What is your definition of overstocking?

[HiGhTiMeZ]

imho, overstocking, understocking... it will all boil down to PERSONAL OPINIONS. Ones person overstocked tank may not be OverStocked to other and so on...

 

[Killerhap]

How do we know that fish have emotions?

I'm just picking brains today

Read this:

Research challenges the myth among anglers that fish can't feel pain from barbed hooks.

EVERY YEAR, sportsmen around the world drag millions of fish to shore on barbed hooks. It's something people have always done, and with little enough conscience. Fish are … well, fish. They're not dogs, who yelp when you accidentally step on their feet. Fish don't cry out or look sad or respond in a particularly recognizable way. So we feel free to treat them in a way that we would not treat mammals or even birds.

But is there really any biological justification for exempting fish from the standards nowadays accorded to so-called higher animals? Do we really know whether fish feel pain or whether they suffer — or whether, in fact, our gut sense that they are dumb, unfeeling animals is accurate?

And their brains are not as different from ours as we once thought. Although less anatomically complex than our own brain, the function of two of their forebrain areas is very similar to the mammalian amygdala and hippocampus — areas associated with emotion, learning and memory. If these regions are damaged in fish, their learning and emotional capacities are impaired; they can no longer find their way through mazes, and they lose their sense of fear.

Read the whole thing here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printed...aite8oct08,1,5224931.story?ctrack=1&cset=true


Everyone should read it.

 

[AQUATiC213ZOMBiE]

imho, overstocking, understocking... it will all boil down to PERSONAL OPINIONS. Ones person overstocked tank may not be OverStocked to other and so on...

very true bro.

for some reason everyone tells me im overstocked like i plan to keep my fishes in this 40 gallon forever. im waiting on some money for a 250 gallon. im doing my thing.

-ZMB!E-

 

[K C]

It depends on my nitrate readings

 

[Tongue33]

Overstocking= putting or having too many fish in a tank.

How do you know when there are too many?

You know you're overstocked when:

"You toss in just one more fish and it bounces.
You toss in just one more fish and the others toss it back.
You toss in just one more fish and the floor sags.
You turn on the tank light and the bottom of the tank is still dark.
You remove all the fish and the water level drops 75%.
Sardine cans begin to look roomy.
You can't do a 25% water change without the fish on top getting dry.
All the fish swim to one side of the tank and the other side rises an inch.
Only a filter made by boeing can handle the job.
You can do a 50% water change with a thimble.
Your ammonia eating bacteria have grown to 5 lbs. each.
Your fish beg you to flush them down the toilet.
The cat walks across the top of the tank and you have no lid on it."

(From "The Complete Idiot"s Guide to Saltwater Aquariums" by Mike Wickham.)

AND:


Your fish choose to spawn on the outer sides of the tank
Your tank looks like a Japanese swimming pool
Your discus sleep in CD towers
The convicts keep breaking out
Your stingray has "Abortion now!" sign on his tail
The owner of your favorite Chinese restaurant won't talk to you
Your kids rearrange the fish instead of playing tangram
The lid of your tank needs clasps and is harder to close than Barbie's suitcase
Your snakehead asks if he may sleep in your bed
You have to force in the heater but it keeps jumping back out
SPCA, Greenpeace and Vitaliy camp in your backyard
THE TRUST bows down to you
All other websites banned you and you are stuck with MFK

(by myself)

You know your overstocked when you do a 90% waterchange with tap registering 10-20 ppm and after you get done you test your tank and it already reads at over 200 ppm nitrates


Sound like a new thread

 

[loach43]

I determine if a tank is overstocked by looking at it and saying "Hmm, looks overstocked"

 

[Bderick67]

Is it really that hard to figure, Look at your water params, especially the Nitrates(of course Nitrites and amonia need to be ZERO) watch the behavior of the fish, use your better judgement.

you can counter overstocking with more water changes

If your nitrates increase by 20ppm between water changes then you are overstocked or feeding to much or not changing the water enough.

 

[tash]

to me overstocking is exceeding bioload that your filters and waterchange schedule can handle. turning space and swimming area is different.

:yeahthat:

 

[LittleBigAl3]

overstocked in my opinion is when your gravel has something other than the gravel color on it within every 4 inches...or when you fish can't turn or get out of a certain part of your tank. or when your fish aren't reaching close to their average CAPTIVITY(for those who think fish that grow 5 feet in the wild need a humongous tank!) size.

 

[ewurm]

It depends on my nitrate readings

This, and a few other things. Swimming space and tank depth first, then water quality.