overstocked or how close to capacity

wmu2007 · #1 12/30/2007, 02:58 AM

Currently I have a 6" porcupine puffer, 4" guine fowl, 3" map puffer, 5" hippo, 6" sailfin, 5" niger, 3" clown trigger, 3" cleaner wrasse, 5" toad fish, 24" undulated eel, 30" zebra eel, and 2 10" lionfish in a 210 fowlr with a 29g refugium. How close to capacity am I if I have not exceeded already IYO?

FishyMel · #2 12/30/2007, 03:24 AM

Is this a your 240 or a 210?
IMO you are over stocked, most of your fish are small now but all of them get large very quickly. I'd guess your puffers to all be about 8 inches by next year, and the clown trigger to be about 5.
I'd probably eliminate a lion and get your stock list down to maybe 8 fish plus the eels. It all depends on the stability of the tank's parameters, aggression present, and what you value in the tank, there aren't really any hard numbers to capacity.

wmu2007 · #3 12/30/2007, 03:38 AM

No fish are really very aggressive toward any other. I'm flowing like 2000 gph and the fish do not typically grow as much as I'd like. My water pretty consistenly tests out at 50 ppm nitrates and 8.2 ph. All fish seem pretty content an eat well. I thought about getting rid of a lion, but I heard they're not typically a "dirty" fish so that's why I haven't yet.

crazedpuffer · #4 12/30/2007, 07:02 AM

Aggresion isn't a problem yet. That sailfin will be very aggressive in about another inch or 2, also puffers are incredibly messy fish. Also your 2 lions will eat the other fish if you get unlucky and IMO it's best not to risk it.

mwood · #5 12/30/2007, 09:52 AM

This thread looks familiar.

justinpsmith · #6 12/30/2007, 01:19 PM

I have to agree, that you are a little over stocked...I think one less lion and one less puffer would help a lot. With two puffers that get close to 2 feet and another that reaches around a foot, thats a lot of feeding and waste when they get bigger.

Thing is, it always works when the fish are small...Aggression levels are fine, space is fine, ect. but once the fish grow, it all changes and all of a sudden, they are fighting for space and food. I have made this mistake many times in the past myself. My tank would seem so empty and I always wanted more fish, I would add more and it would go well for a year or so but then all of a sudden, I would realize that the same fish that had worked as juveniles was not working so well as young adults.

Stock based on the full size of the fish and not how they look now. And sometimes its hard to understand how big fish get unless you see a full grown version them. Puffers are a perfect example because they look way bigger than 18" when you factor in the 5" they can get across!!!

Your mappa will get quite a bit bigger than this guy here and he is HUGE...The picture actually kind of makes him seem smaller than he is:

justinpsmith · #7 12/30/2007, 01:27 PM

wmu2007 · #8 12/30/2007, 05:33 PM

How long does it typically take for a 3-4" puffer to get big. Its a tough decision in which puffer to eliminate because I've had the porcupine for so long and he's super personable and the guinea fowl and map puffer are rare. As for the lion I'll probablt eliminate one of them.