How much is to much?

8 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


darkruby
 
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:00 am

How much is to much?

by darkruby

They say that the rule of thumb is 1" of fish for every gallon. But that means you also have to include the adult size of the fish which, even though they might not reach the full length, means your limited to how many fish you CAN actually put in the aquarium. Is there any way I can put more than the suggested amount of fish?


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

you can add more than the suggested amount if you add enough filteration to support the waste produced by the added load. But keep in mind, even when you have enough filteration, it won't mean your fish are happy being crowded, so weigh in the type of fish you have and if you can "crowd" them.


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

I'm new to this hobby but have done a *great* deal of reading and one consistent thing I read is that the single most stressful experience for fish is overcrowding. I would suggest that if you want more fish, get a bigger tank.


darkruby
 
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:00 am

by darkruby

I have a Penguin 350 and it does a great filtration job! What if i put two on my tank, will that help or is it just a waste of money and I should just stick the minimum amount of fish?


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

i agree with the others as far as overcrowding creating an unhappy fish ..........but ......I know that our desires will usually override our disaplines in most cases and we will add "just one more little fish" ..................that being said....I am not a fresh water person but i know in salt water there are different fish that as rule live in certain areas of the tank....i.e. gobies will stay towards the bottom of the tank and a coral beauty prefers open water and stays higher in the tank......with a 55 gllon tank maybe if you must add more fish you could research some types of fish that will inhabit areas that may not be being occupied right now - - -thus lightening the overcrowding issue........just a thought.........but i still maintain that overcrowding is not a good thing.....Snowboss


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

I can attest to the overcrowding thing. My 16 gallon TALL bowfront has very little bottom-area because its more tall/as tall as it is wide. I had 3 kuhli loaches and 3 corydoras who all occupied the bottom, the kuhli's eventually disappeared for several months, and after moving my corys to another tank I gradually see a lot more of the kuhli's.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Wow! All these responses look great to me. In general they say not to overcrowd, but that's a generalisation, so you may be able to add extras if they're not all living in the same areas of the tank, and yep, more filtration is how I'd go even if I didn't overcrowd. I like the bottom dwelling fish like loaches and ghost shrimp and I also like my Characins (a smaller gar like fish) which hang out at the top. I'm thinking I lost most of my little school of tetras which occupied the middle regions.....and that's how in general I stock my tanks.

I did a pH test before hooking up the co2 (which was a fresh brew and probably too strong) and the pH was off the chart over 8. After a couple hours it's down to 6.2 and I only see one tetra. Maybe I'll leave the co2 on all nigh to avoid the pH swing, but that's for a different topic.

Yea, and the "rule" is pretty inaccurate anyway as some fish are wider than others, some fish eat and poop more than others, etc. Except for this about the "rule" not being very accurate, I think everyone pretty much covered all the issues with over stocking.


Ryule1105
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 8:14 pm

by Ryule1105

Fish all have different areas of a tank they like to be in. Some like the top, some like the middle, some like the bottom. One of the keys to not overcrowding the tank is making sure that you don't have too many of any fish in your layers of the tank.

The next thing is to consider the waste management. The more filtering you have, the more waste the tank can handle, the more fish the tank can handle. Oxygen is also important in this regard. Not enough oxygen in the tank means dead fish.

Finally, the dimensions of the fish are important. A common pleco can be 2 feet long full grown. Thus, a 30 gallon tall would be able to biologically support it, but it wouldn't be happy because it wouldn't be able to move much. Essentially, your fish will be happiest if the tank is twice as long on its smaller side as the fish is full grown. It need to be at least its body length so it can turn around.

I don't think I can add much more. =)

How much is to much?

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