thanx for the replies everyone! i am going to purchase a larger tank just for the dragonfish and angels and leave everyone else in the 29gal. BTW i did buy the dragons without much research other than talking to the wal mart pet person....BIG MISTAKE!!! I now know that most of those people know nothing about the fish they are selling or how to keep a healthy tank.
do i have an overcrowded tank????
- Thread starter jamesnelson101
- Start date
Uh, wait a second, guys. He needs THREE tanks. Violet gobies are brackish water fish, not freshwater. Angelfish are not brackish water.
If you want them to live, you need to move them into brackish water as soon as you can.
Here are some links from the Brackish Forum here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=679168
Roan
If you want them to live, you need to move them into brackish water as soon as you can.
Here are some links from the Brackish Forum here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=679168
Roan
That was my first thought Roan. Violet Gobies are brackish. They can live in freshwater, but not for long. A healthy Goby should live up to or past 10 years. This will never be achieved in freshwater.
Hmm... not to hijack this thread, but I just had a thought...
Overcrowding / overstocking
If I buy two 1" fish and put them into a 3g tank, but the fish will eventually
reach 8 inches. Is that -really- overcrowding? Who's to say that I
won't upgrade to a 150g tank long before the fish reach maturity?
That's like saying a college student can't move into a studio because
eventually he'll get married and have 5 kids.
Thoughts?
Overcrowding / overstocking
If I buy two 1" fish and put them into a 3g tank, but the fish will eventually
reach 8 inches. Is that -really- overcrowding? Who's to say that I
won't upgrade to a 150g tank long before the fish reach maturity?
That's like saying a college student can't move into a studio because
eventually he'll get married and have 5 kids.
Thoughts?
The difference is that those 1" fish are still need much growing, and such a small volume of water will probably stunt their growth if kept there for more than a month or some other short amount of time.
Woodworking is a hobby, fish are pets. Period. They're animals that share our lives and our homes and require care; IMHO that makes them pets.kjenber said:
jamesnelson101 - Yes, you're overstocked, but it's not the end of the world. If you can get another tank you could keep one FW and go brackish with the other, keeping everyone happy
kjenber said:
Aaak!
"You become responsible forever for what you have tamed." The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
not only did i learn some about my fish i also learned some philosophy!!!!!!! i bought a 75 gallon and made a species tank for my dragons got some nice black sand and am now in the slow process of turning the water brackish for them. i have noticed an immediate change in their behavior....they dont hide as much any more and swim around alot more i guess they are happier without all of the other fish and with the growing salinity. all the other fish are in my 29 gallon and doing well. thanx for all the replies and help.
Alestro Bakai said:
I think that is a very good point. I was wondering as everyone was going on about how over crowded this tank is... how big is the angel? It can't be too big or it would have already eaten the tetras (they are black neons right?). Again the dragon fish, same issue... baby dragons really don't need a 75 all to themselves. If we assume all the fish are babies, he could still be under the 1"/gallon rule, and as I have said before that rule was created to estimate a tank's bio-mass capacity (I mean the ability of a system to break down fish wastes) before the advent of our modern day filtration systems and willingness to comit to regular water changes. As someone else said, if your willing to work your butt off and keep careful tabs with your test kits you can keep a ridiculous number of fish in any tank simply based on bio capacity.
However when I think of making the distinction between Overcrowding and Overstocking, I think about the other issue you have to consider. Just because a system (or system + extensive manual maintenance) can support a certain number of fish doesn’t mean that the fish will be healthy or happy (and let's be clear here... aquarium fish, unlike other pets such as dogs & cats, do not have feelings. By happy, I hope we all realize that we really mean, not stressed... 'cause that is the extent to which their brains can experience such things). To continue Alestro's thought...
Two 1" fish in a 3 gallon tank is *BELOW* the 1"/G rule. But that could mean, 2 ottos or 2 tetras. As long as they get supplements to their diet (a 3 gallon will probably not generate enough algae for them) and there are plenty of structures to explore, the ottos will be perfectly happy in a 3 G slowly visiting all the plants, and hanging out on the sides. On the other hand, the tetras would be miserable. First they are below their comfortable school size, but even if that were not an issue their need to dart about in an open space would not be met by a tank that size. Even worse a dwarf gourami (2") in a 3 G. None of these set ups is Overstocked in terms if bio-mass, but the latter are defiantly Overcrowded.
Similarly, 15" of fish in a 10 Gallon might not be a problem IF:
1. There is careful monitoring, double bio filtration, and regular water changes.
2. There is enough structural territory to divide up and to break up the eye-line in the tank... say driftwood or rock structures, plus plants. The old style plain flat tank with one bubble pirate-chest can not support the same amount of fish as today's heavy planted & decorated style.
3. The fish are not all on the same tank level.. i.e. 6 little mid-top tetras (1 1/2 neons for instance), 2-3 bottom-mid Cory cats (one of the smaller variety of course), and 2 (hanging on sides of things, with occasional darts in other territory) ottos. This set up might be Overstocked, but done right will not be Overcrowded.
Again as others have said, the OP's tank had issues certainly (brackish water fish with fresh water species for instance, angles that would eventually eat the tetras), but it may or may not have been Overstocked or Overcrowded right now depending on the actual size and needs of each fish right now.
And the "I have to see a picture of this to believe it" comment when the OP was obviously genuinely open to information and advice, was out of line IMO (especially when the person who made it, didn't even offer any helpful advice or info to go with his making fun of the OP
).
