i believe ya'll are blowing this out of proportion. let me add some history...
I recently moved and had to sell my 180 because we now live in a 2nd story apartment. i had a 75 that i took with me but it soon developed a crack. i sold all my fish except the niger. I've had the o. niger for about 8 months and he's only grown an inch or two. The 180 ran a 500g wetdry at 1200gph and i did 50% water changes weekly. I fed hikari sinking waffers, spiralina waffers, sinking carnivore pellets, frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, shrimp pellets and live redworms. He must be a midget ripsaw because he had the best diet, a huge tank and supreme water conditions. i even raised the temp to 86* to see it that would grow him faster. Being that he doesn't grow, i figured i'd keep him until i can get a larger tank. IF he out grows my 29 or whatever i can afford to get, he's got a home in my friends 450g.
Now, the royal pleco isn't going to outgrow the 55 i'm getting for xmas for quite a while. By then i'll have moved into a house and have a larger tank again. The rest arent going to out grow the tank. Spotted raphael dont exceed 5", the stripped R-8" and the debauwi cats, loaches and danios are there just to fill the gap.
The 29 has a penguin 350 and a cascade 500 canister filter =100g worth of filter. I do 50% water changes and test weekly. No amm, no nitrites and just traces of nitrite. pH 7.2. How am i over crowded? The fish i have are either small or very inactive, the water is near perfect and the tank is only temporary.
BTW, i got the niger cat off craigslist...post read "15g aquarium with large catfish $20"
