Another overstocked scenario - Advice needed

S

suby7272

AC Members
Feb 2, 2005
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Hi guys

I have a friend who's got a 6g overstocked tank.
Here's what he's got -
1) less than an inch of gravel made of some small stones
2) a corner box filter

Here's what he does -
1) Does a direct 100% water change once in two weeks
- uses aged water
- adds no dechlors
- throws in some rock salt


Here's what he doesn't do/have -
1) No cycling
2) No Plants
3) No Water Test kits (you dont get them around here (India))

Here's what he feeds -
1) Pellets (2 times a day)
2) Dried Tubifex worms (once per day)

His fish aren't doing bad however - they seem to be growing well.

Now, considering that his tank is overstocked and that he does a 100% water change - do you think it's justified ?
Or, what best can you suggest him ? I have run out of all ideas.

Regards

Suby
 
How overstocked is he? Like, 15 guppies or something like 15 goldfish with sharks... etc? It seems that when someone is overstocked, Things don't seem to go bad right away, until fish that would normally live a long time start dieing in just a few months. Would he consider taking back some of his fish, especially if they would grow out of that tank? As for 100% waterchanges, I am sure that would be stressful to the fish, and maybe even start a new cycle if he rinses the gravel and such. Maybe if he did 50% waterchanges once every 3 or 4 days that would be a bit better. I guess the action plan would change all depending how overstocked he is, and with which types of fish?
 
Suby what other fish dose he have in there? When you say 100% water changes does your friend take out the fish and completely drain the tank? How much salt is he using? And one last question how long has he had the tank running? :soda:
 
I guess he's got the following -
2 goldfish
2 loach
2 cichlids
2 molly
2 ID Sharks

He's been running the tank for about 4 months now

YES, he rinses the gravel in plain water, but does not scrub it though.

His defence for 100% WC is that he sees no other way to clear the fish dropping settled in the gravel.
 
I don't think that any amount of water changes are going to save those fish. If they were all full grown you probably couldn't even fit all of those in a 6 gal without the water. I think everything except for maybe the 2 mollies should go. Or maybe get a 20-30 gal for the goldfish (which should be kept seperate), and a 70+ gal for the rest. If he continues to keep them all, they will either kill eachother, die of stress, or die of poor water quality.
 
My bet is they will die of stress or from the bad water quality before they get a chance to get any bigger. What type of cichlids are they? Two ID shark's? dose he know how big they will get? Ask him if he can get any bigger tanks to put those fish in, and I am talking 200-300g if he seriously wants to keep those ID shark's,other wise ask him to take all the fish back except for the molly's. And try to convince him that there are other ways of cleaning gravel and not to do 100% water changes, maybe 50% every week would be better. :)
 
Btw ID sharks have the potential to grow to 40 inches if given a big enough tank, and as with anything the bigger the tank the better with these fish. ;)
 
ashdavid said:
My bet is they will die of stress or from the bad water quality before they get a chance to get any bigger. What type of cichlids are they? Two ID shark's? dose he know how big they will get? Ask him if he can get any bigger tanks to put those fish in, and I am talking 200-300g if he seriously wants to keep those ID shark's,other wise ask him to take all the fish back except for the molly's. And try to convince him that there are other ways of cleaning gravel and not to do 100% water changes, maybe 50% every week would be better. :)
Click to expand...

I shall definitely do the convincing.
BTW, could you please list out the various methods of cleaning gravel ? That's something I wish to know too.
 
Where you live I don't know what you would call it , but I use a gravel vacuum. Most gravel vacuums are a wide rigid tube, typically about 2" in diameter attached to a narrower siphon tube, typically about 1/2" in diameter.

http://www.pets-warehouse.com/Vpasp/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=512#

Btw in no way or form do I promote the site that I have presented, it is purely for the purpose of displaying pics of a gravel vac.
 
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