Am I overstocked?

fishisfun7

fishisfun7

Member
55 gallon tank with 50+ pounds of LR, 2 prism plus skimmers and a mother of an awesome fluval filter...I have:
2 percs (2 inches each)
1 yellow tang (3-inches)
1 strawberry dottyback (2/half inches)
1 coral beauty (3 inches)
2 neon gobies (1/half inches)
2 yellow clown gobies (1 inch each...you'd never know I had them except for feeding time)
1 lawnmower blenny (3 inches)
No corals, probably a dozen real small hermits and a few small snails (that the hermits didn't eat yet)
Tank has been up for nearly 8 months and I have had NO fish loss (knock wood)...
And before anyone says it...Yes, I plan on moving the Tang into a bigger tank when he requires it..but right now he's small. All the other fish don't get much bigger than they are.
Thanks for the input
I should add that all the fish in this community tank seem to get along splendidly and everyone seems to have their own space (the blenny stays on the substrate all day pecking at the glass, the clown gobies stay in the rocks all day, the neons happily clean the tang, the dottyback and the coral beauty when asked and then resume to hanging out on a rock or on top of a powerhead)
Nobody seems pressed for space I mean
 
jsgreer1

jsgreer1

Member
i would say you are WAY overstocked imo. the yellow tang needs to go for sure he needs a bigger tank and you should probably get rid of about 4 other fish also. your overloading your bioload. you have to have nitrates with that many fish. you should definately get rid of some fish...imo
 
fishisfun7

fishisfun7

Member
You see, this is where a lot of you so called "experts" are way off. If and when I get trace nitrate readings (mine are normally 0 UNLESS for some reason I am a few days late on a water change), I do another water change.
Did I mention that I have built a piping system in my home that actually makes RO water? That makes a big difference people. Yeah, it was somewhat costly, but well worth it in the long run. I do a 5 gallon water change every 5 days...That's right, every 5 days. And then, once in a while (at least once a month), I will do a 10 gallon change instead of the 5 gallon change. So I am doing a minimum of 5 water changes a month, sometimes even 6 changes.
So you can keep a few more (small) fish than say what most of you think is fit for a 55 gallon tank if you have the means and the time to care for that tank! I think others will agree with me.
 
fishisfun7

fishisfun7

Member
Originally Posted by jsgreer1
i would say you are WAY overstocked imo. the yellow tang needs to go for sure he needs a bigger tank and you should probably get rid of about 4 other fish also. your overloading your bioload. you have to have nitrates with that many fish. you should definately get rid of some fish...imo
The yellow tang needs to go? 55 gallons is not enough for him at 3 inches in length? Is he going to grow to 8 inches overnight? I already said that I'l move him when he gets a little bigger. Dude, when you say I am way overstocked, do you realize that the clown gobies and the neons barely count as fish? The same thing goes for the blenny. The guy DOES NOT SWIM. I know he adds to the bioload, but this is why I do 5-6 water changes per month
 
sufunk

sufunk

Member
Why ask if youre overstocked if your gonna get mad when we say you are. My opinion , and id guess most others, is that you are overstocked.
You are way over the 1" per 5 gallons rule of thumb. Even though thats not hard and fast, you dont really have 55 gallons of water. Wtih lr and ls you probably have 48-50 gallons. That puts you WAY over. Not saying you cant do it with alot of large water changes but im surprised that your nitrates are 0. Actually, im amazed, you must not feed every day.
 
jsgreer1

jsgreer1

Member
a tang needs more swimming room than 55 gal. offers. if you research online you will see that a yellow tang prefers a bigger tank than a 55 let alone if he's in there with 9 other fish. you have more than double your tank capacity you have 20 inches of fish. TWENTY. so if you as me YOU ARE WAY OVERSTOCKED. AND I WONT BE ANSWERING ANYMORE OF YOUR THREADS IF YOUR GONNA ACT THIS WAY. i never said i was an expert. i said imo. so its your tank and your fish if you want to kill them go for it. but i say your heading for some ich from stress. good luck with that.
 
sufunk

sufunk

Member
Originally Posted by jsgreer1
a tang needs more swimming room than 55 gal. offers. if you research online you will see that a yellow tang prefers a bigger tank than a 55 let alone if he's in there with 9 other fish. you have more than double your tank capacity you have 20 inches of fish. TWENTY. so if you as me YOU ARE WAY OVERSTOCKED. AND I WONT BE ANSWERING ANYMORE OF YOUR THREADS IF YOUR GONNA ACT THIS WAY. i never said i was an expert. i said imo. so its your tank and your fish if you want to kill them go for it. but i say your heading for some ich from stress. good luck with that.
 
fishisfun7

fishisfun7

Member
Originally Posted by jsgreer1
a tang needs more swimming room than 55 gal. offers. if you research online you will see that a yellow tang prefers a bigger tank than a 55 let alone if he's in there with 9 other fish. you have more than double your tank capacity you have 20 inches of fish. TWENTY. so if you as me YOU ARE WAY OVERSTOCKED. AND I WONT BE ANSWERING ANYMORE OF YOUR THREADS IF YOUR GONNA ACT THIS WAY. i never said i was an expert. i said imo. so its your tank and your fish if you want to kill them go for it. but i say your heading for some ich from stress. good luck with that.
Sorry if I came off arrogant jsgreer1, I apologize.. but if I remove say the 2 neons and the two clown gobies, that means I have 5 fish in a 55 gallon tank. Now the neons provide a great service yet take up so little room. My tang LOVES the neons and he basically makes them clean him throughout the day.
And to prove that you did not read my first post that well...I said that I was moving the tang soon. A 3-inch Tang does not need more than a 55 gallon tank imo, especially considering that he is the bigest fish in there and 6 of the nine fish in there are 2-inches or less. There is plenty of swimming room.
All of the fish (sans the 2 tiny clown gobies) have been in this tank for 6+ months. I may have forgotten to menyion that. And yes, I feed them only once a day and every third day, I skip a feeding.
And to add something else, eight of these nine fish are extremely hardy fish, capable of doing fine in less than perfect water conditions. Because I do a water change every five days, my water is for the most part, nitrite, ammonia and nitrate free, with only the smallest traces the day I do the water change. Although my nitrite is always 0 and the ammonia is usually 0 as well.
Plus I keep my Salinity very low to offset disease and keep the fish happy :)
 
grumpygils

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by fishisfun7
The yellow tang needs to go? 55 gallons is not enough for him at 3 inches in length? Is he going to grow to 8 inches overnight? I already said that I'l move him when he gets a little bigger. Dude, when you say I am way overstocked, do you realize that the clown gobies and the neons barely count as fish? The same thing goes for the blenny. The guy DOES NOT SWIM. I know he adds to the bioload, but this is why I do 5-6 water changes per month

Did you tell J and S about your 280G refugium?
 
murph

murph

Active Member
The tang is going to start to look out of place in a tank that size as he grows larger any way, so I would probably just pull him out and keep an eye on the tanks parameter and keep up with your husbandry in general and despite being a tad overstocked you should be able to get away with it IMO.
The addition of a fuge and sump to expanded the water volume and provide additional nutrient export would provide a "play it safe" addition.
Good luck with the tank.
 
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