I have read articles that say stuff like '2 clowns can't live in a 20g, It's too small' but yet I see dozens of photos and videos of more than 2 clowns in a 20g, Can someone inform me like how many fish you could put into something like a 20g?
Over-stocking in saltwater tanks.
- Thread starter Jamesy
- Start date
first I would say what type of clown did you want to keep and most can be successfully kept in a 20 gallon tank I think it may have been some misinformation that you may have came across most clownfish don't reach a size significant enough that 2 would be so big that they won't be able to be kept in a 20 gallon.
Overstoking is generally when the bioload produced within the tank is greater than the bacterial colonies, water changes, and chemical applications can handle - the presence of ammonia + nitrite are indicators, also higher levels of nitrate is an indicator as well like anything greater than 20ppm.
Alot ppl think once the intial cycle is over a tank is fully prepaired to handle whatever you throw at it. This is not the case. Although aerobic bacteria grows rather quickly, anerobic bacteria does not. This is the stage in which nitrate is changed to harmless nitrogen gas. These colonies can take years to catch up to aerobic bacterial volume. High levels of nitrate is a classic example of overstocked and over a period of time leads to fish disease.
Alot of us employ gizmos and gadgets while continually seeking knowledge as to how to manage nitrates in the early years of tank maturity. I can tell you that the gunk I used to clean out of my skimmer and it's frequence has changed dramatically over time. What used to be an almost daily amount of gunk is now a several week thing. Purgein, chem pure, and numerous other products also help to manage nitrate.
I personally wouldn't have issues with a pair of clowns and even hosting a BTA in a 20 long. Just use knowledge and common sense. Don't go with a Tomato clown and a Fiji Barberi hosting 2 carpet anemones, these are too aggressive and get way too big. Take it slow, give the B+B time to catch up to every change you make. Realize also that the tanks your seeing online can fall into 3 catagories - #1 a tank full that's been established for years, #2 a tank full that was rushed and will become an epic fail that you never read about AND #3 - a tank that is staged for a photo shoot. Ppl with multiple tanks that throw everything all togather in one tank, take pictures and say look I'm doing the impossible.
Alot ppl think once the intial cycle is over a tank is fully prepaired to handle whatever you throw at it. This is not the case. Although aerobic bacteria grows rather quickly, anerobic bacteria does not. This is the stage in which nitrate is changed to harmless nitrogen gas. These colonies can take years to catch up to aerobic bacterial volume. High levels of nitrate is a classic example of overstocked and over a period of time leads to fish disease.
Alot of us employ gizmos and gadgets while continually seeking knowledge as to how to manage nitrates in the early years of tank maturity. I can tell you that the gunk I used to clean out of my skimmer and it's frequence has changed dramatically over time. What used to be an almost daily amount of gunk is now a several week thing. Purgein, chem pure, and numerous other products also help to manage nitrate.
I personally wouldn't have issues with a pair of clowns and even hosting a BTA in a 20 long. Just use knowledge and common sense. Don't go with a Tomato clown and a Fiji Barberi hosting 2 carpet anemones, these are too aggressive and get way too big. Take it slow, give the B+B time to catch up to every change you make. Realize also that the tanks your seeing online can fall into 3 catagories - #1 a tank full that's been established for years, #2 a tank full that was rushed and will become an epic fail that you never read about AND #3 - a tank that is staged for a photo shoot. Ppl with multiple tanks that throw everything all togather in one tank, take pictures and say look I'm doing the impossible.