Can I Overstock If My Filter Is Designed For A Larger Tank?

so I have a spare 60 litre tank and I'm thinking of adding some tropical fish into it. I have a spare fluval U2 filter designed for a 110 litre tank and my tank is 60. the filter can output 400 litres per hour.

here is the link for the filter:

 

Over stocking is not only about filteration. It also deals with amount space fish has to live a relatively comfortable life. You may get away with enough space for bacteria in the filter media when you have a larger filter. But it wouldn’t change the space constraints.

Yes you can overstock if you are an experienced aquarist, doing to combat a specific problem for a limited time. For example fish aggression. What that means is, you will have to do more frequent water changes during that period.

 

If you overstocked tank you still going to have hard time to keep up with everything as fish will grow ..is all up to you just because you have filter that is higher out put per hour it doesn't mean you can put more fish in it..

 

Nope, pretty sure not.
I mean, you could go a bit over, but just by a little.

I stock somewhat more heavily, in a sense. I can't look at my tank without seeing less than 6 fish.

 

All 3 times I overstocked my 30 gallon, even though it has a 55 gallon filter, fish would either get sick and die, or become aggressive

 

It's not a straight forward question or answer, and would need to be considered on a case by case basis. You could slightly overstock if you had the right selection of fish but you couldn't run a 60 litre as if it were 110 litre just because that's how big your filter is. You have to consider terrority, fish size and activity levels.

I have overstocked my 50 gallon by 10-20% and haven't encountered problems (yet). My tank is a community setup full of relatively passive and calm fish, it is heavily planted to help control nitrates and breakup line of sight giving everyone somewhere to hide if they want to. In addition at a minimum I must do at least one 30-40% water changes every week. As some of my larger fish die of old age I probably won't replace them to get stocking levels back down and reduce the amount of water changes I need to do.

 

In my experience with overstocking the tank and inhabitants find a natural way to even things out to acceptable levels. I.E. aggression, illness, etc. So no I don't recommend it. As stated earlier there more to it than filtration. Sure you and 4-5 other people can fit in a 8x8 room for a short period of time and be happy. But eventually it'll start to feel crowded and uncomfortable and you'll be at each others throats. Would you be comfortable living that way your whole life?

 

It’s a 20 gal tank what do you want to put in it?. Most of us oversize our filtration to begin with. I have a 30gal with a filter for a 75 gal filter. How many fish and what type are you looking into?

 

It's not a straight forward question or answer, and would need to be considered on a case by case basis. You could slightly overstock if you had the right selection of fish but you couldn't run a 60 litre as if it were 110 litre just because that's how big your filter is. You have to consider terrority, fish size and activity levels.

I have overstocked my 50 gallon by 10-20% and haven't encountered problems (yet). My tank is a community setup full of relatively passive and calm fish, it is heavily planted to help control nitrates and breakup line of sight giving everyone somewhere to hide if they want to. In addition at a minimum I must do at least one 30-40% water changes every week. As some of my larger fish die of old age I probably won't replace them to get stocking levels back down and reduce the amount of water changes I need to do.

I couldn't agree more. It is more work but it can be done with the correct fish and the right conditions for them to live.

to the OP - what fish did you have in mind?