Overstocking 101

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bud29

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Joined
Jun 16, 2012
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In a van, down by the river
Want to know how to overstock a tank? Do what the majority of people in my town do. It seems as if nobody properly stocks a tank. I believe I have seen one person with a well stocked tank, he had some platys and white skirt tetras in a 29 gallon. I have seen people put bettas in 1/3 gallon cubes, I have seen people put two fantail goldfish in a one gallon bowl, but this topped the cake: Today I was in the fish section of walmart and a guy started talking about the fish he had. He said he had an Oscar and a common pleco, both ≈8 inches long. He started rambling on and on about the whacky things they ate, and I thought, I doubt this guy has a big enough tank for these fish. And then he said, "And the crazy thing is, since they are so big, those are the only 2 fish that I can put in my 5 gallon tank!" I almost passed out. He also continued to say that the fish were not fond of each other, And they always stayed on separate sides of the tank. How in the world can 2 8 inch fish stay on opposite sides of the tank when in a 5 gallon? This overstocking rivals an ad put in my local classifieds for a 20 gallon tank containing 40 convict cichlids......
 
Just 10 minutes ago I was looking on craigslist and there is someone selling a 30 gal. Tank with 11 inch Oscar and a 10 inch jack Dempsey in it. There's even a pic. Poor fish
 
How are those fish even still alive? And lasted long enough to grow that big??
 
okapizebra said:
How are those fish even still alive? And lasted long enough to grow that big??

Yeah I know. And how can the owner not tell the tank is to small just by looking at it
 
Here is the pic from the listing!
 

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Perhaps he misspoke, or overestimated the sizes of the fish, or is mistaken about what size tank he has?

But if we skip giving people any benefit of the doubt, we do get to feel morally superior when we look at their aquariums condescendingly :)
 
Not everyone shares the same perception of fish in regards to ethics, rights, etc. Many more people are just as well uneducated and often (stubbornly) ignorant.

Either way, treating them like murderers and scoffing at the publicly does little to alleviate the disparity.
 
jetajockey said:
That looks like a side tank pic. If it is and this is a standard 29 then the fish sizes were exaggerated a bit.

The op was about a 5 gallon with an oscar a a 8" pleco, and the photo up there was a Craigslist ad for those two monsters in a 10. If you look real close it almost looks like a triangle shaped tank. Those guys are crammed.
 
This is rivaling the 5 gallon with the pleco and oscar for "most horrendously overstocked."

40 convict cichlids in a 20 gallon. It was an ad on my local classifieds. Once again proving the ignorance of my community when it comes to fish........
 

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christine2012 said:
The op was about a 5 gallon with an oscar a a 8" pleco, and the photo up there was a Craigslist ad for those two monsters in a 10. If you look real close it almost looks like a triangle shaped tank. Those guys are crammed.

I was talking about the oscar and jd in the 30g. I don't see a photo of a oscar /pleco or a triangle tank.
 
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bud29 said:
This is rivaling the 5 gallon with the pleco and oscar for "most horrendously overstocked."

40 convict cichlids in a 20 gallon. It was an ad on my local classifieds. Once again proving the ignorance of my community when it comes to fish........

Oh my god!
 
jetajockey said:
I was talking about the oscar and jd in the 30g. I don't see a photo of a oscar /pleco or a triangle tank.

Oh jeez I'm sorry! There was a few different tanks being talked about my crazy brain jumbled them up... I could've swore the Craigslist ad said 10.
When I saw the pic it threw me for a loop at that side angle. My apologies
 
Are you saying four 22" arrowana in my 37 is overdoing it?

They seem happy all snuggled together. I had to take out the filter cause it just didn't fit anymore. But I change a few gallons every couple months so they should be fine.
 
hpiguy said:
Are you saying four 22" arrowana in my 37 is overdoing it?

They seem happy all snuggled together. I had to take out the filter cause it just didn't fit anymore. But I change a few gallons every couple months so they should be fine.

I'm pretty sure. I keep my arrowana in my 5 gallon tank. He looks cool curled into a circle! Like a snake! Hisssss :p!
 
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