What is your definition of overstocking?
- Thread starter rallysman
- Start date
to me overstocking is exceeding bioload that your filters and waterchange schedule can handle. turning space and swimming area is different.
Overstocking, in my opinion, is nothing but a personal preference... A few factors that I use to determine if my tank is overstocked are as follows:
Surface area of tank
size of fish and species of fish
the presence of live plants
the type of fitration on the tank
All those pretty my tell me how often I need to do a water change and how big it should be. You can always ask yourself, "If I were a fish and living in the tank, how happy would I be?"
or 
Surface area of tank
size of fish and species of fish
the presence of live plants
the type of fitration on the tank
All those pretty my tell me how often I need to do a water change and how big it should be. You can always ask yourself, "If I were a fish and living in the tank, how happy would I be?"
or Overstocking= putting or having too many fish in a tank.
How do you know when there are too many?
You know you're overstocked when:
"You toss in just one more fish and it bounces.
You toss in just one more fish and the others toss it back.
You toss in just one more fish and the floor sags.
You turn on the tank light and the bottom of the tank is still dark.
You remove all the fish and the water level drops 75%.
Sardine cans begin to look roomy.
You can't do a 25% water change without the fish on top getting dry.
All the fish swim to one side of the tank and the other side rises an inch.
Only a filter made by boeing can handle the job.
You can do a 50% water change with a thimble.
Your ammonia eating bacteria have grown to 5 lbs. each.
Your fish beg you to flush them down the toilet.
The cat walks across the top of the tank and you have no lid on it."
(From "The Complete Idiot"s Guide to Saltwater Aquariums" by Mike Wickham.)
AND:
Your fish choose to spawn on the outer sides of the tank
Your tank looks like a Japanese swimming pool
Your discus sleep in CD towers
The convicts keep breaking out
Your stingray has "Abortion now!" sign on his tail
The owner of your favorite Chinese restaurant won't talk to you
Your kids rearrange the fish instead of playing tangram
The lid of your tank needs clasps and is harder to close than Barbie's suitcase
Your snakehead asks if he may sleep in your bed
You have to force in the heater but it keeps jumping back out
SPCA, Greenpeace and Vitaliy camp in your backyard
THE TRUST bows down to you
All other websites banned you and you are stuck with MFK
(by myself)
How do you know when there are too many?
You know you're overstocked when:
"You toss in just one more fish and it bounces.
You toss in just one more fish and the others toss it back.
You toss in just one more fish and the floor sags.
You turn on the tank light and the bottom of the tank is still dark.
You remove all the fish and the water level drops 75%.
Sardine cans begin to look roomy.
You can't do a 25% water change without the fish on top getting dry.
All the fish swim to one side of the tank and the other side rises an inch.
Only a filter made by boeing can handle the job.
You can do a 50% water change with a thimble.
Your ammonia eating bacteria have grown to 5 lbs. each.
Your fish beg you to flush them down the toilet.
The cat walks across the top of the tank and you have no lid on it."
(From "The Complete Idiot"s Guide to Saltwater Aquariums" by Mike Wickham.)
AND:
Your fish choose to spawn on the outer sides of the tank
Your tank looks like a Japanese swimming pool
Your discus sleep in CD towers
The convicts keep breaking out
Your stingray has "Abortion now!" sign on his tail
The owner of your favorite Chinese restaurant won't talk to you
Your kids rearrange the fish instead of playing tangram
The lid of your tank needs clasps and is harder to close than Barbie's suitcase
Your snakehead asks if he may sleep in your bed
You have to force in the heater but it keeps jumping back out
SPCA, Greenpeace and Vitaliy camp in your backyard
THE TRUST bows down to you
All other websites banned you and you are stuck with MFK
(by myself)
haha, shekes those are great!
I feel that my 72g is overstocked, but it's clean with enough aeration and the fish are obviously healthy. I would love to add more fish but I don't want to stress the fish I have. The 1" per gallon of water rule, hehe, that's kind of a crap shoot isn't it? I mean, you can have more than 20 neons in a 20g tank, but there's no way you'd put a 12" fish in that tank, right? I like what born2 said, if you were a fish in your tank, would you be happy?
Great thread idea!
I feel that my 72g is overstocked, but it's clean with enough aeration and the fish are obviously healthy. I would love to add more fish but I don't want to stress the fish I have. The 1" per gallon of water rule, hehe, that's kind of a crap shoot isn't it? I mean, you can have more than 20 neons in a 20g tank, but there's no way you'd put a 12" fish in that tank, right? I like what born2 said, if you were a fish in your tank, would you be happy?
Great thread idea!
I think that islander671
really nailed it but also overstocking can stress the fish that are in the overcrowded conditions that also must be considered when stocking long term.
really nailed it but also overstocking can stress the fish that are in the overcrowded conditions that also must be considered when stocking long term.But how do you determine what over crowded is?
We all know water changes bio load blah blah blah ........that can be easily taken care of with more filtration and water changes.
Bioload and filtration aside, how do you determine when there is too many fish?
We all know water changes bio load blah blah blah ........that can be easily taken care of with more filtration and water changes.
Bioload and filtration aside, how do you determine when there is too many fish?
How about when the fish cannot get a break from 1 another for example cichlids chasing each other in a community tank.For example there are not enough hideing places and to many fish they constantly harass and attack each other no matter where a fish goes in the tank it runs into another fight causing stress and unhealthy living conditions.This would be what i would call overcrowded tank conditions that some fish will not survive.
