o0Faraz0o

hey guys i visited one of our family friends that i havnt seen for a long time today he had this like at least 2 - 2.5 meter long fish tank its really big and all but then he has these huge fish all are like full grown he has this umm catfish looking shark which is 38 cm and and all these 20 cm chiclids and 2 Oscars full grown. when i saw them they fish looked very healthy and all but no matter how big the tank seemed i thought to my self it was overstocked how these fish have need with him since they where little because i could remember them his big catfish/shark is said to be a least worth $1,000. And i didnt want to say anything then but now i wonder how he does it. if he keeps up at lets say twice a week water change could the fish stay health and happy or is there other reason not to overstock. I think i took a video of them and if i can upload it ill show u guys.

COBettaCouple

I'd need the dimensions of the tank and list of what's in it to determine if it's overstocked.

o0Faraz0o

i asked my dad who he had told the size its 550 liters and i used the calculator and it said 145 us gallon. its big but the fish in side where also big.

COBettaCouple

that's a pretty good sized tank. how many fish total are in it and what are they or what do they look like?

o0Faraz0o

ok i has 1 Iridescent Shark Catfish its about 40 -45 cm atm 2 full grown oscars
2 red devil fish (im not sure but they looking like) 5 x Firemouth Cichlid and a 43 cm pleco its huge and 2 full grown angle fish and 5 Clown Loach around 10 to 15 cm

i had one other question thats got nothing to do with this subject today i purchased a Bristlenose Pleco its still a baby around 2 cm i was looking at other
Bristlenose Pleco they have like these whisker things my one doesn't[/quote]

Chief_waterchanger

Female bristlenose plecostomus do not get the facial bristles. Also juvenile males do not have the bristles at that size. As the fish gets larger if it is a male it will grow the bristles.

You are correct, that tank is overstocked. The stupid 1 inch per 1 gallon rule doesn't apply in this situation. Clown loaches and plecos produce more waste than fish their same length that are not as bulky.

I would never suggest overstocking, because if you do not know how to handle it the water chemistry goes awry really quick. Also, in the wild those 2 angelfish alone would've had more space to themselves, but being crammed into a tank even that size with tons of other fish invading it's "personal space" makes the chances of fighting amongst the fish much higher, as well as shorter lifespans due to stress. With stress comes disease. With disease comes shorter lifespan.

It does a disservice to the fish to stock that heavily, in my opinion.

I know we can not give the fish as much space as they would have in the wild, but we can certainly do better than that.

o0Faraz0o

he said he changes the water twice week and trys not to over feed them and has like no plants at all so the things that comes out of the waste dont get absorbed. so like how does he keep them alive he has had those fish for ever over 6 years i think now maybe more

Allie

It's called surviving not thriving.

darkwolf29a

True dat.

Any small fish can grow into, and out of, a tank. It's about keeping the fish happy versus keeping the fish.

Which do you want? Personally, I like my fish as natural as possible. So, I tend to try and stock how they would be in the wild. Comfortable fish spawn better, and they tend to do better, health-wise, in general.

Chief_waterchanger

If he has had those clown loaches for 6 years they should be much larger. At 4 years of age Butterfly had clown loaches that were 6 inches (or 15 centimeters). At 6 years they should argueably be 8-10 inches in length (20-25 centimeters).

That is part of the ill effect of overstocking, if he has had them for 6 years.

o0Faraz0o

no not the loaches the bigger ones i remember seeing all of them when they where little like the angle fish and the shark the Oscars i remember him having for a long time the loachs he had in his other small 55 gallon tank they must have grown out of it and put in his bigger one. and his devil fish i saw them like 2 years ago when he had bort them they where like 10 cm.

COBettaCouple

He really needs at least another tank of the same size to split the fish population. Sometimes a person gets lucky and overstocking a tank lasts a while, but the fish are stressed and not showing their natural behavior. Part of what I enjoy about fishkeeping is watching how the fish behave and I'd never overstock so tremendously.