I guess pointless is a subjective term, this thread is probably pointless to many people.
Stocking topics come up almost every day, most JDM discussions are neatly tucked away in their respective folders under non stocking titles.
Here's a recent "is this overstocked?" discussion from the CA/SA folder.
Is this overstocked or is it just me?
My friend has a 125 gallon tank. She wants to stock it with
2x jaguar cichlid
2x red festea
2x oscar
1x or 2x jack dempsey
She already has one oscar and one jack dempsey.
I'm trying to tell her that she should get rid of the jaguars and 1 festea or both jaguars and festeas and get some of the smaller parachromis species, but she is dead set on that stocklist. Am I overreacting or is that stocklist overstocked?
The responses that follow are classic, those with experience with the species in question, and various tank sizes required for long term success warning what the most likely result will be (as in, I wouldn't if I was you), those that have zero experience with large tanks and/or most/all of these species adding their 2 cents worth (get one of everything!), those that don't appear to give a rats azz one way or the other (let 'em do what they want!), and those that compare their overtocked tank with completely different, and mostly non aggressive species, with the list of killers that the OP has posted. (hey look, it works for me!)
While it may be pointless to argue, members of MFK should thank their lucky stars that some of the more experienced members still take time out of their daily schedule and attempt to help those that come here seeking help. Sometimes some people may not like the answer, or even the way that the answer is presented, but it's not like anyone here is getting paid for their input.
As far as natural behaviour, not much that we do as hobbyists would be considered the same as in nature, but that shouldn't mean that we attempt to force a round peg into a square hole, either. This hobby should be less about what can be done, and more about what should be done.
The more JDM ones tank becomes, the more it becomes like a commercial aquaculture facility, which is really all that JDM tanks were originally based on. With a decent sized flow-through system you can pack fish in like sardines in a can, or as the major stated a bunch of people standing in an elevator.
Like the tilapia crammed into the commercial system below.
If I cropped the photo, many might easily mistake this as a JDM style tank posted on MFK.
