Overstocking a tank
- Thread starter idkjardiniagressive?
- Start date
I am not an expert but that's true specially in case of cichlids. The idea is to spread their aggression so they can't lock their eye to one particular fish and target it. Also with overstocking also need to break their line of sight with things like woods or stones etc.
You need to mention your stocking so experts can advise you on how many you can add in your 225 gallon and what you planning to add.
My stocking is 1 jardini, tiger oscar ,2 kelbri (smallest species )peacock bass,2 bichirs, and a jaguar cichlid so I want to overstock it correctly for less aggression and more variation.
I started the 240 with the intention of thinning out the stock, but so far all have been doing well because of the over stock, I believe.
The Midas is preoccupied with the other midas and leaves everyone else alone. There is nipping but nothing serious.
You'll see lots of YouTube videos with overstocked tanks. Best bet is to buy them all young and grow them out together.
The Midas is preoccupied with the other midas and leaves everyone else alone. There is nipping but nothing serious.
You'll see lots of YouTube videos with overstocked tanks. Best bet is to buy them all young and grow them out together.
Ok yea that's the plan I'm trying to order them all the same size as the jardini and oscar, 9inches. But I can overstock it with adequate filtration right?
Lets take a step back here and figure out first things first. Whats your filtration like? To overstock you need to make sure your filtration can handle it. You only have so much surface area for BB so you need adequate filtration with a high turnover to deal with all the waste that will come with all the fish. If you have a 225G Id suggest a turnover rate of 9x or 10x an hour. So, assuming you have a sump, youd need a pump rated for about 2700 gph due to head loss along with a solid set up with lots of mechanical, and then a lot of biological media. Otherwise youll be stuck with constantly dirty water changing out 125 gallons every third day.
Also, the only fish you have thats really aggressive is the jaguar cichid. Jardinis in my opinion are pretty calm until they feel like they dont have enough room. Id also say Jardinis are a fish thats immune to the whole overstocking effect because when they "flip" they take out everything in the tank. They dont slowly nip away at one fish they decimate the whole tank in a matter of hours/few days.
Thank you for the response, due to the cost of this tank and stocking I can't afford a good canister filter. I was doing some research and I'm going to have three 250g rated sponge filters(ten dollars each) and 2 marineland internal canister filters each rated for 97 gallons. So with 944g of unusual filtration will it be enough for a proper overstocking
With the just number of 9" fish you mention, a 240 will already be overstocked, and most will have a lot of growing to do.
The way commercial aquarium filters you mention are rated, those ratings are for the average aquarist tanks with a few angels, small gouramis. and other bread and butter, small community fish.
They are not rated with the fish you want in mind. So throw those numbers out the window, as grossly inadequate.
At adult sizes with just the stock you named you are going to need to do large daily water changes to keep them healthy no matter how heavy the filtration. Filtration only does so much, it does not reduce nitrate or other build up of waste chemicals you will need to dilute to keep water looking good, and fish in good health, especially if over stocked.
The way commercial aquarium filters you mention are rated, those ratings are for the average aquarist tanks with a few angels, small gouramis. and other bread and butter, small community fish.
They are not rated with the fish you want in mind. So throw those numbers out the window, as grossly inadequate.
At adult sizes with just the stock you named you are going to need to do large daily water changes to keep them healthy no matter how heavy the filtration. Filtration only does so much, it does not reduce nitrate or other build up of waste chemicals you will need to dilute to keep water looking good, and fish in good health, especially if over stocked.
