What would you call overstocked just too many fish, not the right size tank, not enough filtration to handle the load of the fish, or do any of us really know. Thats what i have been thinking about here in the last couple of weeks with my African cichlid tank. Anyone who knows this answer please feel free to post and please post pics or whatever you like to prove your point.
What would you call overstocked really!
- Thread starter CornBread
- Start date
too many fish in a little tank with non-sufficient filtration is three strikes and your out
In my opinion too many fish in a little tank mainly, however non-sufficient filtration can also be a big problem.
In my opinion too many fish in a little tank mainly, however non-sufficient filtration can also be a big problem.
I don't think there is a 2+2=4 style answer. One of the bigger factors in overstocking a tank is maintenance. If you want to do a daily 50% water change you can put a lot more fish in that tank then if you do a 50% once per month. Bio load depends on the fish you have and what their adult size is so you have to leave room for growth. different fish will produce waste at different rates when they are the same size.
There is also a limit on the maximum size filter you can put on a given tank, an eheim 2080 on a 20 gallon tank just won't work. Though I'm sure it's been tried more than once and someone will jump up and down about how if you do that you can keep oscars in a 20 gallon.
A bigger tank with a filter to match will give you the ability to house more fish.
You can over stock ANY tank so I'd say too many fish, but what is too many will vary with both tank size and fish species.
One of the standard rules I've heard (from one LFS) is 1" of fish per gallon of fresh water. This won't work for rays or any of the larger predatory fish. You can have 10 1" neons in a 10 gallon quite reasonably, where as one 10" oscar would be a bad idea.
There is also a limit on the maximum size filter you can put on a given tank, an eheim 2080 on a 20 gallon tank just won't work. Though I'm sure it's been tried more than once and someone will jump up and down about how if you do that you can keep oscars in a 20 gallon.
A bigger tank with a filter to match will give you the ability to house more fish.
You can over stock ANY tank so I'd say too many fish, but what is too many will vary with both tank size and fish species.
One of the standard rules I've heard (from one LFS) is 1" of fish per gallon of fresh water. This won't work for rays or any of the larger predatory fish. You can have 10 1" neons in a 10 gallon quite reasonably, where as one 10" oscar would be a bad idea.
What if you do twice weekly water changes?
I say overstocked is when any of these 3 things happens:
1: any fish is equal or greater than any tank dimension
2: What packer said and you DON'T do weekly wcs at least
I say overstocked is when any of these 3 things happens:
1: any fish is equal or greater than any tank dimension
2: What packer said and you DON'T do weekly wcs at least
Even if you have good filtration and do lots of water changes and the fish are healthy. If you have really large fish in a smaller tank where they don't have much room to move than I think thats overstocking too. I don't know.... do you think that should problem should fall under overstocking? Or if there should be another term for it.