Opinion needed for fish load

[N8DOGG]

No Fat people are just Fat........its what they do to correct it or what they don't do to keep getting/stay fat.

Same as in your tank.......its just too small. Now its up to you to upgrade tanks, get rid of some fish or just let them be in poor health or die. One of those Goldfish will out grow the 25. so I would say that more than one is too much.

now if you don't have the means to buy a VERY lare tank in the near future and you don't give them up you can at least do a lot of water changes to minimize the harm that is going to be done b/c of the crowding.

What are your nitrite,nitrate and ammonia readings?

 

[mayreee]

The filter gets some of it, some fish eat some of it and the rest is vaccuumed. Nothing is perfect in this world and no filter will get all the poop a bunch a goldies can generate !

SB

No fish eat poop. They are probably eating food that has fallen to the bottom.

 

[Sponge Bob]

No fish eat poop. They are probably eating food that has fallen to the bottom.

Sorry, will all due respect, fish eat poop. So do dogs and other animals as well. I've seen it many times happening right in front of me. The poop never reached the bottom... if you need more details, I will PM you... this is getting a bit gross.

SB

 

[Sponge Bob]

What are your nitrite,nitrate and ammonia readings?

Nitrate I don't test for.
Nitrite = 0
Ammo = 0
pH = 7.6
Temp. = 73°F

I change some water, 20%, about twice a week. One time, just a water change. The other time, cleaning up the gravel.

I can not afford to buy a new aquarium now but I will ASAP.

SB

 

[amosf]

Sorry, will all due respect, fish eat poop. So do dogs and other animals as well. I've seen it many times happening right in front of me. The poop never reached the bottom... if you need more details, I will PM you... this is getting a bit gross.

But dogs don't eat dog poop They do eat cattle and horse poop for the bacterial content. I don't think I've seen a fish eat fish poop, tho the gourami seem to taste everything before spitting it out...

tim

 

[Sponge Bob]

Ok.... I'm a liar. I never seen it and my goldies never ate poop. They ALWAYS spit it out.

Gawd... some people ! I just love it when people just don't believe you for no reason. Why the hell would I lie about a stupid thing like fish eating the poop of another fish ? For heaven's sake...

SB

 

[OrionGirl]

It's more like a size 20 person trying to wear size 5 clothes...

Some fish will in fact consume waste matter--typically those that eat mostly vegetable matter--they are trying to get more nutrients out of poorly digested food. However--this typically indicates that they are not being fed appropriately, and should never be used as a reason for inadequate cleaning, or for overstocking. This is not cleaning--it may be recycling, but ultimately, the waste matter remains in the system and contributes to a high bio-load.

I realize you intend to purchase a larger tank--please make it a priority. The damage that can be done by being cramped is hard for us to detect, but can be lethal.

In a cycled unplanted tank, nitrates are more valuable to test for and more useful as well. If ammonia/nitrites are present, it indicates a serious problem, while nitrates can be used to determine the need and size of water changes and regular maintenance.

 

[amosf]

Ok.... I'm a liar. I never seen it and my goldies never ate poop. They ALWAYS spit it out.

Gawd... some people ! I just love it when people just don't believe you for no reason. Why the hell would I lie about a stupid thing like fish eating the poop of another fish ? For heaven's sake...

Ahh, not calling you a liar. I was just voicing my opinion of our dog's poop eating habits (we actually have 20 in the house. Do you think we are overstocked?) and the fact that I've never actually seen fish eating much poop.

 

[Sponge Bob]

I am trying to remain polite but some comments I get are almost insulting. I'm not a moron. I know that what comes in will come out, so fish eating poop is not cleaning. But the question was " How does your filter handle the amount of poop" or something of that nature. I gave my answer.

I know that fish eating poop is not part of the cleaning process. But once the fish has eaten the poop, I'm not going to open it with a knife to CLEAN IT ! As for the maintenance of the tank, it is done with great care, trust me.

As for the Nitrate test, MOST tests available on the market are not reliable and need to be diluted with distilled water to get a result that comes a bit closer to reality. There is one test that is accurate but I forget the brand for now. My LFS was out of stock of that specific brand on my last visit and told me NOT to bother with the other brands he had in stock.

I had the fish for over 4 months now and NEVER tested Nitrates. My fish, my plants and myself are not losing any sleep over it.

Ciao !

SB

 

[carpguy]

There is another rule tho that goes like this :

(Height of tank X Length of tank) / 30 = Inches of fish

With this formula and the tank that I have, it comes down to 15.5 inches of fish. The current load is under that figure by about 3 inches. No worries, I'm certainly not about to add another 3 inch fish in there !

Its Length x Width (front to back). Its trying to account for gas exchange at the surface. That leaves about 12.4 inches.

Except its not their current size you want to figure for. You'd ideally want to work with something approaching the adult size.

I personally like that rule as a place to start, but you need to stay honest about the modifiers. Body shape, diet, metabolism, etc. Working with juvenile sizes is cutting a corner that shouldn't be cut.

You've got a tank full of juveniles that shouldn't stay anywhere near those sizes for very long. You might work with a near future guesstimate of three or four 3 or 4 inch fish but each of those fish, should they survive to maturity, would fill that tank.

The AqC Species profile says that 5 gallons per juvenile should be an all out minimum but recommends a 90g for tank size. It also goes into detail about stunting and overcrowding.