Want to start a discussion on overstocking tanks

[clown and friends]

I am almost coming up on a year in the hobby and since I have started I have seen tons of what would be conventionally considered overpacked tanks running with great success (including mine if I am being honest). What do people think of this practice? Is it cruel to the inhabitants? A crash waiting to happen? What do you consider overstocked? Finally, what do you think allows people to have success with what is considered "too many fish"? (new technology, better additives etc)

 

[GatorScott]

I have 3 fish in a 32g and I’m done. Mostly corals and nems for me.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

More information is necessary to really dive into that. Type of fish and aquarium are very important variables. I feel you can get away with a lot if your tank is long enough, ample swimming room. I feel it really becomes an issue with cubes and narrow tanks, as height is usually a moot point for most fish. As long as you can control ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates in a long tank then you are usually fine.

 

[clown and friends]

More information is necessary to really dive into that. Type of fish and aquarium are very important variables. I feel you can get away with a lot if your tank is long enough, ample swimming room. I feel it really becomes an issue with cubes and narrow tanks, as height is usually a moot point for most fish. As long as you can control ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates in a long tank then you are usually fine.

I agree, I had this discussion with my LFS employee who I have gotten to know over the last year and he said the same. Seems you can get away with more if you have a longer tank with more swimming room (looking at you tang police). What sparked this post is I just saw nuvo 40 with 9 fish in it.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I agree, I had this discussion with my LFS employee who I have gotten to know over the last year and he said the same. Seems you can get away with more if you have a longer tank with more swimming room (looking at you tang police). What sparked this post is I just saw nuvo 40 with 9 fish in it.

That's a lot in a 40 gallon tank. Do you know what kind of fish they were?

 

[clown and friends]

That's a lot in a 40 gallon tank. Do you know what kind of fish they were?

It was 8 actually I just looked again: 6line, clown, hawkfish, damsel, tailspot blenny, 2 randalls shrimp gobies and a baby kole tang (which sounds like is being rehomed soon)

 

[Daniel92481]

This is an interesting topic. Isn’t there a formula with live rock and inches per fish/gallon? I feel like I’ve read this somewhere. I will be setting up an IM40 soon and would like to know how many fish I could eventually put in it. I was thinking 3-4.

 

[Proteus Meep]

Personally i stock at roughly 1or 2" inch of fish for every 50 litres...i have just a green clown goby in my 55 litre and consider that about right for it...i really like to give each one plenty of space, i also won't stock any reef roaming fish only those that have a smaller natural territory as i have only had smaller sytems

My largest tank was 200 litres and had a pair of ocellaris clowns and a bangai cardinal and felt that was about right for that tank

 

[clown and friends]

This is an interesting topic. Isn’t there a formula with live rock and inches per fish/gallon? I feel like I’ve read this somewhere. I will be setting up an IM40 soon and would like to know how many fish I could eventually put in it. I was thinking 3-4.

According to live aquaria it is 1/2 inch of fish/gallon, but as @Halal Hotdog alluded to it isn't quite that simple. A 120 long can house a lot more fish than a 120 tall IMO.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

This is a great conversation to have! I'm going to invite the king of overstocking to weigh in. @4FordFamily

 

[kwirky]

A 6" blenny will have a smaller bioload than a 6" lionfish. Inches per gallon only gives a very rough ballpark that can be very conservative or very liberal. The more a tank is stocked the more equipment (which can fail) and work (which can lapse) required to keep it in check. Life happens so it's good to keep a tank stocked to the level where the risk is manageable.

Somebody who's home all day every day, doesn't take vacations, has all the toys, redundant equipment, a limitless budget, lots of knowledge, and friends that can be counted on can manage the risk easier.

Short answer: it depends.

 

[Shigshwa]

I think that with today's variety of nutrient export methods available, the issue then comes to space for the fish, and that varies.

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

I would agree - very different situation with a 40g with 8 tangs vice a 40 with 8 blennies of the same length. Also I think its important to recognize the niche the particular fish live in. For instance if you had all water column swimming fish, or all cave dwellers the housing requirements would be vastly different. Interesting topic though

 

[4FordFamily]

I think that with today's variety of nutrient export methods available, the issue then comes to space for the fish, and that varies.

I agree. The key is either fantastic husbandry (with water changes I am not) or good nutrient export. Overskim, use macro, keep a tank open (use as little live rock as you can to get the aquascape you want), and keep your fish clean with proper quarantine. My fish don’t have parasites or manage them so they’re healthy. As you add fish to an “ich management” tank, it creates more hosts, more stress, and more opportunity. This means st some point you’ll hit criticical mass. Anymore, it seems this happens very easily as bad as fish are arriving to LFS these days. Before I quarantined I could stock as much as when I hit a certain point fish would get sick and die.

Great discussion!

 

[sixty_reefer]

According to live aquaria it is 1/2 inch of fish/gallon, but as @Halal Hotdog alluded to it isn't quite that simple. A 120 long can house a lot more fish than a 120 tall IMO.

Am sure that there’s much more to it. According to that rule I could house an adult blueface angelfish on a 37g without breaking the rules isn’t common sense the main rule for sticking fish.

 

[Jay Z]

I would agree - very different situation with a 40g with 8 tangs vice a 40 with 8 blennies of the same length. Also I think its important to recognize the niche the particular fish live in. For instance if you had all water column swimming fish, or all cave dwellers the housing requirements would be vastly different. Interesting topic though

When my fish start saying excuse me to get around the tank, I call that over stocked.

 

[MnFish1]

I am almost coming up on a year in the hobby and since I have started I have seen tons of what would be conventionally considered overpacked tanks running with great success (including mine if I am being honest). What do people think of this practice? Is it cruel to the inhabitants? A crash waiting to happen? What do you consider overstocked? Finally, what do you think allows people to have success with what is considered "too many fish"? (new technology, better additives etc)

Doesnt a lot of it depend on the filtration system behind/under the tank? I mean - you could have 20 tangs in a 40 gallon aquarium if you have a 300 gallon sump/filtration system (no I dont recommend it). To me - the most successful 'reef tanks' are less stocked than those that have more (i.e. less problem with diseases = the lower number of fish means less parasites mutiplying during an outbreak - and less fish to spread a problem)

 

[clown and friends]

A 6" blenny will have a smaller bioload than a 6" lionfish. Inches per gallon only gives a very rough ballpark that can be very conservative or very liberal. The more a tank is stocked the more equipment (which can fail) and work (which can lapse) required to keep it in check. Life happens so it's good to keep a tank stocked to the level where the risk is manageable.

Somebody who's home all day every day, doesn't take vacations, has all the toys, redundant equipment, a limitless budget, lots of knowledge, and friends that can be counted on can manage the risk easier.

Short answer: it depends.

Totally agree, it does depend. I’m home a lot since I’m a medical student studying at my desk. My tank is overstocked but I mess with it often and have a refugium in the back chamber. Have to actually dose nitrates to keep them non 0 for my clams and other nitrate loving corals!

 

[jx fang]

Is this considered overstocked?
Not my tank.
This is a typical fish only tank in Hong Kong.
That's also considered as the expert level fish keeping here in HK.

 

[Hermie]

Is this considered overstocked?
Not my tank.
This is a typical fish only tank in Hong Kong.

it's overstocked by sheer virtue of having too much going on, bad tank design and stock choice. It's like someone threw buckets of paint on a canvas without thinking it through. yes it is overstocked. and chaotic.