When you can overstock your tank?

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e burna

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
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Villiage of Lowell
I've heard that with the right maintenance, you can actually *slightly* overstock your tank. Is this true? Any suggestions?
 
the problem is not simply the wastes, it is also the fish themselves. I learned this the hard way. My water is reef quality even its a fowlr. i have always wanted a school of fish. so I got 4 monos. my undulated trigger (the dominant fish) felt overcrowded and decided to kill his biggest threat.... my blue jaw trigger. with the size of my tank space was really not that much of an issue, nor hiding places. well basically there is more to it than water quality.
 
Overstocking is completely different then putting the appropriate fish in an appropriate enviorment. With enough biological filtration (tons of LR, DSB and maybe a sump or fuge) and with regular maintanance you can "slightly" overstock your tank. be very careful, the more you push the line the less margin for error you lwave yourself shoud something go wrong. Always look at water parameters as a guide.
 
Say you were severely overfiltered... how much bioload could a tank handle? Provided you had a say 120 g tank, an ASM G3 skimmer, fuge, sump, and oh maybe 180 # of LR? Let's also assume for a moment that most of your fish will never grow to more than 2-3"...
 
If you plan on keep the animals (as you should) long term, one needs to consider the "adult room needed" in evaluating your stock. It can quickly become a factor.
 
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