Hello!

[Noahsfish]

Hi,
 
I'm new to this form and have a relatively new tank which has only been set up 2 weeks. I am not new to fish keeping but my partner is so we have set up this page for any questions we may have.
 
Here is what we have so far;
 
3ft tank, 3 Platys, 2 Guppies, 2 Angel Fish, 2 Silver Sharks, 2 Silver Tip Tetras, 1 Lonely Neon, 1 Lonely Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow, 2 Black Neon's, 4 Pencil Tetras, 1 Golden Gourami, 1 Bronze and 1 Albino Cory, 1 Unknown type of Loach, 1 Red marble Pleco, 1 Gold Spot Pleco, 1 Bamboo Shrimp and 2 Kuhli Loaches.

What im going to say is based on what I can infer from your posts...so, in a 3 foot tank 28 fish isn't overstocked? Some of them getting gigantic for that size tank? Also you seem to know somewhat about schools with your use of "lonely" if so, why don't you fix that? I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe you've been keeping fish for 10 years if you "know a bit" about the cycle, have a massively overstocked tank and improper schools.

Those were just my thoughts, and I also don't know where you got the idea 28 fish, some of which grow large, are ok for your size tank. If a lfs said that would be ok then they're either very ignorant, or are just plain lying.
To fix your stock I would rehome the angels, sharks, white cloud, the loach, all the plecos, and then go from there..sorry if I sound straightforward but don't know how else I could've wrote this so it comes across as "gentle".

 

[Rachelk]

 
What im going to say is based on what I can infer from your posts...so, in a 3 foot tank 28 fish isn't overstocked? Some of them getting gigantic for that size tank? Also you seem to know somewhat about schools with your use of "lonely" if so, why don't you fix that? I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe you've been keeping fish for 10 years if you "know a bit" about the cycle, have a massively overstocked tank and improper schools.

Those were just my thoughts, and I also don't know where you got the idea 28 fish, some of which grow large, are ok for your size tank. If a lfs said that would be ok then they're either very ignorant, or are just plain lying.
To fix your stock I would rehome the angels, sharks, white cloud, the loach, all the plecos, and then go from there..sorry if I sound straightforward but don't know how else I could've wrote this so it comes across as "gentle".
 

 
how many times do i have to say the tank is not over stocked! it is 3ft long 2ft deep and 1.5ft wide, quite a big tank. i have fixed the problem of the neons and the minnows they are now in schools as i said in a previous comment. If you find it hard to believe that i have been keeping fish for that long then thats fine.

i know some of these fish grow large but fish only grow to the size of their environment. If and when they get too big i will rehome them.

from my experiances in this post i will not be making any more posts some people have ruined my experiance using this forum.

 

[Sophie]

 

 
What im going to say is based on what I can infer from your posts...so, in a 3 foot tank 28 fish isn't overstocked? Some of them getting gigantic for that size tank? Also you seem to know somewhat about schools with your use of "lonely" if so, why don't you fix that? I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe you've been keeping fish for 10 years if you "know a bit" about the cycle, have a massively overstocked tank and improper schools.

Those were just my thoughts, and I also don't know where you got the idea 28 fish, some of which grow large, are ok for your size tank. If a lfs said that would be ok then they're either very ignorant, or are just plain lying.
To fix your stock I would rehome the angels, sharks, white cloud, the loach, all the plecos, and then go from there..sorry if I sound straightforward but don't know how else I could've wrote this so it comes across as "gentle".
 

 
how many times do i have to say the tank is not over stocked! it is 3ft long 2ft deep and 1.5ft wide, quite a big tank. i have fixed the problem of the neons and the minnows they are now in schools as i said in a previous comment. If you find it hard to believe that i have been keeping fish for that long then thats fine.

i know some of these fish grow large but fish only grow to the size of their environment. If and when they get too big i will rehome them.

from my experiances in this post i will not be making any more posts some people have ruined my experiance using this forum.
 

 
I'm sorry you feel that way.
 
Noahsfish could've phrased his comment so much better.
 
It's a myth that in fact fish grow to the size of their environment - They actually end up stunting themselves to the point it shortens their life span dramatically by weakening their immune system.
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/stunted-growth-means-stunted-lives/ - A very interesting article about the stressors placed on fish in homes inadequately sized.
 
By your dimensions your tank works out to be roughly 255 litres - there is a possibility that it isn't currently overstocked but in future it will be (depending on current fish size). Perhaps the other forum members are just thinking about the future and not what is here and now.
 
I also feel that experience shouldn't be measured by how many years you've owned something - I hear it a lot working with fish, when I refuse to sell them to people "I know what I'm doing, I've kept fish for years" is a common term of phrase.
A common problem in the fish world is there are no set in stone rules either, there are no laws. If you're happy with the way your tank is, then that's fine. Most is a matter of opinion and this forum fortunately has a lot of strong minded individuals who believe in providing the best and most adequate environments for their fish based on scientific fact.
 
If you would, I would ask kindly to give us a second chance.
We aren't all ogres - I got exactly the same treatment when I joined this forum, but instead of taking the advice as a personal attack, I went out and changed my whole perception of the aquatic industry and my fish are much better off for it.

 

[Noahsfish]

Just trying to keep it real Sophie ;/. I just don't see the reasoning of people when there's clearly something wrong with whatever they're saying. I thought that the majority of us on here are adults and don't need to be melo-dramatic. I'll keep my mouth shut on this topic now.

 

[Sophie]

Yes I can appreciate your side of things. I'm certainly not perfect myself, far from it - got a little snappy at times myself, more than once that's for sure. When you believe in something so passionately it's hard not too but you could've put it more cleverly

 

[DerpPH]

Fish dont grow to the size of their environment. If they dont reach their full size they get stunted and die.

 

[Rachelk]

All of the fish in the tank are very small noware near fully grown I understand I will have to rehome when they grow, I do have experience with fish Sophie I have worked buying selling looking after and breeding fish for many years! I to understand that people come in and say about their experience and you just have to take it with a pinch of salt. We have a 4x turn over on the tank and do a 20% water change every 3 day's or so. We have not lost any fish. This forum has come across as very aggressiv and not what i expected I set it up for my partner incase he has any questions and I am working away but he to feels that he does not what to be apart of it.

 

[Sophie]

All of the fish in the tank are very small noware near fully grown I understand I will have to rehome when they grow, I do have experience with fish Sophie I have worked buying selling looking after and breeding fish for many years! I to understand that people come in and say about their experience and you just have to take it with a pinch of salt. We have a 4x turn over on the tank and do a 20% water change every 3 day's or so. We have not lost any fish. This forum has come across as very aggressiv and not what i expected I set it up for my partner incase he has any questions and I am working away but he to feels that he does not what to be apart of it.

 
Well that's fair enough then.
The point remains I wasn't condemning you for having no experience.

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm really sorry to hear that.
 
I think that part of the issue is that this forum's convention is to use the fish's adult size when assessing whether a tank is overstocked. If you take the iridescent shark as an extreme example, we would class a 4 foot tank overstocked with just one baby ID shark in it - because the adult fish is so darn huge.
 
I agree wholeheartedly that some responses have been inappropriate, and I did mention this to one such. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of the other instances at a sensible time to do the same. It should be pointed out that a forum member has raised similar concerns with the Mod team, and this is being discussed currently.
 
I wish you luck in your fishkeeping, and if you do need help, please feel free to ask.