Overstocking ?

[$$sucker]

I dont want to overtsock my tank (72 bf 29 fuge ) .do you figure true water volume or do add both the tank and fuge paper numbers (72+29=101).? thanks

[mikenpam]

You can add them both to get the total volume of water. Just remember stocking is a "rule of thumb" and some fish will cause a greater bioload than others. Stock slowly and test your water as you continue to add fish.

[$$sucker]

thanks mikenpam , have been adding slow after getting rid of three huge fish. i have 5 fish now just thinking about their max size and future additions.

[iCam]

You would add the total volume of the tank plus the fuge ,but,keep in mind that there is not actually 101g of water volume in the tank. Everything else in the tank displaces water, so, you will have quite a bit less.

Some things to keep in mind are the maximum sizes of the fish you would like to add,how often and what they need to eat,how active they are, et cetera.

Test your water often and see how well your tank can handle the current bioload.

What fish do you currently have?

[XeniaMania]

How you set up your tank could also affect your stocking levels. Say if you added a fluidized bed, that could handle a much higher ammonia load, but then you got to think what about the resulting nitrate amount? If you have something like a DSB+Refugium+denitrating coil, then you'll have a system that can handle higher nitrate load due to increased ammonia. Also, as the waste increase, so does your bacteria colonies, but then they also put a strain on Oxygen supply in the water. Alot of these factors go hand in hand, and the more you learn and understand how all of this works together, the better off you'll be in designing a system that can handle the bioload of your desire.