Opening a can of worms here because its late and I'd enjoy the discussion if anyone will indulge. (Skip to the last paragraph if you just want the short version)
I've got a 90g (48x18x24) with two rena xp3s for bio, adding a magnum350 for mechanical soon.
Now here's the fun part...the stock list.
1x Jack Dempsey - 8"
2x Senegal Bichir - 8"
1x Leopard Ctenopoma - 4"
1x Black Ghost Knife - 3"
1x African Brown Knife - 5"
1x Peacock Eeel - 5"
1x Pictus Catfish - 5"
8x Tiger Barb - all full grown
1x Ropefish - 10" (adding him tomorrow, hoping it goes well)
Now, I've had the majority of these fish since they were small juveniles and I haven't had any bad aggression issues yet. The WORST that happens in my tank is when the ctenopoma decides to chase the ABK around all day. Nothing ever comes of it, they just jet around the tank like a game of cat & mouse (I swear the knife provokes the poma when he's bored).
The JD & sen's eat smaller fish I add to the tank, but other than that they don't mess with anything. The BGK is relatively new, but so far there've been no problems between him & the ABK.
In other words, overall I'm not worried about aggression, territory issues or other stocking conflicts. I realize things might change as some of the stock grows or matures & gets ornery, but I'll take that as it comes.
Basically I'm just wondering how many people here would say I'm overstocked. When I first got into the hobby about a year ago, I spent a LOT of time on this board. Got a lot of my information and basic ideas about fish keeping here. After leaving this board (for the most part) and becoming more active on a local forum (and less active on forums in general) I've come to realize that this board tends to cry 'tanks too small!' and 'overstocked!' a LOT, when the same tanks might not get the same rap anywhere else on the web.
I'm just curious to see what might be said about my tank. I've considered getting rid of a few fish from time to time, but I can't ever bring myself to do it. I think if anything, the leopard might eventually need to go if he gets much worse as he grows. The ABK might need to go once the BGK is big enough for them to start butting heads. Other than that though...I see no signs of anything that I need to worry about.
This is intended to be for discussion only...I think everything in my tank is fine, I feel like I've learned enough over the past year or so to be perfectly capable of making the judgement call as to whether or not my fish are stressed out & cramped in their habitat. If all you want to do is read the stock list, fall back on what you've read in other places about what any of my given fish might require for a tank and then try and tell me I'm torturing my fish...well say what you want but it won't really bother me.
Or in other words, to sum it all up, how do you feel about 'overstocking?' What do you think are the determining factors for deciding if your tank is overstocked, if your tank is too small for its inhabitants, or if there's an incompatibility in your stock list and you need to remove a fish to fix it (ESPECIALLY catching the incompatibility early, before real problems occur)?
I've got a 90g (48x18x24) with two rena xp3s for bio, adding a magnum350 for mechanical soon.
Now here's the fun part...the stock list.
1x Jack Dempsey - 8"
2x Senegal Bichir - 8"
1x Leopard Ctenopoma - 4"
1x Black Ghost Knife - 3"
1x African Brown Knife - 5"
1x Peacock Eeel - 5"
1x Pictus Catfish - 5"
8x Tiger Barb - all full grown
1x Ropefish - 10" (adding him tomorrow, hoping it goes well)
Now, I've had the majority of these fish since they were small juveniles and I haven't had any bad aggression issues yet. The WORST that happens in my tank is when the ctenopoma decides to chase the ABK around all day. Nothing ever comes of it, they just jet around the tank like a game of cat & mouse (I swear the knife provokes the poma when he's bored).
The JD & sen's eat smaller fish I add to the tank, but other than that they don't mess with anything. The BGK is relatively new, but so far there've been no problems between him & the ABK.
In other words, overall I'm not worried about aggression, territory issues or other stocking conflicts. I realize things might change as some of the stock grows or matures & gets ornery, but I'll take that as it comes.
Basically I'm just wondering how many people here would say I'm overstocked. When I first got into the hobby about a year ago, I spent a LOT of time on this board. Got a lot of my information and basic ideas about fish keeping here. After leaving this board (for the most part) and becoming more active on a local forum (and less active on forums in general) I've come to realize that this board tends to cry 'tanks too small!' and 'overstocked!' a LOT, when the same tanks might not get the same rap anywhere else on the web.
I'm just curious to see what might be said about my tank. I've considered getting rid of a few fish from time to time, but I can't ever bring myself to do it. I think if anything, the leopard might eventually need to go if he gets much worse as he grows. The ABK might need to go once the BGK is big enough for them to start butting heads. Other than that though...I see no signs of anything that I need to worry about.
This is intended to be for discussion only...I think everything in my tank is fine, I feel like I've learned enough over the past year or so to be perfectly capable of making the judgement call as to whether or not my fish are stressed out & cramped in their habitat. If all you want to do is read the stock list, fall back on what you've read in other places about what any of my given fish might require for a tank and then try and tell me I'm torturing my fish...well say what you want but it won't really bother me.
Or in other words, to sum it all up, how do you feel about 'overstocking?' What do you think are the determining factors for deciding if your tank is overstocked, if your tank is too small for its inhabitants, or if there's an incompatibility in your stock list and you need to remove a fish to fix it (ESPECIALLY catching the incompatibility early, before real problems occur)?
