A quote, shared with permission, by a member of a fb fish group I’m in
“You know why I will never understand those people who overstock the heck out of their tanks?
Because I love the subtle beauty of having a well-planted, minimally stocked tank, where the fish can DECIDE whether or not you see them. Looking at your tank and occasionally seeing the flash of scales of a healthy fish swimming around the peaceful home you made for it.
They can hide or flaunt as much as they want. When tanks are overstocked they can't do that. They have to keep moving either to avoid aggressive tank mates or to attempt to find someplace to hide from all the mayhem for ten seconds. I'm sure if those fish had the fish-equivalent of eye bags, they'd look like me my senior year of high school.
In my favorite kind of tanks, you build trust with the fish. They reveal themselves and come up to the tank because they recognize your face and know that means food and not danger. There's something magical about a such shy animals learning to trust YOU, a giant human many, many times its size.
You don't get that same effect in poorly stocked tanks.”
-Tara Clare