing to do with the post.
Of course when someone posts about behavior or health problems absolutely. But its almost creepy how over the top some fish activists can be.
Also, when someone is asking for help with an outbreak in a tank i often see replies guiding the poster to buy more of the shoaling fish that they dont have enough of. Hellooooo the tank is sick. And if their fish were fine together for months or years leave it alone!
It also irks me when you write out the details and someone doesnt even bother reading it all the way and starts spewing generic beginner lessons.
Of course when someone posts about behavior or health problems absolutely. But its almost creepy how over the top some fish activists can be.
Also, when someone is asking for help with an outbreak in a tank i often see replies guiding the poster to buy more of the shoaling fish that they dont have enough of. Hellooooo the tank is sick. And if their fish were fine together for months or years leave it alone!
It also irks me when you write out the details and someone doesnt even bother reading it all the way and starts spewing generic beginner lessons.
Depending on the problem, questions may be asked that do not seem to be related to the original topic, but most of the very experienced members would not asked such questions nor criticize stock if they did not know what they are talking about. A lot of problems with communities, i.e. sick fish, ich outbreaks, can be directly related to water quality and or stocking issues. Not enough fish or fish not kept in proper shoals can lead to stress, which can lead to parasites and bacterial infections. So borderline harassment or not, there is a method to the madness.
But as this thread was regarding frustration as far as stocking opinions, I will refrain from commenting on the parts of you rant that do not pertain to stocking. (which water quality wasn't exactly part of the original post, but is a direct reflection of stocking so....)
What about the "my platy is preggo what do I do?" threads....
Well, waht is in the tank and how big is it? (i ask this to establish whether or not babies would be best caught, or if hiding places should be added)
Oh you have a green terror in there with 3 male platys and a female? Well, your gt will probably eat the babies, and eventually the mommy and daddies. Not to mention your 10g is a bit small for the GT. I suggest you rehome the GT. Also your m/f ratio is a bit off, you may want to consider rehoming 2 of those males and replacing them with females. That many males could potentially stress your lady fish out.
Stock can be relevent no matter what the question. Even questions about plants. Some fish eat plants.
I think talk about stocking is appropriate whenever stocking levels might be the cause of a problem. Probably what frustrates new aquarists is how the stocking advice is presented to them.
Livebearers are a good example. We could say a tank with 5 male guppies and 1 female is overstocked...at least as far as males are concerned and if someone had a question about the health of the female we would have to mention that the ratio of male to female should be reversed.
We hear so much about stock because it really is relavent to so much. The reason I created the list above was because of the constant need to discuss the issue with people. It ALWAYS comes up!
Livebearers are a good example. We could say a tank with 5 male guppies and 1 female is overstocked...at least as far as males are concerned and if someone had a question about the health of the female we would have to mention that the ratio of male to female should be reversed.
We hear so much about stock because it really is relavent to so much. The reason I created the list above was because of the constant need to discuss the issue with people. It ALWAYS comes up!
Very well put Tcamos
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