Tropical Fish Forums

ak dylpickles · Regulars Joined: 16 Feb 2010

I have noticed that a lot of the tanks of the months have been over stocked. I aam not trying to say that people are over stocking their tanks its just that I don't think it should be tank of the month if it is over stocked
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46 gallon-reef

monstrosity · Regulars Joined: 16 Oct 2009 Location: Tennessee, USA

Yes, they are! I've always hoped someone would say something about that. This one is the worst. I am also not trying to rant, it just doesn't make sense to me that they would be TOTM's, considering the motto of this site.
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29 G

Topper · Advisors Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Location: New Jersey

When you both gain a little more experience in this hobby, you will realize that there is a difference between a novice overstocking and subsequently stunting/harming their fish and an experienced fish keeper who understands the environmental needs of their fish and is able to provide proper care.

I would never suggest thirty neons in a 29 gal. tank to a novice, but an experienced fish keeper can easily maintain that set up with optimal results, recreating an environment very similar to that found in nature - something that is both aesthetically enjoyable and at the same time responsible to the needs of the fish.

Instead of looking at the stocking numbers alone - look at the amount of time the tanks you are questioning have been set up and running. Most are by seasoned hobbyists who understand what is necessary to maintain the quality of life we here at AoA advocate for all fish in our hobby.

Everything is relative.
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You're gonna need a bigger boat...

monstrosity · Regulars Joined: 16 Oct 2009 Location: Tennessee, USA

So when I gain a little more experience, I can properly keep zebra danios and serpae tetras in a 3 gallon aquarium???? Confused

I do realize the difference between a novice overstocking and a seasoned fishkeeper filling their tank, but some of these are over the top.
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29 G

Topper · Advisors Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Location: New Jersey

monstrosity · Regulars Joined: 16 Oct 2009 Location: Tennessee, USA

No matter how much experience you have, you can't keep danios in a 3g. It's not a matter of experience or water quality. It's a matter of swimming room. Having experience doesn't give fish more space.

And yes, maybe I shouldn't have agreed that many of them are overstocked whenever that was the only one I know of that is to the extreme.

This is also one that caught my attention though. http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/e_tank9811.php
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29 G

ak dylpickles · Regulars Joined: 16 Feb 2010

and on the zebra danio page http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_danio.php it clearly states that the minimum tank size for it is 40 liters or 10 gallons. even if I did 50% water changes on a 10 gallon I wouldnt put 5 zebra danios and 5 serpa tetras in it. sorry but 3 gallons is just to SMALL unless its for breeding purposes with only 2 SMALL fish or for some kind of SMALL shrimp.
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46 gallon-reef

Marcos Avila

Apart from Topper's excellent points (the owner of that danio tank had decades of experience and lots of other tanks to move fish around as he pleased), here's another point to consider:

The tanks you are pointing fingers at are from the very first year of existence of this website, when it was no more than a tiny, free personal website on GeoCities, without any expectation of becoming what it's become nowadays, 12 years later. There was no organized and well thought-out "message" to be delivered at the time such as the current Responsible Fishkeeper's Manifesto nor slogans like those in my signature below. These were all developed over time as the general demand for them became clearer and clearer, and the site, it's community and myself, all matured as a whole.

What you're doing in this topic is equivalent to me accusing all of you of peeing in your bed or drawing on your parents' walls, and using pictures from your family album to back up my claim Razz

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Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

rales12 · Regulars Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Location: Wyoming

ak dylpickles · Regulars Joined: 16 Feb 2010

this is the way I tell if my fish would be happy. first I think of the 1 gallonper inch rule. then I take there size and tank and make the fish me and the aquarium a room size. I would not want to live in a room the size of a bathroom my whole life! even if I had all the niceties.
and I was wondering...... a while back I wanted to have a few discus in a 55 gallon but you guys told me it wasn't wide enough. so why do the other people have like a group of them in a 55? I'm not trying to point fingers I just want to know.
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46 gallon-reef