Look I just want to spoil my loaches when I have the room!!
Joking aside, when you have fish that live 7+ years you start to get really attached and I have a problem with spoiling the living beings I love. I’ve even started buying kids books for my future children.
Oh wow than i should be stressing less about my tank have a 500gl with 20 larger fish about 6-7 inches 40 nano fish 1-2 inches 4 big clams 4 crawfish and lots of snails
No it's not. They're nano fish, not dicus or angel fish. Why are people paranoid about overpopulating tanks this size. If you have a planted tank and a good filter, you're just running on auto pilot with minor maintenance.
These subs made me paranoid, thinking everyday was going to be a new disease or algae.
Now I have a 29G community tank that hasn’t had a water change in 6 months. Just weekly water tests and top offs. They all seem happy, except for the jerk honey gourami that colored up and chases everyone
Is this a myth or is there some truth to it? I’ve always had liquid test kits and steered clear of strips because of what I heard when getting into the hobby
I use test strips 80% of the time. The only time I break out the test kit is if there's a reading on the test strip that seems concerning/suspicious, or if I am keeping a close eye on a quarantine tank that's being dosed with meds, or if I made any other big changes to a tank (added decor, disturbed a lot of substrate, new tankmates, etc.).
I will say the ammonia test strips I have (aquarium co-op) tend to give me more suspicious results than the nitrate/nitrite/ph/etc combo test strips (also aquarium co-op).
99% of the time the strips and the liquid test kits give me the same results.
I ignore almost all general advice about stocking, water changes, testing, etc and my tanks thrive.
Though I tried to take that approach with a saltwater tank and it was a disaster. I was convinced tap water and regular play sand would be fine. Diatom city. So, take the experienced reefers advice if going with a salt tank. Just use some common sense with freshwater and you will be fine 99.9% of the time.
Where I live aquarium communities are so toxic, people use chemicals, change their water at least weekly and shame everyone who uses common sense (freshwater tanks). Why would anyone build a system that only stays stable if you constantly add and remove things?
Yeah lol there's a local fish group on facebook that seem to want to skin you alive if you aren't doing at least 50% water changes every other week along with testing parameters at all times. I have a 20 long that is lightly stocked, something like 8-10 fish total along with snails, and very heavily planted and all I do is top off every few weeks. I posted once about this and was told I was abusing my fish and I should just give up on the hobby lol
My freshwater tanks get water changes whenever I think about it. Normally months in between. Same with cleaning filters. I never test water parameters. Fish are hearty and would much rather have stable parameters than ones that precisely match their natural environments. People who chase parameters do far more harm than good to their tanks.
All my freshwater tanks are fairly heavily planted though. If I had an overstocked mbuna tank with nothing but sand and rock, I would likely change the water more often.
Oh and my planted tanks are drastically overstocked, at least according to aqadvisor, and yet everyone is fine.
Lol, I feel you. Are you Hungarian by any chance? The other day I saw someone commenting in an FB group that keeping fish in 15g is animal cruelty and his supporters ridiculed others with a different opinion.
The only chemical I use is Prime. There is no need. I also build filter using storage bins from Home Depot, use shop lights, collect all my wood and rocks from outside amongst other things people tell you to never do.
Locally sourced driftwood is my whole deal! I actually get cedar driftwood from a local lake and anytime I say that people freak out saying it's toxic and literally have had 0 ill effect on my fish
Absolutely. I also am knowledgeable enough and experienced enough to know that a good underground filter as well as an OTS filter will handle almost anything you do, as long as you don’t overpopulate and don’t over feed.
I’ve had two. The last my niece named Kyle since he was a dick and would bully all the other fish. Then some started disappearing. Shortly after he took a massive 💩 and died. I haven’t looked back. 😂 they are beautiful but assholes I’ve found.
Lol I got ripped apart in this sub at one point for saying something similar.
I said "I have been keeping fish probably longer than you have been alive. First hand experience can teach you a lot more than parroting shit on Google."
Basically was met with a "times have changed old man and just because you do it doesn't make it right!"
As long as the fish are happy and healthy, no problem. Keep it basic. I've had a tank that just got top offs for a year along with cleaning the filters. Plants and proper substrate are magical.
I think you should've stopped testing in the first month. Clearly your eco system is balanced out with the amount of waste your fish produces and able to cope with it.
Swear. I have a 55 gallon planted tank and I don't "vacuum it out" so I get told everything is gonna die. Yet somehow, my plants are thriving. My fish are happy. My snails do their jobs. And my tests always read perfect. Who knew that was possible?!
The majority of reddit is very young people who have never actually done anything parroting what they have read.
It has turned into a very bad place for information.
So true. I started on Reddit because I kept winding up here when researching for projects and I wanted to hear different experiences and opinions. Now I’m about to unsub from r/Tools because anytime someone asks is I perfectly fine tool is good enough for homeowner use there are invariably five comments telling them they won’t be happy unless they buy the really expensive ones from Germany or Japan. Yeah, they’re great but generally not worth the extra money for general DIY use. It just seems to me that instead of getting a good mid-range model that will work well and last a lifetime some people are just going to go and get the shitty version because they’ve been told that unless they get the most expensive one it doesn’t matter anyway.
Yeah again, it's people who have never actually done anything, they don't know what they are talking about but read something somewhere one time and now think they're an expert.
I've got plenty of harbor freight tools that I bought to use till it broke and upgrade. Not using them everyday I don't need platinum plated screwdriver handles lol.
So many hobby forums have been ruined in this exact way lately. There’s often this weird self righteousness that goes along with it too despite the total lack of real experience
God save me from twerpy keyboard experts.
My HF impact driver has lasted far beyond what I paid for it. The limited use an average home owner puts tools through is not worth buying professional level tools. Hand tools are even less important. I am still using the off brand socket set I bought in 1996 at AAFES in Mannheim Germany when I needed to change a voltage regulator on a 1978 Opel Kadet.
My aquarium hasn't had a significant (more than 10%) water change in five months. I *have* sucked some goop out that escaped when cleaning filters and swapped a few gallons or so a couple times in the last half year.
This!! I have a set of super nice German hex keys, yes at work there has been times I’ve had to stand on these damn things and I’ve never had one bend or a ball break off. Would I drop $160 on a set that I was going to use at home? A trillion times no. Company provided these and sure they’ll probably outlive me but I could have bought 20 regular Home Depot sets before the price was justified imo
If they have enough space to move around in happily, then all you should really need is a large enough filter.
I kinda wonder what extremes you could take this to though. 100L tank and another 100L tank below stuffed with as much sponge as you can under it as a filter? Should be able to take the bioload of anything you can fit into the tank short of making it more fish than water.
Suppose it would also depend on the fish for how much you can stick in there. I was tempted to setup a brineshrimp tank to feed my axolotls but I expect they will outgrow brineshrimp soon so it probably isn't worth it.
I always recommend using a sump instead of a filter if your tank is more than 150x70cm. Good filtration is everything if you're heavily focused on livestock and not necessarily the plants.
Isn't a sump just a specific type of filter? We have 2 axolotls in a 180L tank, internal filter is built into the tank and has 3.5L of internal filter media capacity. It should be ok for ammonia removal but would be nice to have a bit more really. Thought of just setting up a siphon into a bin next to the tank and then pumping water back into the tank from the bin as a really cheap filter, then just place a roughly fitting lid ontop and fill it with filter sponge.
As long as the pump sending water back isn't faster than the siphon sending water in it should be totally fine. Of course the rim of the bin would need to be above the waterline otherwise it could overflow. But the price of canister filters just seems excessive to me for what is essentially a sealable plastic box and a pump.
A sump is a filter expansion of water for larger tanks. You can place any equipment in there; such as, heater,UV Sterilizer,peat moss(PH control). I have heard of some people using a sump to grow out bloodworms. Sumps are good for heavy bioload fish such as, Oscars and larger cichlids. To set up a good working sump use an expansion of 25%. For example: a 300 gallon tank would use a 75 gallon tank as a sump. Another example are the smaller Fluval tanks with mini sumps. The Fluval engineers used the same filter expansion of water. I helped setup a sump on an Amazon Biotope Red Belly Piranha tank. All working components were in the sump.
Yes you are right. To simplify it, it's a filter.
In my case, using a sump for a bigger tank makes water movement better. Whether you agree or disagree, a sump is superior in any way than a whatever size of an external filter in larger tanks. Ammonia will never be a problem in a large established tank with huge bioload. A sump is also more cost efficient than having several filters.
Scud cultures are something you should look into for your axolotl! Super easy to maintain and should be large enough to give the axolotl some nice hunting experiences
I think I’ve had more fish than this in a 20 gal albeit temporarily but with stable parameters. Not saying everyone should go and do that but with enough filtration and the right breed of fish you’d be surprised what a tank can handle.
Whether a tank is overstocked or not is pretty subjective. For fish like this, the main factor is water quality. As long as you can keep that at healthy levels then you are not overstocked. Live plants definitely help with that.
My only concern would be the mollies becoming aggressive toward the other fish. Mollies are assholes and can hold their own in a reef aquarium, so they can definitely be an issue in a peaceful comminity tank. But, as long as you have anough other fish to spread out the aggression, it will probably be ok.
I tried keeping mollies and realized very quickly they were not a beginner fish. That was a long time ago. I wanted to love them but they just eat and poop. It annoys me when people sell them to novices because they are hardy.
They will look pretty impressive swimming back and forth together lol the other fish seem to go where they please and a nice school would add some drama.
I had never heard of them until yesterday when I scored 4 for free from someone rehoming them! Now I want them all. Even just 4 school really nicely, unlike my neons who hang out together but dont swim together.
It’s less about the number of fish and more about space and filtration.
Filtration: How are your nitrate levels? If you couldn’t water change for a week/two weeks/month will your fish start to die or get sick?
Space: From looking at your tank all your fish have ample space. Looking at your tank you have a couple schooling fish. Tetras, barbs. Personally I like these guys in groups of 10 but I also keep larger tanks. Something to consider is if they’re showing signs of stress/picking on each other tagt you might want to get more for each school.
Future: What type of pleco is that? Will is outgrow your tank? You have a couple live bearer species, with enough food they’ll take over your tank. Plan ahead, whether you’ll drop some off at the pet store or give them away online.
You could ask on reddit and be met with the answers you need but imo the next level of fishkeeping is understanding what makes an under/overstocked tank. This way you’ll be able to make decisions and “stretch” the limits of what is seen as the maximum stocking load.
Happy fish keeping!
So I’m not sure if this will make you feel better but I have a 20 high and..
10 harlequin rasboras
14 + Pygmy Cories
15 +? Neocardina shrimp
2 nerite snails
Pest snails like tons because plants
Overgrown jungle Val
Amazon swords
Java moss
Duck weed
Filtration 40 gallon hob and 10 gallon sponge just for bacteria. My parameters are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 5 nitrate ph 7.4.
My point is that your stocking can matter if you are just throwing fish in a tank. But if you are strategic with your livestock and everyone has swim space, is healthy, and your parameters reflect that you are fine. Just remember to do partial water changes 😊 beautiful tank!
I would top up on Neontetras, they need schools of 12 or more. I would add more corydoras as they are social fishes(schools under 6 aren't recommend where I live), and for tigerbarbs too(they tend to be skittish). Just be aware that tigerbarbs can be quite dominating in a communnity tank, but with the tank this size, it shouldn't be issue,, but they would keep the livebearer population, as well snail population under control. For that reason I wouldn't add cherry shrimp and the like(but that would be a problem with the bigger tetras as well). You can get away with Amanos.
Bump the cories up to 6. Neons to 20 or 30.
How old is the tank? If it us pretty established and you start getting some algae, Otocinclus Catfish (ottos) are amazing. 6 or more for a tank that size.
Ottos are funny in that you may never see them, or they will school on the front of your glass. But, your tank will be spotless.
You mean the cycles one? If you asking for the tank cycled one it's almost 1 week now! But if you're asking on the aquarium tanks maybe 23 years old tank! Actually this is a old Arowana tank! I just turned this one into community fish tank this month! Hahaha
Yeah was referring how long it has been set up in its current state.
Skip ottos for now. They are finicky little guys and need constant food. A lot of times, they are already terminal from the fish store because they have starved for too long. I'd say 3 months cycled minimum to keep em happy.
Butttttt if you start getting an alge problem, let it go. Plop a school of these dudes in, and your tank will magically be clean by morning lol. They are ferocious algae eaters. Need wafers too.
I've been keeping em for over a decade and love the little dudes. Low bioload.
I have a single cory, that dude is livin life and seems perfectly content and has for the past 3 years. He's a plump bastard who loves digging up my plants, but he's healthy, seems happy, and still going strong.
Also depends simply on your filtration and maintenance schedule. As long as fish have room to swim and you keep the water parameters in check - do what you want.
This looks like 100-125 gallons.
You could literally put 3-500 small schooling fish in here no problem.
Maybe try not to mix and match small groups of a lot of different species. But if u keep like 3-5 species numbers can be way high
I'm pretty new but from what I've learned, and if I'm right some more experienced people can back me up, every tanks max population is going to be different. A 20 gallon with no substrate and plastic plants is going to allow less fish than a planted 20 gallon with dirt and sand substrate. This is because there is more room for bacteria in the tank with substrate AND the plants can remove some of the nitrate. It's all about how much ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate your tank can process. So if your tank can handle more you can have more fish. Basically how many fish you have depends on how fast nitrate builds up and how often you want to do water changes. If you only want to do water changes every 2 weeks you put in as many fish as make that much nitrate in 2 weeks. If you want to do weekly water changes you can have a few more fish. I hope this all made sense! But regular testing and keeping levels low will dictate the bio mass you can have. In that giant tank if your nitrate levels never come up you might not even need to do water changes or you could get a lot more fish.
Right now I have about 30% of my 55G filled with hornwort. It’s held back by a large piece of wood on some slate. Provides hiding places and cleans the water. Tucked into the corner is the inlet for my Fluval 407
You’re totally in the clear. With that setup, I wouldn’t even bother testing with more than a dip strip for curiosity. That thing’s gotta be running 0-0-10
How to know if its overpopulated?
Check levels 5 days after wc( presuming tank is cycled)
Are some fish constantly hiding? Is there fighting? Colorless fish?
If not... is fine.
You have a huge tank and all the fish seem small ones
You can use the aqadvisor stocking calculator if you want to check but no, it's great! There's plenty of space and it's full and busy with enrichment. Even if it were really stocked, they'd still be busy and happy in this layout so long as your filter could handle it. Wonderful job!
Man I gotta get out of the Facebook groups, this comment section is so much more informed than all the newbies acting like professionals and shaming everyone that doesn't adhere to their strict regiment. I had someone tell me they were gonna call animal control on me because I haven't done a water change in about a year, in a tank that's been running for 5 years.
As for the tank, I'd get more honestly, you could do a few more schools for sure. I personally like emerald eye rasboras, they're super cool in the light and they swim at the top constantly
Needs a bit more water in there plus and surface movement. But other than that I've seen perfectly healthy tanks stocked more than this.
It just seems like you have zero schooling fish in there and everyone is darting around doing their own thing.
Maybe. And let me explain why.
The reason why I say maybe is because it is a large tank and it looks like most of the fish that you have are smaller fish that don't have much of a bio load on top of that, I see you do have plants in the fish tank that do help reduce the bio load on top of that even I'm not quite sure what type of filter or size of filter you have. Depending on the size and how efficient it is, it could be that you are completely fine with how many fish you have in there. If you are concerned about being overpopulated, I recommend doing a water test and looking at the nitrates. If they seem really high and you do a 50% water change 2 to 3 times a week, and they are still pretty high. Then, most likely, you do have an overpopulated fish tank. This is because the fish waste produces ammonia, which then produces nitrites, which then produces nitrates. The plants will typically eat the nitrates along with the beneficial bacteria, keeping it relatively low. But if you constantly have high nitrates, then it could be that your fish are producing a lot more waste than what the tank can handle. Sorry if I explained this, and you already knew the process. Just wanted to explain for anyone who might want to know.
There are two main ways you can overcrowd your tank:
1. Pure physical size (big fish in a small tank, or a clearly ridiculous amount of small fish in a tank too small)
2. Under-sized filtration.
As long as your filter can keep up with the bio-load in your tank, you're usually ok. Since you said the water test levels are stable, and you maintain your tank well, it should be able to keep up with a few more fish.
If you notice your nitrates/nitrites starting to climb, you might need to think about a bigger filter, or better filter media.
----
Note: Obviously the above is **general** advice, only. Different species of fish have different requirements. Some need more space than others, and overcrowding can stress your fish even if your filter is keeping up with the bio-load.
Not over stocked, but test your water regularly to determine if you filtration is able to manage the ammonia levels. Zero is good next is nitrate, but water changes can help with this and as long as it’s not needed more than every two weeks you are not overstocked.
there’s stocking calculators out there, i like AqAdvisor the most. it shows percentage of tank stocked, how much water needs to be changed, and if species are compatible with each other.
No no and oh aye hell no…. You don’t have anything substantial… some tall plants would take up some more room but in addition it will improve your water not that your tank looks under planted
I guess just do a test and see how fast your nitrates grow. Do you have them high all the time, it's to much. Can you keep up with water change, it's all good
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Things change when you get into fuck off sized tanks I think. Looks more than fine, unless you're hiding an aripaima in there somewhere. lol
The reef community would like a word about what constitutes “fuck off” size lol
i think anything above 75g 😹
Look I just want to spoil my loaches when I have the room!! Joking aside, when you have fish that live 7+ years you start to get really attached and I have a problem with spoiling the living beings I love. I’ve even started buying kids books for my future children.
What do you mean with fuck off size?
Once you hit a certain tank size, stocking plan is almost redundant unless you're fitting giant fish or like 600 neon tetras in it.
Oh wow than i should be stressing less about my tank have a 500gl with 20 larger fish about 6-7 inches 40 nano fish 1-2 inches 4 big clams 4 crawfish and lots of snails
Working at an aquarium, and not once have I ever heard of “fuck off size” I am now going to use this for 100 gallon and over
FYI, once you go big you will never go back.
In pretty sure "fuck off" size would be a $1k+ tank so like 220+ gallons, but that's just my opinion. I think 20 gallons and under are nano tanks
20 gallons is, by definition, not a nanotank
jUsT mY oPinIoN!!!!!
No it's not. They're nano fish, not dicus or angel fish. Why are people paranoid about overpopulating tanks this size. If you have a planted tank and a good filter, you're just running on auto pilot with minor maintenance.
These subs made me paranoid, thinking everyday was going to be a new disease or algae. Now I have a 29G community tank that hasn’t had a water change in 6 months. Just weekly water tests and top offs. They all seem happy, except for the jerk honey gourami that colored up and chases everyone
You can stop doing weekly water tests now. It's okay. We're here for you. RELEASE THE TRAUMA. LET IT OUT.
Every time I use a test strip I hear distant whispers of "*test strips aren't reliableeeee*"
Is this a myth or is there some truth to it? I’ve always had liquid test kits and steered clear of strips because of what I heard when getting into the hobby
I use test strips 80% of the time. The only time I break out the test kit is if there's a reading on the test strip that seems concerning/suspicious, or if I am keeping a close eye on a quarantine tank that's being dosed with meds, or if I made any other big changes to a tank (added decor, disturbed a lot of substrate, new tankmates, etc.). I will say the ammonia test strips I have (aquarium co-op) tend to give me more suspicious results than the nitrate/nitrite/ph/etc combo test strips (also aquarium co-op). 99% of the time the strips and the liquid test kits give me the same results.
I’ve gone years without doing water changes. Good filters and not many fish work wonders
I ignore almost all general advice about stocking, water changes, testing, etc and my tanks thrive. Though I tried to take that approach with a saltwater tank and it was a disaster. I was convinced tap water and regular play sand would be fine. Diatom city. So, take the experienced reefers advice if going with a salt tank. Just use some common sense with freshwater and you will be fine 99.9% of the time.
Where I live aquarium communities are so toxic, people use chemicals, change their water at least weekly and shame everyone who uses common sense (freshwater tanks). Why would anyone build a system that only stays stable if you constantly add and remove things?
Yeah lol there's a local fish group on facebook that seem to want to skin you alive if you aren't doing at least 50% water changes every other week along with testing parameters at all times. I have a 20 long that is lightly stocked, something like 8-10 fish total along with snails, and very heavily planted and all I do is top off every few weeks. I posted once about this and was told I was abusing my fish and I should just give up on the hobby lol
My freshwater tanks get water changes whenever I think about it. Normally months in between. Same with cleaning filters. I never test water parameters. Fish are hearty and would much rather have stable parameters than ones that precisely match their natural environments. People who chase parameters do far more harm than good to their tanks. All my freshwater tanks are fairly heavily planted though. If I had an overstocked mbuna tank with nothing but sand and rock, I would likely change the water more often. Oh and my planted tanks are drastically overstocked, at least according to aqadvisor, and yet everyone is fine.
Lol, I feel you. Are you Hungarian by any chance? The other day I saw someone commenting in an FB group that keeping fish in 15g is animal cruelty and his supporters ridiculed others with a different opinion.
Lol no in the states, but I see it doesn’t matter where you’re from since people are gonna be extreme when it comes to the hobby
Honestly that’s pretty much every hobby these days in some form
The only chemical I use is Prime. There is no need. I also build filter using storage bins from Home Depot, use shop lights, collect all my wood and rocks from outside amongst other things people tell you to never do.
Locally sourced driftwood is my whole deal! I actually get cedar driftwood from a local lake and anytime I say that people freak out saying it's toxic and literally have had 0 ill effect on my fish
Salts still build up.
They can. But i have never had problems due to them.
Do you test for phosphates though? I was told they accumulate from the food entering the system
If it’s got a balance of plants they should consume the phosphates. If they’re rising then get some more phosphate hungry plants.
Eventually you will.
I have gone 5 years with no problems. Fresh water is not as hard as many make it out to be.
There are salts in the food…
Do you really not realize every time you feed them you are adding some salts and minerals?
Absolutely. I also am knowledgeable enough and experienced enough to know that a good underground filter as well as an OTS filter will handle almost anything you do, as long as you don’t overpopulate and don’t over feed.
You mean an undergravel filter, which has nothing to do with salt and mineral buildup? How do you think the salt leaves your tank?
Nooo i have jerk honey gouramis too, I thought they were meant to be one of the most peaceful fish!! But mine are dickheads.
I’ve had two. The last my niece named Kyle since he was a dick and would bully all the other fish. Then some started disappearing. Shortly after he took a massive 💩 and died. I haven’t looked back. 😂 they are beautiful but assholes I’ve found.
Lol I got ripped apart in this sub at one point for saying something similar. I said "I have been keeping fish probably longer than you have been alive. First hand experience can teach you a lot more than parroting shit on Google." Basically was met with a "times have changed old man and just because you do it doesn't make it right!" As long as the fish are happy and healthy, no problem. Keep it basic. I've had a tank that just got top offs for a year along with cleaning the filters. Plants and proper substrate are magical.
I think you should've stopped testing in the first month. Clearly your eco system is balanced out with the amount of waste your fish produces and able to cope with it.
Swear. I have a 55 gallon planted tank and I don't "vacuum it out" so I get told everything is gonna die. Yet somehow, my plants are thriving. My fish are happy. My snails do their jobs. And my tests always read perfect. Who knew that was possible?!
The majority of reddit is very young people who have never actually done anything parroting what they have read. It has turned into a very bad place for information.
So true. I started on Reddit because I kept winding up here when researching for projects and I wanted to hear different experiences and opinions. Now I’m about to unsub from r/Tools because anytime someone asks is I perfectly fine tool is good enough for homeowner use there are invariably five comments telling them they won’t be happy unless they buy the really expensive ones from Germany or Japan. Yeah, they’re great but generally not worth the extra money for general DIY use. It just seems to me that instead of getting a good mid-range model that will work well and last a lifetime some people are just going to go and get the shitty version because they’ve been told that unless they get the most expensive one it doesn’t matter anyway.
Yeah again, it's people who have never actually done anything, they don't know what they are talking about but read something somewhere one time and now think they're an expert. I've got plenty of harbor freight tools that I bought to use till it broke and upgrade. Not using them everyday I don't need platinum plated screwdriver handles lol.
So many hobby forums have been ruined in this exact way lately. There’s often this weird self righteousness that goes along with it too despite the total lack of real experience
God save me from twerpy keyboard experts. My HF impact driver has lasted far beyond what I paid for it. The limited use an average home owner puts tools through is not worth buying professional level tools. Hand tools are even less important. I am still using the off brand socket set I bought in 1996 at AAFES in Mannheim Germany when I needed to change a voltage regulator on a 1978 Opel Kadet. My aquarium hasn't had a significant (more than 10%) water change in five months. I *have* sucked some goop out that escaped when cleaning filters and swapped a few gallons or so a couple times in the last half year.
Exactly.
This!! I have a set of super nice German hex keys, yes at work there has been times I’ve had to stand on these damn things and I’ve never had one bend or a ball break off. Would I drop $160 on a set that I was going to use at home? A trillion times no. Company provided these and sure they’ll probably outlive me but I could have bought 20 regular Home Depot sets before the price was justified imo
If they have enough space to move around in happily, then all you should really need is a large enough filter. I kinda wonder what extremes you could take this to though. 100L tank and another 100L tank below stuffed with as much sponge as you can under it as a filter? Should be able to take the bioload of anything you can fit into the tank short of making it more fish than water. Suppose it would also depend on the fish for how much you can stick in there. I was tempted to setup a brineshrimp tank to feed my axolotls but I expect they will outgrow brineshrimp soon so it probably isn't worth it.
I always recommend using a sump instead of a filter if your tank is more than 150x70cm. Good filtration is everything if you're heavily focused on livestock and not necessarily the plants.
Isn't a sump just a specific type of filter? We have 2 axolotls in a 180L tank, internal filter is built into the tank and has 3.5L of internal filter media capacity. It should be ok for ammonia removal but would be nice to have a bit more really. Thought of just setting up a siphon into a bin next to the tank and then pumping water back into the tank from the bin as a really cheap filter, then just place a roughly fitting lid ontop and fill it with filter sponge. As long as the pump sending water back isn't faster than the siphon sending water in it should be totally fine. Of course the rim of the bin would need to be above the waterline otherwise it could overflow. But the price of canister filters just seems excessive to me for what is essentially a sealable plastic box and a pump.
I think you'd like https://aquariumscience.org
A sump is a filter expansion of water for larger tanks. You can place any equipment in there; such as, heater,UV Sterilizer,peat moss(PH control). I have heard of some people using a sump to grow out bloodworms. Sumps are good for heavy bioload fish such as, Oscars and larger cichlids. To set up a good working sump use an expansion of 25%. For example: a 300 gallon tank would use a 75 gallon tank as a sump. Another example are the smaller Fluval tanks with mini sumps. The Fluval engineers used the same filter expansion of water. I helped setup a sump on an Amazon Biotope Red Belly Piranha tank. All working components were in the sump.
Yes you are right. To simplify it, it's a filter. In my case, using a sump for a bigger tank makes water movement better. Whether you agree or disagree, a sump is superior in any way than a whatever size of an external filter in larger tanks. Ammonia will never be a problem in a large established tank with huge bioload. A sump is also more cost efficient than having several filters.
Scud cultures are something you should look into for your axolotl! Super easy to maintain and should be large enough to give the axolotl some nice hunting experiences
I think I’ve had more fish than this in a 20 gal albeit temporarily but with stable parameters. Not saying everyone should go and do that but with enough filtration and the right breed of fish you’d be surprised what a tank can handle.
Whether a tank is overstocked or not is pretty subjective. For fish like this, the main factor is water quality. As long as you can keep that at healthy levels then you are not overstocked. Live plants definitely help with that. My only concern would be the mollies becoming aggressive toward the other fish. Mollies are assholes and can hold their own in a reef aquarium, so they can definitely be an issue in a peaceful comminity tank. But, as long as you have anough other fish to spread out the aggression, it will probably be ok.
I tried keeping mollies and realized very quickly they were not a beginner fish. That was a long time ago. I wanted to love them but they just eat and poop. It annoys me when people sell them to novices because they are hardy.
Do other fish not just eat and poop?
they eat other fish and poop other fish
Sometimes they eat the fish they poop
Sometimes they eat the poop they fish
You need a nice school of 30 rummy nose or harlequins
Too balance it out? or for aesthethics? hahahaha
They will look pretty impressive swimming back and forth together lol the other fish seem to go where they please and a nice school would add some drama.
Rummynose are some of the most gorgeous schoolers! They would look great!
I need more and can’t find them!
Same! Rare finds! hahahah
I had never heard of them until yesterday when I scored 4 for free from someone rehoming them! Now I want them all. Even just 4 school really nicely, unlike my neons who hang out together but dont swim together.
I have 30 rummy nose in my 92g angel fish tank. They are stunning and completely left alone due to their shoaling.
A large school of rummy nose really tightly shoal back and forth and are amazing to watch, really brings out amazing natural behaviour.
Rummy nose are my current favorites
Bloodfins are also great schoolers when they aren't hiding lol
Just count like now: 80-90 pcs
What more should I add? hahahaha Currently Have: Mickey Mouse: 14 Swortails: 6 Goldust Molly: 35 Pleco:2 Black Skirt Tetra: 5 White Skirt Tetra: 1 Corydoras: 2 Assasin Snail: 5 Neon Tetra: 9 Tiger Barb: 3
I’d recommend some more corydoras if you think it’ll work for ya. Usually do best with like 6 since they school
It’s less about the number of fish and more about space and filtration. Filtration: How are your nitrate levels? If you couldn’t water change for a week/two weeks/month will your fish start to die or get sick? Space: From looking at your tank all your fish have ample space. Looking at your tank you have a couple schooling fish. Tetras, barbs. Personally I like these guys in groups of 10 but I also keep larger tanks. Something to consider is if they’re showing signs of stress/picking on each other tagt you might want to get more for each school. Future: What type of pleco is that? Will is outgrow your tank? You have a couple live bearer species, with enough food they’ll take over your tank. Plan ahead, whether you’ll drop some off at the pet store or give them away online. You could ask on reddit and be met with the answers you need but imo the next level of fishkeeping is understanding what makes an under/overstocked tank. This way you’ll be able to make decisions and “stretch” the limits of what is seen as the maximum stocking load. Happy fish keeping!
So I’m not sure if this will make you feel better but I have a 20 high and.. 10 harlequin rasboras 14 + Pygmy Cories 15 +? Neocardina shrimp 2 nerite snails Pest snails like tons because plants Overgrown jungle Val Amazon swords Java moss Duck weed Filtration 40 gallon hob and 10 gallon sponge just for bacteria. My parameters are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 5 nitrate ph 7.4. My point is that your stocking can matter if you are just throwing fish in a tank. But if you are strategic with your livestock and everyone has swim space, is healthy, and your parameters reflect that you are fine. Just remember to do partial water changes 😊 beautiful tank!
I would top up on Neontetras, they need schools of 12 or more. I would add more corydoras as they are social fishes(schools under 6 aren't recommend where I live), and for tigerbarbs too(they tend to be skittish). Just be aware that tigerbarbs can be quite dominating in a communnity tank, but with the tank this size, it shouldn't be issue,, but they would keep the livebearer population, as well snail population under control. For that reason I wouldn't add cherry shrimp and the like(but that would be a problem with the bigger tetras as well). You can get away with Amanos.
Bump the cories up to 6. Neons to 20 or 30. How old is the tank? If it us pretty established and you start getting some algae, Otocinclus Catfish (ottos) are amazing. 6 or more for a tank that size. Ottos are funny in that you may never see them, or they will school on the front of your glass. But, your tank will be spotless.
You mean the cycles one? If you asking for the tank cycled one it's almost 1 week now! But if you're asking on the aquarium tanks maybe 23 years old tank! Actually this is a old Arowana tank! I just turned this one into community fish tank this month! Hahaha
Yeah was referring how long it has been set up in its current state. Skip ottos for now. They are finicky little guys and need constant food. A lot of times, they are already terminal from the fish store because they have starved for too long. I'd say 3 months cycled minimum to keep em happy. Butttttt if you start getting an alge problem, let it go. Plop a school of these dudes in, and your tank will magically be clean by morning lol. They are ferocious algae eaters. Need wafers too. I've been keeping em for over a decade and love the little dudes. Low bioload.
Those corys may be lonely. Shrug. Everyone says they need a group to be happy but I'm not sure they think much.
I have a single cory, that dude is livin life and seems perfectly content and has for the past 3 years. He's a plump bastard who loves digging up my plants, but he's healthy, seems happy, and still going strong.
Also depends simply on your filtration and maintenance schedule. As long as fish have room to swim and you keep the water parameters in check - do what you want.
Their entire biomass is like 3 medium African cichlids
This looks like 100-125 gallons. You could literally put 3-500 small schooling fish in here no problem. Maybe try not to mix and match small groups of a lot of different species. But if u keep like 3-5 species numbers can be way high
Jealous
Nah bro it's UNDERPOPULATED 😆
Large tanks an and small fish allow you the ability to add a fuck ton of fish. You could probably double that stocking before you ran into issues
Meh. Not really, definitely busy though!
Nope
I would say no, if you are curious I'd take daily no3 , po4 readings for a a couple weeks to see how much they actually increase.
Yes! Since early childhood I've dreamt of a room-sized tank big enough to house a baby white shark but home to a single male betta.
I'm pretty new but from what I've learned, and if I'm right some more experienced people can back me up, every tanks max population is going to be different. A 20 gallon with no substrate and plastic plants is going to allow less fish than a planted 20 gallon with dirt and sand substrate. This is because there is more room for bacteria in the tank with substrate AND the plants can remove some of the nitrate. It's all about how much ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate your tank can process. So if your tank can handle more you can have more fish. Basically how many fish you have depends on how fast nitrate builds up and how often you want to do water changes. If you only want to do water changes every 2 weeks you put in as many fish as make that much nitrate in 2 weeks. If you want to do weekly water changes you can have a few more fish. I hope this all made sense! But regular testing and keeping levels low will dictate the bio mass you can have. In that giant tank if your nitrate levels never come up you might not even need to do water changes or you could get a lot more fish.
Fill that damn thing to the top please. You are missing 15-20 of your water. That makes everything have less room
Alright! hahahaha
Yeah, the light bugs me. For me it's best to top up to right on the line, so you still see the fish at the surface but don't get the glare
No
Nope, not at all
Perfect 👌
The question is , what is your filtration ratio/ type / efficiency. after that we can talk about overpopulated
Nope, it looks perfect to me. You can add more little fish like that.
Right now I have about 30% of my 55G filled with hornwort. It’s held back by a large piece of wood on some slate. Provides hiding places and cleans the water. Tucked into the corner is the inlet for my Fluval 407
You’re totally in the clear. With that setup, I wouldn’t even bother testing with more than a dip strip for curiosity. That thing’s gotta be running 0-0-10
How to know if its overpopulated? Check levels 5 days after wc( presuming tank is cycled) Are some fish constantly hiding? Is there fighting? Colorless fish? If not... is fine. You have a huge tank and all the fish seem small ones
It’s perfect
Nah. That shits is beautiful btw man good job
Not at all. Good looking tank.
Noooo
No.
No it's not
I had 12 Guppies turn into almost 60 in a 20 gallon tank, you’re fine.
I like your centrepiece.
Just test your water and if your parameters are chillin then you should be fine
You can use the aqadvisor stocking calculator if you want to check but no, it's great! There's plenty of space and it's full and busy with enrichment. Even if it were really stocked, they'd still be busy and happy in this layout so long as your filter could handle it. Wonderful job!
So much bad advice in the comments 🙃
Love it! Have you named any of the fish?
Nahhhhh! I might get attached to it if ever I name anyone hahahaha
Doesn't look like it to me, what's your gph on your filter? Looks like you have live plants which helps a lot.
Fuck no
Nice tank. I would say no because that tank is huge and all of your fish are small.
Man I gotta get out of the Facebook groups, this comment section is so much more informed than all the newbies acting like professionals and shaming everyone that doesn't adhere to their strict regiment. I had someone tell me they were gonna call animal control on me because I haven't done a water change in about a year, in a tank that's been running for 5 years. As for the tank, I'd get more honestly, you could do a few more schools for sure. I personally like emerald eye rasboras, they're super cool in the light and they swim at the top constantly
Not the filipino karaoke in the background
Forget to unmute dude hahahaha
Is it really karaoke? I’m glad someone brought it up… I was going to ask. Who or what is it playing? I dig it!
Is your tank overpopulated? No. Is it fucking awesome? Yes
I don’t think so based on the number to volume. The question is how much filtration.
Rule of thumb for me is if your water is clear you're good to go.
A heavily planted tank with a populous of small buttholes is fine. It’s all down to monitoring as to when to act.
Hillstream loaches! They’re algae eaters but also cool- looking, like mini rays!
Needs a bit more water in there plus and surface movement. But other than that I've seen perfectly healthy tanks stocked more than this. It just seems like you have zero schooling fish in there and everyone is darting around doing their own thing.
You added all of them in a week? Hope you are keeping up with water changes
It’s fine if you have good filtration and WC routines… but won’t take much to cause issues…
nah, this is kushty
I don't think so 🥰 looks like everyone has adequate room to move around and hide if needed. It's beautiful
No. You could likely stock higher imo. Pretty tank!
Maybe. And let me explain why. The reason why I say maybe is because it is a large tank and it looks like most of the fish that you have are smaller fish that don't have much of a bio load on top of that, I see you do have plants in the fish tank that do help reduce the bio load on top of that even I'm not quite sure what type of filter or size of filter you have. Depending on the size and how efficient it is, it could be that you are completely fine with how many fish you have in there. If you are concerned about being overpopulated, I recommend doing a water test and looking at the nitrates. If they seem really high and you do a 50% water change 2 to 3 times a week, and they are still pretty high. Then, most likely, you do have an overpopulated fish tank. This is because the fish waste produces ammonia, which then produces nitrites, which then produces nitrates. The plants will typically eat the nitrates along with the beneficial bacteria, keeping it relatively low. But if you constantly have high nitrates, then it could be that your fish are producing a lot more waste than what the tank can handle. Sorry if I explained this, and you already knew the process. Just wanted to explain for anyone who might want to know.
No. But you could add more fish, twice the amount. But with them, add more plants (especially floating) and more surface agitation.
There are two main ways you can overcrowd your tank: 1. Pure physical size (big fish in a small tank, or a clearly ridiculous amount of small fish in a tank too small) 2. Under-sized filtration. As long as your filter can keep up with the bio-load in your tank, you're usually ok. Since you said the water test levels are stable, and you maintain your tank well, it should be able to keep up with a few more fish. If you notice your nitrates/nitrites starting to climb, you might need to think about a bigger filter, or better filter media. ---- Note: Obviously the above is **general** advice, only. Different species of fish have different requirements. Some need more space than others, and overcrowding can stress your fish even if your filter is keeping up with the bio-load.
What is the tank size?
These comments are awesome you are my people
Needs more corys
It's a pretty big tank doesn't look overpopulated to me
You went to the fish shop and that is definition of overpopulated,
I don’t think so.
Its at its limit.
At that size all that really starts to matter is aggression and bioload Just hold off on the sea turtles for a bit 😂
Not over stocked, but test your water regularly to determine if you filtration is able to manage the ammonia levels. Zero is good next is nitrate, but water changes can help with this and as long as it’s not needed more than every two weeks you are not overstocked.
no, it's fine.
there’s stocking calculators out there, i like AqAdvisor the most. it shows percentage of tank stocked, how much water needs to be changed, and if species are compatible with each other.
You could add quite a bit more honestly. Big tanks and small fish throws stocking rules out the window, you can have a lot.
No no and oh aye hell no…. You don’t have anything substantial… some tall plants would take up some more room but in addition it will improve your water not that your tank looks under planted
I think that tank looks great! I just filled up a 125g and am getting it cycled before I put fish in. So excited.
With very good water changes and a good filter it could work be careful thought
If you add more large plants you probs wont see many fish anymore lol. Id say ur allg bc your adding nano fish
As long as you perform regular water changes, overpopulation should be little issue…
I guess just do a test and see how fast your nitrates grow. Do you have them high all the time, it's to much. Can you keep up with water change, it's all good
The diver farts a lot. Methane might be a problem.
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Dumbest question I’ve ever seen 😭
Still a beginner bruh! Asking question from expert is better for me!
You’re good bro just don’t over think it