more cover happier fish???

[LMOUTHBASS]

i have a 20 gal tank recently i have added anohter cave rock for the fish to swim through, i have also put in a tall rock in a back corner i also have a small cave in the front, unfortunatly i havent got a pic, but my tank is also well plantef, but there is also plenty of swimming room in the mid to upper levels of the tank, my ? i guess is, is there any such thing as too many hiding spots or plants i'm trying to make a very natural look, but some of the pics i have seen of other tanks arent nearly as crowded as mine with plants and caves etc, i figure since the caves dont take up oxygen because theyre not real it shoulnt affect anything, is it simply a matter of preferance as to how much stuff you put in the tank or is there a general rule of thumb for this??? obviously the fish haver to have swim space which i feel they have, i just like to make plenty of cover for them

[riffless]

is the volume of your tank... more water displacement means less total water in the tank, therefore less fish you can have... but I haven't seen any problems with lots of hiding spots for your fish...

[wetmanNY]

At my back right how I have Badis ruber pairs in a tank filled with plants and coconut shells. I never see them except at worm-feeding time!
A good thing about coconut shells is you get a lot of cave and very little water displacement!

Loaches and other lurkers can never have too many alternate hideouts.

[LMOUTHBASS]

ummm i'm sort of new to this wat exactly is water displacement???

[yashinfan]

Water displacement means moving water, so like, if you put lots of stuff in your tank there is less room for water (your water level would go up in your tank).

[LMOUTHBASS]

the less water displacement the worse off your tank is then, woul adding a bubble thingie help, you know one of those machines that pump bubble out???

[yashinfan]

He was just saying that if you add more things into your tank there will be less room for your fish to swim in and move around. So just be prepared to have less fish if you want more ornaments.

[wetmanNY]

I was just thinking: build a cave of rocks with an interior the same size as the inside of a section of coconut shell, and compare the volume of water that's displaced by rock.

The more caves, the better!

[yashinfan]

Hey, as long as your fish don't start to get stressed because of lack of space then you're fine.

[riffless]

add some air flow from the bottom of your tank... a: it helps the fish get air to their gills easier b: it adds flow to your tank, moving water around do you have undergravel filters in your tank? they will introduce air to your system, as will an aquamaster back filter... I bought a new one that has an air introduction system in the filter tank itself that adds oxygen to the filtered water and I'm very happy with it...