Symptoms of overstocking?

[Avenolpey]

As per a previous thread I would seem to have an overstocked tank. I did take out my biggest tinfoil and a large pleco, but by what I have read here I am heavily overstocked. What would the symptoms be that would cause me to take out fish. My ammonia and nitrites are 0, and my nitrates are well under control. The fish seem fine. I do vac the gravel every 1.5 - 2 weeks with water changes at the same time. I clean my prefilter floss daily just to keep the crude off of my mechanical sponges.

Sold as a 50 gallon tank. My guess is with gravel and driftwood I have about 41 gallons of water including the rear wet/drysump. 35 gallons in the main tank. I am turning the water over approx 15 times per hour.

Is it that my problem will arise when they all grow up?

6 Angels medium
2 small pleco's
5 tiger barbs medium
5 albino tiger barbs medium
2 columbian sharks small
2 pictus cats small
2 clown loaches medium
2 small red gouramis small
2 pink gouramis small
2 tinfoil barbs sm/medium
3 bala sharks sm/med

 

[PurpleSmurf]

Mostly it's just that the animals will be much more hostile, cramped, and unhealthy because of it.

Think about it this way: I could keep you in a 3'x3' box and keep you alive ad healthy, but you wouldn't be happy.

 

[SnakeIce]

yes stocking levels must look at the adult size of the inhabitants unless you are sequentially moveing the group to larger and larger tanks. That last option has to be done quite regularly or you end up with stressed fish due to overcrowding or the bioload making the liveing conditions less than adequate for continued growth.

there are other factors such as behaviors(agression, need for clear space to school in...), or growth inhibiting hormones produced by some fish that will also adversely inhibit the growth and health of your fish.

 

[anonapersona]

room for error

You have no room for error. Any small thing, a short power failure, a missed cleaning, one day of overfeeding, can cause a chain reaction of aggression, parasite and bacterial infections in wounds, then general illness in the tank (or reaction to medications) which can reduce the population down to way below what you would have chosen as a proper stocking level.

You can reduce the population, or let Mother Nature do it. She may just take out the best and the biggest though.