i have heard some ppl say to over stock your tanks to avoid aggression. what are your thoughts on this matter? do you feel over stocking helps keep aggression down
overcrowding
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I actively avoid overstocking, the only species I know of that it's recommended for is African cichlids.
Not too sure about controling the aggression but in the long run it can cause havoc on live stock and send some of your fishes tits up.
I have had this work with Africans, and even certain new world species.
The theory is with so many heads bumping together, there is no chance any one can take over. It has worked with more shoaling social species like Astatheror and Geophagines, and some Madagascans, but only in large enough tanks, and not with Parachromis or more aggressive loner types.
But also only works if water quality is maintained, which can be difficult unless water changes are stepped up beyond the norm. With my overstocked tanks I found I needed daily, or at minimum every other day water changes.
The theory is with so many heads bumping together, there is no chance any one can take over. It has worked with more shoaling social species like Astatheror and Geophagines, and some Madagascans, but only in large enough tanks, and not with Parachromis or more aggressive loner types.
But also only works if water quality is maintained, which can be difficult unless water changes are stepped up beyond the norm. With my overstocked tanks I found I needed daily, or at minimum every other day water changes.
I've had luck with over stocking Pygo's such as Caribe reds and piraya piranha at sub adults given there was enough room length wise
I have heard about this, and they say its like introducing many more traffic lights to confuse the aggressive ones.
However, I think it depends on type of fish in the tank, and to a large extend on the character of the individual fish, they vary.
Solitary, territorial and aggressive will anyways fight with each other till end. Schooling fishes may be an option to keep more.
However, I think it depends on type of fish in the tank, and to a large extend on the character of the individual fish, they vary.
Solitary, territorial and aggressive will anyways fight with each other till end. Schooling fishes may be an option to keep more.
I tried it with Africans in my 125g. I guess I didn't add enough African cichlids. I bought 22 fish about 3". A year later I was down to 10. For the last year I didn't lose any.
My take on overcrowding is this:
You can over crowd and aquarium depending on a few factors. The fish (African cichlids, most new world cichlids, and piranha are my big three) these fish become terribly aggressive when given few targets to attack and too much territory to defend... The second factor and in my opinion is the fish keeper. If you aren't going to over filter and be vigilant about water changes don't over stock. It will end poorly and you will lose fish.
For most keepers on this forum I don't recommend over stocking because of the fish being kept. Datnoids,
Arowana and other monster fish should be kept in a lightly stocked tank because of the sheer amount of waste they can produce.
Of course all this is relative depending on the individual keeper and stock list, but I think it's a reasonable outline.
You can over crowd and aquarium depending on a few factors. The fish (African cichlids, most new world cichlids, and piranha are my big three) these fish become terribly aggressive when given few targets to attack and too much territory to defend... The second factor and in my opinion is the fish keeper. If you aren't going to over filter and be vigilant about water changes don't over stock. It will end poorly and you will lose fish.
For most keepers on this forum I don't recommend over stocking because of the fish being kept. Datnoids,
Arowana and other monster fish should be kept in a lightly stocked tank because of the sheer amount of waste they can produce.
Of course all this is relative depending on the individual keeper and stock list, but I think it's a reasonable outline.
I've found with American cichlids is that if you grow them up together in a reasonably sized tank, more often than not you can can have fish that normally wouldn't work together actually coexist. Ex I had a 125 with fully grown; jag, green Severum, Dempsey, convict, 2 large Angels, green terror, ornate Bicher. They were all males, raised together, my filtration was 20x an hour (3 canister filters and 2 HOB aqua clear110) and very well fed. I also made sure to change the decorations every week with weekly water change, I found that if it stayed the same way to long then they would start to get territorial and fights would start. I miss that tank.....
