Mark I thought you were being generous and waiting until all had a chance to discuss the rant so far 
My aquarist rant
- Thread starter wesleydnunder
- Start date
"Stocking-
I think we get more posts on this subject than any other; with the possible exception of, "Why are my fish dying?"
Stocking has also been the basis for more argument threads than just about anything else. It's very subjective and has many variables. The thread title, "Am I overstocked?" is ubiquitous on just about all fish forums. Water volume, filtration, fish size and number, presence of live plants and plant density and maintenance regimen all combine to determine a reasonable stocking density for a given tank. ..."reasonable"...hmmmm...according to whom? Now we add another variable; opinion. Each of us has a different idea of what reasonable stocking density in a given set-up is.
Also, the internet gives us a large number of aquarium websites to ask the question. So some will keep asking the question until they get the answer they want. Since those folks are going to do what they've already made up their mind to do, this is not for them. For the rest of us..."
From post #28- "Stocking went from heavy to overstocked to, "Hey! If all of y'all swim in that direction at the same time, I can shoehorn a couple more fish in there." Fish deaths were a regular occurrence and I'd learned to accept them as a normal concomitant of having an aquarium."
When I was new to fishkeeping I wanted my tank as full of color and movement as I could get. I had no concept of biofiltration. I'd never thought about how the population of the tank could be its own demise. Over the years I learned.
Stocking is one of those subjects that is so huge that I find it difficult to find a starting point. So, for lack of a better beginning, here goes:
When someone first gets into fishkeeping, regardless of the circumstances which led them to it, there is an excitement that some of us old-timers forget. Like a kid on Christmas morning, we can't wait to get the presents open; or in this case, the tank filled and stocked with some of the beautiful fish we see at the store. Almost inevitably, our appetite exceeds what the plate can hold. We want this one and that one and a few of those! In no time the 10 gallon or 20 gallon we've purchased is holding more fish than is healthy for those fish. Earlier in the thread I briefly touched on the subject of biofiltration.
I think we get more posts on this subject than any other; with the possible exception of, "Why are my fish dying?"
Stocking has also been the basis for more argument threads than just about anything else. It's very subjective and has many variables. The thread title, "Am I overstocked?" is ubiquitous on just about all fish forums. Water volume, filtration, fish size and number, presence of live plants and plant density and maintenance regimen all combine to determine a reasonable stocking density for a given tank. ..."reasonable"...hmmmm...according to whom? Now we add another variable; opinion. Each of us has a different idea of what reasonable stocking density in a given set-up is.
Also, the internet gives us a large number of aquarium websites to ask the question. So some will keep asking the question until they get the answer they want. Since those folks are going to do what they've already made up their mind to do, this is not for them. For the rest of us..."
From post #28- "Stocking went from heavy to overstocked to, "Hey! If all of y'all swim in that direction at the same time, I can shoehorn a couple more fish in there." Fish deaths were a regular occurrence and I'd learned to accept them as a normal concomitant of having an aquarium."
When I was new to fishkeeping I wanted my tank as full of color and movement as I could get. I had no concept of biofiltration. I'd never thought about how the population of the tank could be its own demise. Over the years I learned.
Stocking is one of those subjects that is so huge that I find it difficult to find a starting point. So, for lack of a better beginning, here goes:
When someone first gets into fishkeeping, regardless of the circumstances which led them to it, there is an excitement that some of us old-timers forget. Like a kid on Christmas morning, we can't wait to get the presents open; or in this case, the tank filled and stocked with some of the beautiful fish we see at the store. Almost inevitably, our appetite exceeds what the plate can hold. We want this one and that one and a few of those! In no time the 10 gallon or 20 gallon we've purchased is holding more fish than is healthy for those fish. Earlier in the thread I briefly touched on the subject of biofiltration.
Biofiltration is the process by which bacteria living in our aquaria consume the products of aquatic life. Fish give off wastes just as we do. Anything decaying in the aquarium, from uneaten food to dead plant matter adds to the waste load. The first of these pollutants is ammonia. It is excreted in fish waste and from the gills. If left untreated and/or undiluted, it quickly reaches lethal concentration. There is an aerobic (something that requires oxygen to live) bacteria which consumes ammonia. It lives on surfaces in our aquaria; on the rocks, in the filter, on the glass...basically on every surface that is submerged and gets oxygenated water and food (ammonia) brought to it. When this bacteria consumes ammonia, it gives off nitrite as its by-product. Nitrite is another compound that is deadly to our fish. Thankfully, we have another species of bacteria living alongside the first which consumes nitrite and its by-product is nitrate. Remember earlier in the thread where we discussed nitrate testing, its threshold amount and the dilution of DOCs achieved by partial water changes.
These bacteria are naturally occurring and will colonize the aquarium when sufficient food is available for them. The colonization period can be dreadfully slow if allowed to progress unassisted. It can be accelerated by the addition of bacterial supplements, or the use of pre-colonized filtration media. This process is known as cycling.
The safe stocking density of a given aquarium is largely based on the amount of beneficial bacteria able to grow within the tank. It is further determined by how much maintenance the aquarist is willing to do.
TAKE YOUR TIME!
One of the first mistakes we can make is to immediately load the new aquarium with fish. If the tank is not cycled, we subject the fish to lethal amounts of ammonia and then nitrite as the tank cycles. These poisons stress and can eventually kill the fish. One way to mitigate this is with live plants. Many live aquarium plants will consume ammonia directly as food. Others prefer the end-product, nitrate. By planting a large mass of plants, the ammonia in the tank may never reach harmful levels. The plants often have some of the beneficial bacteria on them and also serve to seed the aquarium with these nitrifying bacteria. So cycling a new tank with fish in it is called a fishy cycle.
These bacteria are naturally occurring and will colonize the aquarium when sufficient food is available for them. The colonization period can be dreadfully slow if allowed to progress unassisted. It can be accelerated by the addition of bacterial supplements, or the use of pre-colonized filtration media. This process is known as cycling.
The safe stocking density of a given aquarium is largely based on the amount of beneficial bacteria able to grow within the tank. It is further determined by how much maintenance the aquarist is willing to do.
TAKE YOUR TIME!
One of the first mistakes we can make is to immediately load the new aquarium with fish. If the tank is not cycled, we subject the fish to lethal amounts of ammonia and then nitrite as the tank cycles. These poisons stress and can eventually kill the fish. One way to mitigate this is with live plants. Many live aquarium plants will consume ammonia directly as food. Others prefer the end-product, nitrate. By planting a large mass of plants, the ammonia in the tank may never reach harmful levels. The plants often have some of the beneficial bacteria on them and also serve to seed the aquarium with these nitrifying bacteria. So cycling a new tank with fish in it is called a fishy cycle.
A fishless cycle can be achieved by adding pure ammonia to the tank in measured amounts. I shoot for an ammonia dose of 3 ppm. I measure this quantity using a liquid reagent test kit. I keep a log to track the cycle's progress. I accelerate the cycling process by introducing some bacteria-laden gravel, filter media or driftwood into the tank. A typical cycling period can take anywhere from two to four weeks. It's seldom shorter than two weeks and may last longer. Each day I'll test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate...then log the values. As ammonia-consuming bacteria grow, I'll see a decrease in ammonia and an increase in nitrite. I'll add ammonia back to the 3 ppm value each day. At a point over the next few days I'll see nitrite value peak and start to drop off. This is accompanied by an increase in nitrate. I keep adding ammonia daily to the 3 ppm level after the tests.
When the cycle gets to the point where ammonia and nitrite read zero and nitrate has increased, I know it's safe to begin adding fish. Hopefully, during this cycling period I've used my time to research what my inhabitants are going to be.
Now what do I do? My tank is cycled and I can start stocking! Slow down...take your time. First I do a large water change to get the nitrates down to around 5 ppm. This gives me a known starting point for later testing. Add a fish or two...test over the next few days. There should be no detectable ammonia or nitrite. Add a couple more fish; repeat testing. During this time, nitrate is rising. When it gets to 20 ppm, time to do a 50% partial. I prefer not to do more than one water change a week, so my additions of fish stop when my nitrate gets to 20 ppm in a week.
This is my typical approach to stocking a basic community tank; tetras, barbs, livebearers, cories, etc. You may have noticed that I didn't once test for ph. This is a subject that many new (and experienced) aquarists obsess over, IMO, needlessly. Research of fish species reveals that they come from X ph or Y ph. So we have to duplicate that, right? Nope. For most aquarium fish, ph is not even a small issue. First, fish have no receptors for ph and have no idea what the ph of their water is. Second, most aquarium fish are farmed in Florida, Texas and elsewhere. The fish farmers aren't bothering about ph. The danios and cichlids are housed in the same water, just like the rest of their species. The majority of the fish we buy are not wild-caught. They come from these farms and have no idea where their ancestors originated. The water they were raised in was perfect, as far as they were concerned.
Don't misunderstand. Some wild-caught fish which come from extreme environments of ph and, more importantly IMO, TDS may need to have their home conditions duplicated...at first. Most, if not all, can be slowly adapted to living in local conditions.
When the cycle gets to the point where ammonia and nitrite read zero and nitrate has increased, I know it's safe to begin adding fish. Hopefully, during this cycling period I've used my time to research what my inhabitants are going to be.
Now what do I do? My tank is cycled and I can start stocking! Slow down...take your time. First I do a large water change to get the nitrates down to around 5 ppm. This gives me a known starting point for later testing. Add a fish or two...test over the next few days. There should be no detectable ammonia or nitrite. Add a couple more fish; repeat testing. During this time, nitrate is rising. When it gets to 20 ppm, time to do a 50% partial. I prefer not to do more than one water change a week, so my additions of fish stop when my nitrate gets to 20 ppm in a week.
This is my typical approach to stocking a basic community tank; tetras, barbs, livebearers, cories, etc. You may have noticed that I didn't once test for ph. This is a subject that many new (and experienced) aquarists obsess over, IMO, needlessly. Research of fish species reveals that they come from X ph or Y ph. So we have to duplicate that, right? Nope. For most aquarium fish, ph is not even a small issue. First, fish have no receptors for ph and have no idea what the ph of their water is. Second, most aquarium fish are farmed in Florida, Texas and elsewhere. The fish farmers aren't bothering about ph. The danios and cichlids are housed in the same water, just like the rest of their species. The majority of the fish we buy are not wild-caught. They come from these farms and have no idea where their ancestors originated. The water they were raised in was perfect, as far as they were concerned.
Don't misunderstand. Some wild-caught fish which come from extreme environments of ph and, more importantly IMO, TDS may need to have their home conditions duplicated...at first. Most, if not all, can be slowly adapted to living in local conditions.
Great, Mark! Much of what you say is a part our of experiences as "old timers". Newbs might better spend their "cycling time" researching stocking & compatibility BEFORE actually buying fish. What fish are most important? How many are the "least number or max of "X" fish before buying 2+ "sharks" etc. or 2 tetras ( they like some friends, lol... done it!!)?
Cycling is only part of the equation, technically you can add a "tank full" of fish when your AM + NItrites go to 0 , your nitrates spike + you change water. I think you + I are much more conservative...most times anyway, lol. There's always the "squish factor" that experience stays our stocking hand on the side of "less is more" ( unless some really cool is suddenly available!!). but we "know better + do better" with our knowledge, right? I try anyway, usually successfully, despite my fishy enabler friends + family (do it!!).
Cycling is only part of the equation, technically you can add a "tank full" of fish when your AM + NItrites go to 0 , your nitrates spike + you change water. I think you + I are much more conservative...most times anyway, lol. There's always the "squish factor" that experience stays our stocking hand on the side of "less is more" ( unless some really cool is suddenly available!!). but we "know better + do better" with our knowledge, right? I try anyway, usually successfully, despite my fishy enabler friends + family (do it!!).
I purposely stayed away from the "now I can fully stock the tank since it's cycled" school of thought because few of us know exactly what stocking will result in the rather conservative (I think) stocking density I set for myself in one lump. Yes, it's possible to stock the tank all at once and have the biofilter able to handle the load but why risk it? It' much less stressful on me AND the fish if I take my time with stocking. The way I approach it, I have less chance of overloading my tank, stressing the fish and having stress-induced disease to contend with...or discovering that my tank is over-stocked and having to get rid of some of my fish.
Heh...just like you, and most of our fellow hobbyists, I think, I have to keep a tight rein on myself when I go to the LFS and get caught up in the "oooooh and aaaahhh" factor.
Mark
When we ask questions about stocking on the fish forums, and elsewhere, the answers to the question can be as varied as the number of people responding. They will often suggest (hopefully from a standpoint of personal experience and consideration of the OP's level of experience) fish that they like. Nothing wrong with that. From an experienced hobbyist, it's likely that they've kept the species themselves and can offer some first-hand data to go along with their proposed stocking.
There are some "must-nots" and "musts" which have crept into the hobby over the years which most folks will parrot for lack of a better reason than they read it somewhere on the internet. Examples:
1. For a schooling species, you "must" always keep at least SIX of that species. The thinking behind this reasoning is that schooling species form large schools in nature as a defense mechanism. The constant movement and densely-packed cloud of fish confuses predators and increases an individual's overall chances of surviving to reach the breeding phase of its life. It stands to reason that this behavior is instinctive and follows the species from the wild to the aquarium. These fish seem more "comfortable" with members of their own kind. Thanks to one of OrionGirl's contributions to this thread, we get an idea of how some of our "rules" come into being. But why the number 6? Why not 5...or 7? ...or 20, for that matter? Did anyone ask the fish? Has anyone put a particular schooling species into a very large tank and, starting with one fish, added individual fish of that species and studied the behavior of the school? The reason I specified "very large tank" is that in small aquaria, this rule breaks down. When the borders of the fish's world is measured in inches, virtually none of the natural schooling behavior exists. For any who dispute this, I invite you to don scuba or snorkeling gear and get in the water. Seeing schools of fish numbering in the hundreds or thousands in their natural environment is very enlightening and the contrast between what is witnessed in the lake or ocean vs. what we see in a 20 gallon tank is a stark reminder of how little our artificial worlds imitate nature. Right after I got out of the Navy and had purchased my first aquarium, I was given a couple of YOYO loaches. Two...not six. According to conventional thinking, I was four short of the minimum number for this species. This was obviously going to cause irreparable psychological damage to these fish! Really? They never complained. After having kept them in the 55 gal. for over 22 years, I passed them along to one of the local aquarium club members for him to add to his group of yoyos in his 250 gallon aquarium. When last I spoke to him, they were still swimmin'.
2. You Must Not mix Old World cichlids with New World cichlids. Really? Why not? Well....they come from different environments and have different behaviors and breeding strategies. This will lead to inevitable conflicts! OK...they're cichlids. They're gonna have conflicts, regardless of where their ancestors originated. Cichlids are territorial and have a large number of survival and breeding strategies. Obviously, if you load the aquarium with substrate spawners, there will be disputes over real estate. Housing Malawian lek breeders with south american substrate spawners will lead to territorial conflict at breeding time...but so will keeping different species of lek breeders in the same aquarium. Once again folks, these fish don't know they're not "supposed" to live together. Cichlid purists often get very offended by seeing them mixed.
There are definitely some species which shouldn't be mixed. Some cichlids require care which is so specific to them that other species simply won't thrive. Discus are an example of this. The elevated water temperature that they need to be healthy is too high for most cichlids to endure long-term. Even those species which occupy the same native waters as discus, like angelfish, often don't exist harmoniously with discus in an aquarium because of discus temperament and feeding behavior.
Mark
There are some "must-nots" and "musts" which have crept into the hobby over the years which most folks will parrot for lack of a better reason than they read it somewhere on the internet. Examples:
1. For a schooling species, you "must" always keep at least SIX of that species. The thinking behind this reasoning is that schooling species form large schools in nature as a defense mechanism. The constant movement and densely-packed cloud of fish confuses predators and increases an individual's overall chances of surviving to reach the breeding phase of its life. It stands to reason that this behavior is instinctive and follows the species from the wild to the aquarium. These fish seem more "comfortable" with members of their own kind. Thanks to one of OrionGirl's contributions to this thread, we get an idea of how some of our "rules" come into being. But why the number 6? Why not 5...or 7? ...or 20, for that matter? Did anyone ask the fish? Has anyone put a particular schooling species into a very large tank and, starting with one fish, added individual fish of that species and studied the behavior of the school? The reason I specified "very large tank" is that in small aquaria, this rule breaks down. When the borders of the fish's world is measured in inches, virtually none of the natural schooling behavior exists. For any who dispute this, I invite you to don scuba or snorkeling gear and get in the water. Seeing schools of fish numbering in the hundreds or thousands in their natural environment is very enlightening and the contrast between what is witnessed in the lake or ocean vs. what we see in a 20 gallon tank is a stark reminder of how little our artificial worlds imitate nature. Right after I got out of the Navy and had purchased my first aquarium, I was given a couple of YOYO loaches. Two...not six. According to conventional thinking, I was four short of the minimum number for this species. This was obviously going to cause irreparable psychological damage to these fish! Really? They never complained. After having kept them in the 55 gal. for over 22 years, I passed them along to one of the local aquarium club members for him to add to his group of yoyos in his 250 gallon aquarium. When last I spoke to him, they were still swimmin'.
2. You Must Not mix Old World cichlids with New World cichlids. Really? Why not? Well....they come from different environments and have different behaviors and breeding strategies. This will lead to inevitable conflicts! OK...they're cichlids. They're gonna have conflicts, regardless of where their ancestors originated. Cichlids are territorial and have a large number of survival and breeding strategies. Obviously, if you load the aquarium with substrate spawners, there will be disputes over real estate. Housing Malawian lek breeders with south american substrate spawners will lead to territorial conflict at breeding time...but so will keeping different species of lek breeders in the same aquarium. Once again folks, these fish don't know they're not "supposed" to live together. Cichlid purists often get very offended by seeing them mixed.
There are definitely some species which shouldn't be mixed. Some cichlids require care which is so specific to them that other species simply won't thrive. Discus are an example of this. The elevated water temperature that they need to be healthy is too high for most cichlids to endure long-term. Even those species which occupy the same native waters as discus, like angelfish, often don't exist harmoniously with discus in an aquarium because of discus temperament and feeding behavior.
Mark
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Will try to add more tomorrow. Next week will be attending class in Ft. Worth so will be one-week pause in updates.
Mark
Mark
