How stocked are you, according to aqadvisor.com?

[NODAK1979]

The site I've seen most people use as a calculator of stocking is www.aqadvisor.com. Many seem to agree it's a pretty conservative estimator, and many people are going to run over 100 percent.

So, have you had it calculate your stocking percentage?? If not, go ahead and try it. See what comes up. It's kind of interesting.

Mine came up at 148%. Not too surprised. I'd say I'm full but I know that this site is pretty stringent so it rated me higher.

However, it also recommends 43% weekly water changes, which is wayyyyy too low. If I did that, I'd likely have sick or dead discus & GBR's. I do 50% every 2 to 3 days. So, you have to take it all with a grain of salt I suppose.

What's yours calculate at?

 

[roydooms]

Mine came up at 114% and I have to do 37%PWC a week. I do 2-40%PWC per week anyway. Sometimes an extra 30%. So I think I'm good You may think it's too much PWC but it's different with discus. Lol. I want them to grow faster or even pair up.

Edit: I just reread your post and you are doing more PWCs. Lol. My plants are keeping the nitrates in check. So, I can do less.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

It usually depends what your long term goals are, how big the fish are compared to adult size and whether you agree with the Web sites determination on bio load. For example, I massively disagree with that site on the bioload impact of Silver Dollars.

20g convict breeder, aquaclear 110

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 322%.
Recommended water change schedule: 35% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 83%.

29g Angelfish breeder, fluval fx5 (yes, fx5)

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 1257%.
Recommended water change schedule: 22% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 79%.

75g Oscar tank, fluval fx5 - I disagree on the Silver Dollar bioload on this one.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 175%.
Recommended water change schedule: 66% per week. (You might want to split this water change schedule to two separate 41% per week)
Your aquarium stocking level is 153%

55g bottom feeder and arowana growout for much larger tank I intend to get. The Aro, for example, is about 3". - fluval fx5

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 66%.
Your tank is too small - it will require massive amount of frequent water changes each week!
Your aquarium stocking level is 473%.

 

[henryprice]

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 226%.
Recommended water change schedule: 3% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 22%.

Under stocked lol.

 

[NODAK1979]

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 226%.
Recommended water change schedule: 3% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 22%.

Under stocked lol.

3% a week?? Why bother? May as well do it monthly...a whopping 15%.

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

55gal barb community:

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 80%.
Recommended water change schedule: 50% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 149%.

I REALLY don't think I am overstocked by 49%. That is nuts! I do between 15-20% water changes twice a week, so I'm close there.


10gal Endler's & shrimp:

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 195%.
Recommended water change schedule: 28% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 96%

See, this tank I think I have overstocked a bit. Apparantly not, according to them.


2.5gal Betta:

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 684%.
Recommended water change schedule: 17% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 100%

Wow, spot on!!! Although it appears I could filter the rest of kitchen too


I think if you consider this, the 1" per gallon suggestion, the 10sq.in. per inch of fish surface area guideline, and use some common sense (like not putting a pleco in a 5gal tank) AND listen to the experienced people here, you should turn out alright.

 

[henryprice]

3% a week?? Why bother? May as well do it monthly...a whopping 15%.

Haha well I do 25% a week to be honest and it keeps the water fresh and clean, dunno if 3% is really that correct.

 

[BigJim]

...Use some common sense and listen to the experienced people here, you should turn out alright.

You nailed it right there.

I'm not a fan of AqAdvisor. It's ok for maybe checking compatibility, but I wouldn't put much faith in any of the hard numbers it spits out in regards to filtration capacity, stocking levels, and least of all, weekly water change percentages. AqAdvisor makes too many assumptions. There's too many variables that you'd have to take into account to get accurate formulas. For example, you'd need to know things like:

- How much ammonia is the fish producing? It'll vary depending on the size of the fish, the amount of food eaten, the quality of the food, etc.

- Are there other ammonia sinks in the tank? If you have live plants, they can drastically reduce the nitrate levels in your tank.

- Are there other ammonia sources in the tank? Do you overfeed?

 

[James_in_MN]

My tanks aren't fully stocked yet, but the plan is...

20g high community tank
Aqueon Quietflow 30
9 ghost shrimp
3 ottos
10 black neon tetra
5 cherry barbs (or hopefully african banded barbs)
2 GBRs

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 135%.
Recommended water change schedule: 32% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 104%.

10g community tank
Aqueon Quietflow 10
4 amano shrimp
10 RCS
8 cardinal tetras

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 125%.
Recommended water change schedule: 29% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 99%.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Temp recommended @ 73 - 74 (seems better as I keep it at 76 - 78, so adjusting down slowly)

Filtration for my fish stock is 110% (sounds about right)

Overstocked by 171% (I knew that already lol, but they are happy, healthy and thriving so I don't see a problem with it)

pH 6.5 - 7.5 (buffers here lock it in at 7.8, RO & Neutral Regulator plans will fix that soon enough )

PWC 50% each week or 2 X 29% (I do 2 X 30% each week, perfect!)

Overall I think I have a we'll balanced DT and add in that I have a well planted tank that they don't ask about, I think I've got a perfect enviroment.

Sent from my Epic 4G

 

[James_in_MN]

I'm not a fan of AqAdvisor. It's ok for maybe checking compatibility, but I wouldn't put much faith in any of the hard numbers it spits out in regards to filtration capacity, stocking levels, and least of all, weekly water change percentages. AqAdvisor makes too many assumptions. There's too many variables that you'd have to take into account to get accurate formulas. For example, you'd need to know things like:

- How much ammonia is the fish producing? It'll vary depending on the size of the fish, the amount of food eaten, the quality of the food, etc.

- Are there other ammonia sinks in the tank? If you have live plants, they can drastically reduce the nitrate levels in your tank.

- Are there other ammonia sources in the tank? Do you overfeed?

I think of it more as a guideline than anything else. I still think that after using that tool, you should ask people on these forums about your stocking plan to solicit feedback.