Overstocking

[Marc]

On 10/19/2020 at 3:29 AM, MaxM said:

1) Where do you draw the line between what is a big tank and what is small?

2) Where I live aquariums are very expensive. A 55 gallon tank will run me around $300. That is why I need to be careful not to overstock. I don't have easy options and was fortunate enough to get a 25 gallon tank for free.

For me a big tank is a tank that can accept some mistakes and not have bad things happen right away. If two or three tetras die and aren't found, will they spike the ammonia or cause other problems. I'd consider less than 20 small and 20<55 medium for my purposes. 

I understand that space and cost are factors too. If you have smaller tanks you just need to monitor more closely. Better to go light than push it. It really does depend on the specifics of the tank and the maintenance put in, there will never be an all encompassing rule for X gallons = x fish.

Have you thought about what you are going to do with all the fry when they are adults in a few months? I'm having the same issue, I thought the community tank would take care of any fry but my community tank is too peaceful to even eat fry. I am trying to separate out the females as they grow out.