So How Many Of Us Are Overstocked?

[fluttermoth]

I keep my tanks understocked and overfiltered.

I've never quite understood the 'how many fish can I cram into my tank' attitude. I'd rather set tanks up to try and recreate the fish's natural habitat as closly as possible and have larger groups of just two or three species rather than bits and bobs of as many as I can manage to jam in.

 

[Jenste]

I keep my tanks understocked and overfiltered.

I've never quite understood the 'how many fish can I cram into my tank' attitude. I'd rather set tanks up to try and recreate the fish's natural habitat as closly as possible and have larger groups of just two or three species rather than bits and bobs of as many as I can manage to jam in.

+1

 

[Vin Swords]

as long as fish is happy.. (happy means a non fish keeper should say fish look happy)

 

[StandbySetting]

I keep my tanks understocked and overfiltered.

I've never quite understood the 'how many fish can I cram into my tank' attitude. I'd rather set tanks up to try and recreate the fish's natural habitat as closly as possible and have larger groups of just two or three species rather than bits and bobs of as many as I can manage to jam in.

I agree with this, less is more is definitely the best approach aesthetically and with regards to the waste produced by the fish.

 

[Caprichoso]

I looked "happy" too when I lived in my tiny 600 sq ft apartment with room mates...but on the inside I was screaming LET ME OUT!!!!!! lol...
I think It's ok to be stocked heavy but strict weekly maintenance has to be done and you need a very good filtration system. If a person can't be responsible for this, then they should keep fish number low in relation to tank size. It's nice to see a lot of fish in a tank but I don't believe in taking it to extremes. So am I over stocked? I think I'm pushing the boundaries of what I'm comfortable with. I have a 140 us gallon with about 75 inhabitants. The 75 includes 2 pearl gourami, various tetras, platy, minnows, betta, catfish and 10 shrimp. I do 50% water change and gravel vac every week and I have an FX5. I know my fish are doing well because no one has died and all species are either courting or laying eggs or having babies. My tank has more lovin than a hippie at woodstock, lol.

 

[Squidward]

There's no such thing as over stocking, there is no real way to define what is acceptable.

I agree.

As a absolute newbie some years ago, I started with a Mbuna tank. Was given advice by a breeder of the stocking levels required and how to deal with it. So I "cut my teeth" on fish keeping with an overstocked tank.
With my Mbuna, some died, more were born and the number of fish in my tank stayed more or less the same.

Then I decided that I had had enough of the Malawi aggression, so I switched over to general tropicals with a leaning to the more unusual/oddballs. Maybe it was because I was used to so many fish, so I added quite a few fish to my new setup.

My tank is disease free, I have not had an outbreak of ich since setting up. And the last fish I lost was a few weeks ago which was a Bleeding Heart Tetra which died of what I have since discovered is a parasitic infection that attacks the "skirt tetras".

I also have fish breeding in my tank. I don't want the babies, so leave the eggs to be eaten. But I have 2 pairs of Angels, a pair of Kribs and some Cory's that almost constantly lay eggs.

So, am I wrong to have my tank at the so called over stocked levels that it's at?

 

[MissKitty]

We have more fish in our 4ft than anyone would recommend to a newbie...
but we also have more caves, decorations & hiding places than most would have in a 6ft tank.
Most of our inhabitants are loaches and catfish, they love the way the tank is set up and they have their own caves & hides & territory.

It's over filtered, and still has extra water changes.

We've had no-one die for a very long time, ammonia & nitrites at 0, nitrates are always kept low by the water changes.
But if we didn't have time for the extra water changes we wouldn't have the tank as heavily stocked, simple as that.

 

[Gelt]

well i have 12 Cardianls and 9 Panda Corys (so far)- in a 125L/33 Gal tank , over filtered and they are happy , so probably understocked i guess...whaterver that means , depending what the benchmark is !

 

[Proxo]

I voted "Yes - I Plan to get rid of some fish"
As i will have to move fish to other tanks or even re-home (if worst comes to worst) when they grow.

 

[fry_forever!]

I usually overstock a tad, but as everyone else has said, I over-filter and have live plants, so all levels are stellar.

 

[Mikaila31]

As long as tank is proper size and such for fish. Stocking levels are very opinionated. Even in this thread, its really just asking if people THINK their tank is overstocked. If it is or not is mainly up to the individual. I have seen some other peoples fully stocked tanks and I would say they are understocked compared to how I stock. That has no relation though on if my tank is overstocked or not. Any silly "stocking calculator" would say I am though . IMO though I voted NO.

 

[Didge007]

Im pretty certain I'm overstocked however how another tank in setup mode so will reduce numbers dramatically, do need a larger filter (Saturday!) but my fish are all happy & healthy. Only issue I have right now is poortank mates which this extra tank will help separate some.

 

[maisy12345]

Hi at the moment ,i have a 28 l tank with 4 glowlight tetra,3 corries and 3 armano shrimp,not ading anymore ,and i`m planning a much larger tank as i want to keep sterbai corries!
And yes this is my first tank.

 

[twodoctors]

There's no such thing as over stocking, there is no real way to define what is acceptable.

I'm sorry but by this statement then someone could argue that an Oscar in a 10 gallon tank is "acceptable "

That's not overstocked. That's imprisonment! Hahaha.

What is overstocked? Is it when you have so much fishes (or fishes produces so much waste) that your filter can't cope? Is it overstocked if you have a 10 foot tank with 1 oscar, but only have a pidly Fluval U1 filter? I think overstock is when there are so much fishes that their behaviour starts to change (ie increasing aggression) that is abnormal for that particular species. That's my opinion anyway. I've only got 4 months experience so what do I know!

Adrian