Visually speaking, more than 4 fish in a tank is too much.

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Lol:D
I haven't kept a tank like that since my first tank. I have a bunch of those old animated decorations I keep for idk why though :)

I have a collection of unopened animated penn plax air action ornaments. I love them. I think I have about 15...
 
I understand what you are saying but don't fully agree as schooling fish sometimes need more then 4 such as cories. I don't think 4 cories would be happy in a 75.

Might agree with you on other fish such as Cichlids. I don't think 2 convicts, 2 firemouths , 2 Blue Arcaras and 2 Texas in one tank where the fish can't even stand each other gives the attention each fish is needed.

Then comes another layer in the tank with cories. Would need something swimming.
 
Lol, I don't mean to be controversial either, but if I ever keep another goldfish, it will be kept with a thousand other species, in a tank full of castles or pirates :D
Too each their own but I wouldn't base my decorations on what kind of fish I have unless it's like rocks with Cichlids vs plants with guppys. But the basic fish all get the same type of decorations
 
I am much closer to the OP's view than I am to the JDM method. I have one 150g that has not had more than 5 fish in it for the last 15 years. Most of the time it was 4. In the last few months 3 of the 10 to 12 year old fish have died off, two Oscars and a Red Bay Snook. I decided to go kind of anti-monster with it, except for the large pleco. My 8 month old grandson is fascinated with watching the tanks so I decided it might be fun to have more color and movement. I went with a number of schooling fish that stay small. I have at least 6 of each type of fish. When they are all schooling and moving in their groups it is very nice to watch a lot of fish move about a largish tank. But when they are all just interdependently swarming the tank it is not much fun to look at and I start thinking about what needs to go to make it more pleasing to the eye.
 
Nice thread red,
I think im closer to your view but maybe a bit diff...i dont mind more than 3 to 4 fish as long as they arent all occupying the same space... 2 or 3 different sized cichlids and a couple of bottom dwellers works for me. Im not a fan of fish constantly fighting for space or a totally empty tank either. Even in a single specimen tank i like some dithers. Nothing hurts my eyes more than over stocking but in certain situations its necessary and it all boils down to preferences

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Nice thread red,
I think im closer to your view but maybe a bit diff...i dont mind more than 3 to 4 fish as long as they arent all occupying the same space... 2 or 3 different sized cichlids and a couple of bottom dwellers works for me. Im not a fan of fish constantly fighting for space or a totally empty tank either. Even in a single specimen tank i like some dithers. Nothing hurts my eyes more than over stocking but in certain situations its necessary and it all boils down to preferences

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mmm, good feedback. agreed.

Perhaps that's it. Once non-schooling fish start to occupy the same space, the visual problems begin for me.
 
I understand what you are saying but don't fully agree as schooling fish sometimes need more then 4 such as cories. I don't think 4 cories would be happy in a 75.

Might agree with you on other fish such as Cichlids. I don't think 2 convicts, 2 firemouths , 2 Blue Arcaras and 2 Texas in one tank where the fish can't even stand each other gives the attention each fish is needed.

Then comes another layer in the tank with cories. Would need something swimming.

I agree, schooling fish need to be kept in numbers.

I'm talking about large non-schooling fish.
 
I can see your points here, however I'm a big fan of tanks with tons of fish (though not overstocked bioload or aggression wise) with lots of natural decor. For the 75 gallon riffle tank Im planning, it's going to look EXACTLY like an actual riffle. Changing contour, natural gravel,plenty of flow, and plants flowing in the current with fish darting in and out of caves. The number of fish is also going to be in the low 40s since I'm going to have smaller fish (most will achieve 2-4" but some up to 6") and I'll be overfiltering. So my point here is this tank is going against most things you've said, though we'll see if it turns out good visually in time.
 
I tend to agree on this subject, I used to overstock my tanks when I was starting out in he hobby.

Now, i try to find a balance of how many fish and how large the get.

I prefer my fish to be able to stretch their legs.

The largest fish I'll keep in my 120 is a bichir, and they're about 2 inches atm.

I have a bunch of dithers in the 120 with the bichirs, but will eventually move the dithers to another tank and leave the bichirs and roselines sharks in there by themselves, total of about 8 fish.
 
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