Intentionally Overstocking Your Tank

[NewTankGuy]

I want to ask a tough question.  How do you intentionally overstock your tank and keep everyone alive and healthy?  Right now, by the 1 inch per gallon rule, I am at about 95% fully stocked, not counting my pleco, and calculating my angels at 10" full grown.  At 12" full grown for my angels I am at 110% stocked, again without the pleco. If you count the common pleco (factored at 24" full grown) I am at  126% with angels at 10", and 143% at 12".
 
The dilemma is that I kinda love my common pleco, but hate how much tank percentage he will take up due to the excessive waste he will produce.  So I wanted to know with the right filtration in place can I knowingly overstock my tank and be ok, and have everyone in there happy.  Im going for looks with my tank, but an am animal lover so I dont want to hurt my fish just to have the fish I want to keep, because they where bought without knowing how much they need to be kept.  
 
My Tank. 
 
75 Gal (48" L x 24" H).
 
Filters -
 
SunSun HW-303B -  370GPH with UV Sterilizer, rated for up to 110 gal tank.
 
SunSun JP-023 Power Head - 270 GPH, with Hydro Sponge 5 sponge filter, rated for up to 70 gal tank. 
 
Planted - 13 live plants, with appropriate supplements and substrate, 7 of witch are of Amazon Sward origin
 
Fish - 
 
6 angelfish, no mated pairs
4 platys
1 dwarf gourami
1 Common Pleco
 

 

[sawickib]

Your tank tbh doesnt seem very stocked, the 1" per gallon of adult fish is good for newbies but you usually learn whats wrong and right. Stocking usually comes down to parameters, temp, waste production, territory, etc.
 
Im sure you know you wont be able to keep a full grown common pleco in a 75 gallon for ever. However plecos are large waste producers, so they do require extra maintenance, not necessarily filter wise, but the amount of water you change in the tank. 
 
The angels are small at the moment, and are omnivores so they dont generally make much waste.
 
The platies are quite small but still make a lot of waste and make babies, so they add to the bioload. 
 
The dwarf gourami barely takes up space in your 75 gallon, so maybe get it 2 females if its a male or 1 male and one female if its a female.
 
Then you can add fish of your choosing, maybe a nice school of cory cats, or maybe a school of tetras. Cories prefer sand over gravel though, so if you have gravel it may not be the best choice.
 
Maybe a peacock eel? Im just thinking a good school of bottom dwellers would set your tank up nicely, and maybe start looking for a pleco suitable for your tank, there are some very beautiful plecos out there, my favorites being L25 and L114, but these come with a price tag haha, There is also plecos like green phantoms, blue phantoms, L204, or even the simple bristle nose pleco. 
 
So a little advice from me is dont use the 1" per gallon rule, and just use the things i said above. You could fill an entire 75 gallon with 75 neon tetras,, which technically is 200% stock but it would be totally fine, beautiful, and easy to maintain.
 
Hope i helped you a little

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I'm a very impulsive buyer but i only get like a pair or so then add as my tank can handle it.

 

[Byron]

I'd like to explain a bit about stocking, as this aspect of fishkeeping is frequently misunderstood.  There is much more to this than just the size of the fish and their affect on the bioload.
 
Factors that affect how many fish a given aquarium can safely hold: fish species, fish numbers, live plants, filtration, aquascaping, water parameters (GH, pH and temperature).  And increasing the filtration, i.e., more and/or larger filters, does not necessarily improve things, since this takes no account of the fish species, parameters, and aquascape.
 
The fish species, water parameters and aquascaping are inter-connected.  Each species of fish is designed by nature to function "best" in a certain environment.  When this environment--which involves the number of fish if it is a shoaling species, other fish species within the confines of the aquarium, the tank size, the water parameters and the aquascaping--are outside what the species is designed for, it adds stress to the fish and this impacts on the health of all the fish in the aquarium.  A greater pressure is exerted on the biological system.  So the aquarium can in this situation actually hold fewer "fish" than it could with the environmental factors being correct for the species.
 
You don't need to accept my word for this, as many ichthyologists will say much the same thing.  Dr. Paul Loiselle in an article on providing the proper environment for fish, writes, "It is inhumane to deprive any animal of an element it regards as critical to its well-being, and totally naive to expect normal behavior in its absence."
 
With that in mind, turning to your present fish load: the six angelfish are fine in a 75g, provided they have suitable water parameters and decor.  The platies may be OK, depending upon the GH of the water but if there is a mix of male/female you are going to have hundreds of fry regularly; all males solves this problem, though depending upon your parameters this might not be the best fish with angels.
 
The dwarf gourami I would not include.  First, males are territorial, and this will set up conflict with the angelfish.  Second, the risk of iridovirus with this species is significant, unless you obtain the fish from a reliable breeder, but it is still not one I would include here.
 
The common pleco I would remove now.  This fish can attain from 12 to 20 inches in length, and this is going to have a significant impact on the biology, even with more frequent and substantial water changes.  Try to visualize a single fish that is 1/4 the length of this tank, and bulky.  In a much larger tank, this pleco can work with angelfish, but in my view there is not sufficient space here for the mix.  A largish group (12-20) of Corydoras as the previous member suggested would be a much better match and provide more interest as well.
 
You also have space for a group of tetra, and there are some that work very well with angelfish.  For colour, the Rosy Tetra or Roberti Tetra cannot really be equalled in this situation; they do not fin nip, they are not going to be targets of the angelfish, and they are nicely coloured.  There are some other tetra too.
 
I hope I have helped a bit; do not hesitate to question anything.  Back to your initial question, one should never intentionally overstock an aquarium, but there are manh factors involved in achieving a balanced system.
 
Byron.

 

[sawickib]

With that in mind, turning to your present fish load: the six angelfish are fine in a 75g, provided they have suitable water parameters and decor.  The platies may be OK, depending upon the GH of the water but if there is a mix of male/female you are going to have hundreds of fry regularly; all males solves this problem, though depending upon your parameters this might not be the best fish with angels.
 
The dwarf gourami I would not include.  First, males are territorial, and this will set up conflict with the angelfish.  Second, the risk of iridovirus with this species is significant, unless you obtain the fish from a reliable breeder, but it is still not one I would include here.
 
The common pleco I would remove now.  This fish can attain from 12 to 20 inches in length, and this is going to have a significant impact on the biology, even with more frequent and substantial water changes.  Try to visualize a single fish that is 1/4 the length of this tank, and bulky.  In a much larger tank, this pleco can work with angelfish, but in my view there is not sufficient space here for the mix.  A largish group (12-20) of Corydoras as the previous member suggested would be a much better match and provide more interest as well.
 
You also have space for a group of tetra, and there are some that work very well with angelfish.  For colour, the Rosy Tetra or Roberti Tetra cannot really be equalled in this situation; they do not fin nip, they are not going to be targets of the angelfish, and they are nicely coloured.  There are some other tetra too.
 
Byron.

Hi, id just like to add ive had pearl gouramis with angelfish for a few months with no problems at all, but that all doesnt mean yours will not fight, so i would watch them. I believe the OP knows the potential length of the pleco, but i think he/she will be rehoming it when the time comes.
 
Id agree with keeping your fish happy and healthy and making sure all fish are compatiable, so if problems arise with the angels and gouramis id also advise rehoming it. 

 

[Byron]

You bring forth a couple of valid points, so I'd like to elaborate if I may.  Individual fish do behave differently, I've seen this myself.  I always consider the safest course, especially for someone who may be less experienced than others or not have multiple tanks at his/her disposal should trouble occur, is to expect the fish's natural behaviours to dominate.  They may or may not, but the majority of experience tells us what is most likely to result, and that should be the guide.
 
On the point of keeping potentially large fish that will be rehomed later, this I believe is not advisable.  Fish grow continually, and develop internally as well as externally as they do.  While it may not be so crucial here with a 75g, others may find themselves in similar situations and under different circumstances.  It is better for the fish, better for the aquarium, and thus better for the other fish, to remove potential issues sooner rather than later.  As this pleco develops, they can take a dislike to other fish, and we have some much smaller fish involved.  I learned by error an important concept which I have followed ever since; I will never buy a fish I do not know all about, or for which I do not now have a suitable aquarium.  And suitable means not only space, but environment as I set out previously.  If one follows these two maxims, fewer fish get harmed, less money is wasted, and healthier and happier fish result. 

 
Byron.

 

[sawickib]

No, i completely agree the problems should be taken care of sooner rather than later, esp. when large catfish are involved. IME common plecos grow quite slow, but i also wouldnt advise a common pleco with cories, in fear of territorial problems. Then there is the case where the op is attached to the pleco, which all we can do is recommend to rehome it before the problems arrive. Then maybe the op could get a much smaller species of pleco, which most are more beautiful then common plecos haha

 

[Byron]

No, i completely agree the problems should be taken care of sooner rather than later, esp. when large catfish are involved. IME common plecos grow quite slow, but i also wouldnt advise a common pleco with cories, in fear of territorial problems. Then there is the case where the op is attached to the pleco, which all we can do is recommend to rehome it before the problems arrive.

Then maybe the op could get a much smaller species of pleco, which most are more beautiful then common plecos haha

Yes, there are some quite striking pleco that remain under the five inch size.  Why stores continue to regularly stock the large common pleco makes little sense.  I believe in the UK there is (or was) a move to stop certain fish from being available without special order, and the aim was to end the sale of large fish that outgrow tanks and then suffer.  Research prior to acquisition is the only way to avoid some of this.

 

[NewTankGuy]

Thank you all for the advice, as this is some really really great stuff! I got the common pelco as one of the first fish for the tank, and well before I learned my lesson on doing research, and not relying on what they say at the LPS before buying.  With that, I added the 4 Platys as from what I could read they stay under 2" and are peaceful, so I though they would be a fun little addition that would add color, but wouldn't bug anyone.  They seem to be doing great, and have actually encouraged a more active environment in the tank as they dont nip at my angels (the angels are the ones that I care about the most and want to keep the tank as MOSTLY a angelfish tank).  As for the DG, I had two, but one was extremely aggressive and was causing alot of problems, but the other wasnt.  So I moved the mean one into my Tiger Barb tank and it seemed to settle everything.  In the TB tank, the DG does not put up with any nonsense and puts the barbs right in their place so now they leave the DG alone and he leaves them alone. With the one in the angelfish tank just loving being able to do his own thing and be a loner which seems to make him very happy and the angels dont mind him at all.  My 75 tank is fully up and running, and I dont want to do major changes as I am really happy with it, but I am asking for the advice, because I want to make sure the fish are happy too.  So with that being said, how do you go about re-homing a fish that you have had for months now, so you cant simply return it to the store. Wich is the same store that told me a common pelco will not out grow a 29 gal (his original home), let alone a 75 lol.....  

 

[Byron]

 Some stores might take the fish whether you got it there or not, if they are knowledgeable; after all, they might get your continued business.  Some stores might permit you to "advertise" the fish for free. Use this forum's classified section, there could be members near you that would be able to take a common pleco.  Look for hobbyists in your area, perhaps through a local fish club, or a regional forum.
 
Byron.