# Overstocking thoughts?



## Lou21 (Dec 11, 2014)

I have a 75 gal setup, 18+ mixed cichlids, 2 tri color sharks/pleco/few catfish filtration consists of a marineland emperor dual bio wheel 400 and an auquatop CF400 canister with the UV light. Tank is crystal clear at all times. How many fish would be considered overstocking in this setup? When the tri colors and catfish get too big I will obviously sell them back to my LFS cause they will not fare well in the 4ft tank. I have a few cichlids right now that I'm slightly disappointed in the coloration, more of an impulse buy at the time lol Looking to get more eccentric fish but I don't want to go overboard, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

Depends a lot in the mature size of the fish and what kind of mix you have. You mentioned a frontosa and venustus, both will have to be removed in the future. If you have just mbuna 18 may work, a few less with haps/peacocks.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Can you please post your full stock list? Scientific names would be awesome but even common names will help.


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## BDASTRK (Dec 12, 2014)

Its funny how this topic has so many opinions on what the limit really is. I have a 150 gallon tank with a wet dry, two Ocean clear canister filter and a UV and I have 76 peacocks and Haps all 3 1/2" to 6"with a few odd balls thrown in and I dont have a single problem at all. I have had as many as 100 fish in the tank and still not had any problems. Water changes and tank maint is the key. Now with your current filtration set-up I might now go to far, but if more fish is your desire I would honestly look hard at what you have for filtration and make a change to get yourself a busier tank if you so desire.


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## Lou21 (Dec 11, 2014)

@Deeda, I wish i knew the names sorry. Its been about 8 years since my last cichlid tank Lots of peacocks and a few mbuna that's for sure, along with a venustus/frontosa/2 tricolor sharks, another cat and a bushynose pleco
@BDASTRK is the Aquatop canister CF400 with the UV light not as good as my LFS made it seem? I've never seen my tank so clear, do you think I should lose the hanging marineland filter and invest in another canister UV filter?


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## Lou21 (Dec 11, 2014)

Labeotropheus trewavasae is one I just identified, the "red top" with the blue stripes. He isn't even the largest and seems to be the most aggressive and runs the tank, is this typical for this species? Sorry I have lots of dumb questions but it's been a long time lol


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## BDASTRK (Dec 12, 2014)

I cant truly answer that question, In the past I have tried powered canister filters.............I have never found them to be as good as a non powered canister filter. Example I have set-up a Fluvel FX6 just recently and I think its a cool concept, But at the end of the day my Triple Ocean clear set-up with a Little Giant TE 5.5 smokes that whole system. Now price wise it is way more expensive for my set-up for sure, but at the end of the day you cant have to much filtration IMHO!

Over building a system is always been common practice in my aqarium's set-ups...............Been down the cheaper road and it just doesnt pay off for me. I am in the design stages right now of building a custom 800 gallon aquarium I will put in a wall in my house, I will be moving roughly 10,000 gallons an hour of water through the filtration system. Having a clean tank with the amount of fish you have now does not mean you will have that same water quality when you add more fish. Right now my threshold for Qty of fish in my tank is 70 5" to 8" Peacocks and Haps. The new tank will be 10 times that Qty.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Lou21 said:


> is the Aquatop canister CF400 with the UV light not as good as my LFS made it seem?


 I'd say not very good. I've never needed a UV light and with 370 GPH your tank is not even turning over 5X hourly. I'd add another CF400 if you like the brand. Personally I like Rena XP filters.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

BDASTRK said:


> I have a 150 gallon tank with a wet dry, two Ocean clear canister filter and a UV and I have 76 peacocks and Haps all 3 1/2" to 6"with a few odd balls thrown in... <snip> Water changes and tank maint is the key.


+1!
I knew I wasn't the only one... high survival rate of my fry now has me at 38 mbunas (mostly) and 3 catfish in my 75 gallon. About 8 are 4-6", about 15 are 3-4", 10 are 2-3", and 5 are under 1". I started out with about 20 or so... Keep that in mind if you aren't going to have a male only tank...

I am running two Cascade 1500's for about 700gph. But... those ratings are _maximum_. I clean them once a month. (2 week rotation) I would bet that the flow is probably about 1/2 of the rated flow by that time. With 2 pumps, every week I clean either one pump or one set of hoses.

And I still don't have enough filtration. I have a Fluval 306 I'm going to add with these two until I upgrade to a larger tank.

Currently, with my bioload, I do a 60+% change on Sunday, with removal of pretty much everything and vac gravel, and another 60% water change only on Monday. And my nitrate is still up to 30ppm by Sunday.

More fish is a lot more work... be prepared for that if you decide to overstock your tank... or if your fish decide to overstock your tank... 



BDASTRK said:


> ...but at the end of the day you cant have to much filtration IMHO!


+1 again!


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