Overcrowding

[Bderick67]

not to mention, thus far, 65.71% agree with me.
do yourself a favor and stop embarrassing yourself. you have a different opinion them more then half the people that answered this post, one of which is me who actually practices this method of fishkeeping SUCCESSFULLY. if you dont like it, or dont agree, thats fine. but dont make yourself look even more foolish by trying to push a subject you arent really familiar with

First of all, I would say that most who have replied didn't even vote. The choices are much too incomplete for what this discussion has turned into. So to say any certain amount agree with you is arrogant.

Being "successful" with this practice of fishkeeping is up to an individuals opinion and perspective. If you have been practicing this for long then you've had casualties. If you have had no casualties then you are either lying or have only been experimenting for a very short time. In my view casualties do not equal success.

I do not believe this practice is wrong, I do however believe promoting this method is. It takes a lot of experience and work to keep a community such as this and should only be attempted by those dedicated and experienced aquarists. Not for beginners or average part time hobbyists.

Again I do not recommend this type of fish keeping, even though I have a heavily stocked CA/SA type community tank.

 

[bitteraspects]

all of you with your long winded arguments are just further proving your ignorance by trying to justify yourselves. a simple, "i disagree" is all you need to save yourself from the embarrassment. lucky for you, i have decided not to continue this ridiculous coversation about something you know nothing about. you seem to be too stubborn or ignorant to want to learn, (you make that call, its not up to me). its not helpful to the OP if you havnt done it , but still feel the need to open your mouth on the subject.

to the OP: overstocking will curb aggression, and is a very common practice. it takes a lot of work, and if done wrong, can be detramental. its not a good idea for novice fish keepers to attempt this form of husbandry, but with research, can be successful, and may end up being your favorite tank. i have 2 comm tanks and a pond personally, and i love them.
if you would like further information on the subject, feel free to message me, and ill get back to you there, but i will not be checking this thread anymore because of the circus its turned in to, thanks to certain members.

 

[Potts050]

It depends how you describe overcrowding. Cleary at some point as you addd more fish there will territorial disputes that will be mortal for some as the weakest generally get hammered by all the rest.

 

[Oscarboyz]

it could work but it has to be planned out

 

[cichlid2006]

all of you with your long winded arguments are just further proving your ignorance by trying to justify yourselves. a simple, "i disagree" is all you need to save yourself from the embarrassment. lucky for you, i have decided not to continue this ridiculous coversation about something you know nothing about. you seem to be too stubborn or ignorant to want to learn, (you make that call, its not up to me). its not helpful to the OP if you havnt done it , but still feel the need to open your mouth on the subject.

to the OP: overstocking will curb aggression, and is a very common practice. it takes a lot of work, and if done wrong, can be detramental. its not a good idea for novice fish keepers to attempt this form of husbandry, but with research, can be successful, and may end up being your favorite tank. i have 2 comm tanks and a pond personally, and i love them.
if you would like further information on the subject, feel free to message me, and ill get back to you there, but i will not be checking this thread anymore because of the circus its turned in to, thanks to certain members.

wow all that and still no answer to baltons request for proof of adults living together in harmony to prove yourr point. instead you spit your dummy out like a 2 year old cos its not going your way and you have the arrogance to accuse people of being ignorant and unwilling to learn when all that is required is for you to prove your point made in earlier posts. good call, you really earned some respect with that one.

 

[Bderick67]

wow all that and still no answer to baltons request for proof of adults living together in harmony to prove yourr point. instead you spit your dummy out like a 2 year old cos its not going your way and you have the arrogance to accuse people of being ignorant and unwilling to learn when all that is required is for you to prove your point made in earlier posts. good call, you really earned some respect with that one.

LOL I don't think your going to see it. I would settle for an updated video of his tank currently. The video he posted of the juvies is almost 2 months old

the octagon

 

[balton777]

wow all that and still no answer to baltons request for proof of adults living together in harmony to prove yourr point. instead you spit your dummy out like a 2 year old cos its not going your way and you have the arrogance to accuse people of being ignorant and unwilling to learn when all that is required is for you to prove your point made in earlier posts. good call, you really earned some respect with that one.

Bitteraspects is always trying to pick fights in every thread he posts in and I don't want to talk to him anymore. I don't want his proof of anything. I apologize to the OP but I'm done with this conversation. Hopefully you get the information you're looking for. Take care man and see you around the forum.

 

[TrikkyMakk]

In the thread that this is in reference to, I said it CAN. I did not say this was a 100% positive method of keeping, but it can work in many cases. I was only pointing out the completely incorrect statement that overcrowding CAUSES aggression. Aggression is not caused by anything. It is not a disease, it is a habit. In the cases that it does work, adding more fish simply spreads the focus of the aggression among multiple others.

For the reasons above, I did not vote, as there is no 100% anything.

From my experience I have found that when I have too many fish in the tank they seem to get more aggro. When they have more room to be free then only their natural aggressiveness comes out.

I didn't post this poll to make a point or anything but only to get what other fishkeepers have found to be their experience. Everyone has a different setup and a different experience.

So kindly vote and make your experience known.

 

[cichlid2006]

well then, i did try and overcrowd to an extent. not to rift lake levels which is what im assuming this is after. but the little overcrowding i did with a con, GT, P. Loisellei, gold sev and a FM in a 4ft tank did not go well. they were all juvies and it did not go well. the sev turned out psychotic, the loisellei was a wimp, my GT was peacekeeper/boss and the con was the hoodie starting fights. the FM took it off everyone.

all these fish at the time were under 3" in a 48x18x16 bowfront. it greatly depends on the individual fishes temperaments so like the others i cant really vote with the options availible. i was reluctant to let this one out cos its embarassing cos of my ignorance at the time in thinking i could squeeze the aggression out of them. its because of this experience with milder cichlids that im reluctant to believe you could do it with hyper aggro fish like mayans and dovii at full size without proof of no deaths and little injury.

 

[Toby_H]

I'm personally an advocate of lightly stocking big tanks with big fish... and that approach has worked very well for me for a lot of years...

One thing I would like to boldly suggest to anyone attempting "overstocking" is, if you have other tanks to transfer trouble makers or abused fish to, then it may be worth taking the risky path of overstocking. If you do not have previsions to transfer trouble makers or abused fish to, then you are simply an irresponsible fish keeper...

I am by no means the most experienced fish keeper here, but I have kept large Cichlids for 75% of the last 25 years, with 5+ years of that having over 1,000 gallons of Cichlid tanks.

Good luck to all of you regardless of your approach(es)...