When is it too much? Poly carpets, and stocking...

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DMD123

DMD123

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Oct 23, 2009
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Fish stocking can be a very controversial subject on this site especially when it comes to the cichlid section! lol

Ive noticed a more 'relaxed' attitude in regard to poly's with many keeping what I call a poly carpet.
So my question is this, when is it too much?

This topic is just for fun so no personal attacks, just wanting to hear different viewpoints.
 
kno4te said:
I think if the psi starts to creep up the walls of the tank then it's a prob lol.
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lol, too funny!

In my 96 x 24 footprint 300g I have a 13" weeksii, 11.5" teugelsi, 13.5" endli, 13.5 koliba lap and I could not see get any more in the tank. It looks 'full' with these four and they are not full grown yet.

I remember seeing a MFK member who kept a bunch of BIG lower jaws in a 75g. I could not understand how he could spend so much on bichirs yet did not spend money on a larger tank. He cared for them well with lots of large water changes but seemed too crowed to me.
 
DMD123 DMD123 Hahahaha last time we had had this discussion it didnt end to well... i think cichlids and polys stocking are totally different ends of the spectrum. Looking forward to seeing what others say
 
J jaws7777 yeah but that was on a forum where people were not bichir owners. They really did not realize a 10" heavy body cichlid is different than a scrawny 10" palmas palmas. Just because the fish is a certain size does not mean it puts out the same waste.
 
Oh yeah i agree...plus allot of close minded people there.

Anyway i get the feeling your scheming on adding a few more polys.... heee heee hee
 
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Bichirs are pretty unique. There piling can be compared to shoaling, the more the merrier, it makes them feel comfortable.

Then you have the fact they are very sedentary, spending most of their lives just sitting on substrate.

These two factors together are what allow, in my opinion, such heavy stocking. So, as long as you can keep up with water quality, it's quite possible to stock many more fish than some other species.

I'm sure some of the big dogs like Hao Hao and framcosco framcosco can elaborate on their, much more experienced, opinions.
 
jaws7777 said:
Anyway i get the feeling your scheming on adding a few more polys.... heee heee hee
Click to expand...

Just because Bruce (bala shark) was eaten does not mean I have room for another bichir, lol. On a whim I got a small bala about a month ago. It had no issues and was pretty quick and managed to evade the other bichirs but apparently last night one of the new big boys got it. IF I changed anything it might be to get a wc teugelsi and rehome my cb. Im becoming a bichir snob!

My bunch should all be able to hit 16", maybe a few even bigger. I just cant imagine more than these four in my tank at that size.
 
Like you said it's a controversial thing. Some may think that they can fit more into a tank and some may think they can only fit so many into a tank. You can tell someone about filtration, tank size, and max growth all you want, but if they still believe they can fit more into a tank they'll fit more into the tank.
 
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