What the key factors to overstocking a reef tank?

[dotcommer]

I'm getting ready to build out a 300 Gallon and wanted to know what are the key factors that you need to have in place if you plan on eventually having an overstocked fish and coral tank etc....

[downbeach]

Crying towel.

[dotcommer]

Originally Posted by downbeach

Crying towel.

LOL

[Allmost]

stocking level, depends on the aquarist expertice [in terms of fish getting along] and the filteration available [to deal with nutrition addition, and keeping up with oxygen and .. levels].


so if you want to overstock, get the biggest skimmer u can afford, and the top of everything else, flow, light, fuge, bacterioplakton and so on ... and research ALOT !

[dotcommer]

Originally Posted by Allmost

stocking level, depends on the aquarist expertice [in terms of fish getting along] and the filteration available [to deal with nutrition addition, and keeping up with oxygen and .. levels].


so if you want to overstock, get the biggest skimmer u can afford, and the top of everything else, flow, light, fuge, bacterioplakton and so on ... and research ALOT !

As far as the protein skimmer what gallon rating should I be looking for a 300 Gallon?

What about a larger sump to add more water volume?

[Allmost]

well if you are planning on a tank FULL of fish, then go with the biggest one you can afford and have the room for.

Large sump is great Idea, many ppl with larger tanks even have some of those large 200 G buckets, a couple of them plumbed together and plumbed into system, to increase volume and bring more stability, and for water changes u can just empty one of those and refill it. if you have a basement, even a small plastic pool would work ! if you choose u can later make it a fuge too !

[bongarone]

Originally Posted by dotcommer

what are the key factors that you need to have in place

If by "key factors" you mean "key equipment", the correct answer is "a bigger tank". There's no good way around this.

If you do in fact mean "key factors", then the correct answers are "ignorance and stupidity".

[dotcommer]

Originally Posted by bongarone

If by "key factors" you mean "key equipment", the correct answer is "a bigger tank". There's no good way around this.

If you do in fact mean "key factors", then the correct answers are "ignorance and stupidity".

Key Equipment? Meaning the largest protein skimmer you can afford???

Bigger tank? Can't this be achieved by having a bigger sump?

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by bongarone

If by "key factors" you mean "key equipment", the correct answer is "a bigger tank". There's no good way around this.

If you do in fact mean "key factors", then the correct answers are "ignorance and stupidity".

your reply is uneducated and none sense !

YOU do not have the expertice to house multiple fish, that doesnt mean ppl who do have the experience and knowledge ar stupid !

I would watch the attitude ...

my tanks are overstock, and I Take offense in your post ! I do alot, and spend alot of time and money to keep my parameters top notch to keep my SPS corals colorfull, and I have ALOT of fish ! they are all fed more than you ever feed your fish, and are happy and in breeding conditions. the tank size matters, when you speak of the size of the fish ... yes I do not have a shark in my tank ...cause its too smallf or one, but I have MANY dwarf angels, and more fish that are living there happily ... again, its the aquaristès skills and .... that determnes the number of fish that you can keep.

[dotcommer]

The reason I posted this thread is that I am the type of person that loves to go to the LFS and point blank "JUST SHOP!!!

When I get addicted to a hobby, I have no problem spending money on it.

I would rather spend a little bit more now, and get the larger protein skimmer, a bigger sump etc... then double buying things later on.

I may not come close to overstocking a 300 Gallon, but if I end up over time, stocking the tank with extra schooling fish etc... I want to have the right things in place now rather then later.

Thanks for all the responses.

[bongarone]

Originally Posted by Allmost

my tanks are overstock, and I Take offense in your post ! I do alot, and spend alot of time and money to keep my parameters top notch

Good for you.

For everyone else, there are other ways to keep top notch parameters without spending a lot of time and money. Yes, reefkeeping is expensive and requires dedication and time, but it doesn't have to be a sink hole for your wallet and it doesn't have to be a full time commitment.

[sirreal63]

One of the most problematic things is power, make sure to have a generator if something happens, oxygen can deplete quickly in an overstocked aquarium and make for a huge disaster. The generator can save your investment.

[sslak]

If you like being able to just "shop" all the time, I would suggest planning and starting up a permanent Quarantine tank that runs all the time.

That way you can go buy on impulse without risking your existing livestock.

[bongarone]

Originally Posted by dotcommer

The reason I posted this thread is that I am the type of person that loves to go to the LFS and point blank "JUST SHOP!!!

When I get addicted to a hobby, I have no problem spending money on it.

I would rather spend a little bit more now, and get the larger protein skimmer, a bigger sump etc... then double buying things later on.

I may not come close to overstocking a 300 Gallon, but if I end up over time, stocking the tank with extra schooling fish etc... I want to have the right things in place now rather then later.

Thanks for all the responses.

I'll tell you right away that compatibility issues and different needs among various fish and invertebrates will make it so you'll never come close to keeping everything you want in a single tank anyway.

A big protein skimmer is not the answer, since protein skimmers don't work that away. Search the forums for threads re: protein skimmer sizing. Until you reach a certain bioload, and oversized skimmer will have difficulty pulling foam.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by bongarone

Good for you.

For everyone else, there are other ways to keep top notch parameters without spending a lot of time and money. Yes, reefkeeping is expensive and requires dedication and time, but it doesn't have to be a sink hole for your wallet and it doesn't have to be a full time commitment.

yea everyone has their own opinion and the way they want to deal with their hobbies ...
but I just disliked that u basically called me stupid for wanting to make full time commitment to my hobby ! but anyways ...

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by bongarone

I'll tell you right away that compatibility issues and different needs among various fish and invertebrates will make it so you'll never come close to keeping everything you want in a single tank anyway.

A big protein skimmer is not the answer, since protein skimmers don't work that away. Search the forums for threads re: protein skimmer sizing. Until you reach a certain bioload, and oversized skimmer will have difficulty pulling foam.

Not true !

do you have a reef tank ? or are you basing these on what u have read before ?

hey, I have angels and moorish Idol with my SPS tank !

skimmer injects AIR into water, providing OXYGEN ! not sure what you mean by it doesnt work that way ... my skimmer is an alpha cone from vertex, rated for 2 times the water volume I keep ... I could still use a bigger one lol

[dzfish17]

I used to overstock my tanks but after keeping fish (FW & SW) for over 30 yrs I have come to the conclusion that it is not wise to overstock your aquarium (even if there is sufficient filtration).

Some folks overstock their aquarium and try to convince eveybody that its ok because they are experienced enough to pull it off... I feel strongly that every fish needs a lot of room to swim without constantly bumping into other fish.

There is no reason for anyone to get upset because its just my opinion (and a few others). Tanks that allow plenty of space per fish look more natural to me too.

It does take some restraint to keep a tank stocked properly but the conscientious aquarists will make the effort to do so... again, just my opinion.

[Sk8r]

^ this. You can run on luck for a few months; then you get the coral with red bug or the fish with ich that renders all your tank a wasteland of dead coral and demised fish.

I take it by the buzzword 'overstocking' you REALLY mean you would like a densely populated tank. This is not like 'overclocking' a computer. You cannot crowd life-requirements for organisms without hindering their growth and impacting their health. My advice is stock as much coral as you want, but remember it grows! My 3 heads of hammer became several hundred within a few years: it took over, and more aggressive corals will do that. So ask. [Hammer and frog are such close cousins they can grow together without killing each other---yet frog grows far, far, far less rapidly than hammer. Knowing your coral helps you make good choices. Remember they're animals, and they have animal habits, like fighting, if you don't know what you're putting next to each other. Hydnophora, eg, just leans over and digests its neighbors.]
Use your live rock to 'fold' space, ie, create spires and tunnels, caves, and go-rounds, where water will flow and fish will swim. Fish don't mind touching corals. BUT---if you get big fish, they screw up the water for the corals, and they need a huge amount of empty running room, ie, they have to charge wildly for several feet to force oxygen levels up. My advice is keep your fish small species but colorful, like the grammas and damsels, some gobies, blennies, etc, and you will find they set up territories as they do in nature, and that they're in constant motion, not like big fish hanging around as if you could pick them up, dust them, and set them back in place. A flight of the smaller damsels like chromis or azures, even a single!blue velvet or sergeant-major is particularly good at this: they have a rep as holy terrors because they want to loop and race about in complex territory, and in too small a tank they're just bonkers. Or they get that way. Anthias do this. If big fish are your thing, power to you, too, but consider the little guys as a way to have a to-scale slice of reef that works in another way.

[coralsnaked]

Yes lets keep this cool guys.

The answer to stocking more than is suggested on any tank size is filtration and maintance. First the filtration can be acheived thru a larger sump, if you have the ability to provide a 150 gal or a 250 gal you increase your net water volume and it seems you are overstocking when in fact you may be not. However this does increase the time spent providing the maintance on the pprimary tank. Lots of Poo! This means also a better CUC, but most of all one would need a lot of rock in both the tank and the sump. And lastly yes a big skimmer Reef Octopus 5000 for around $500 rated up to 500 gal or you can dial it up or down from there based on costs. Best combonation is a bigger sump, a bigger skimmer, and bigger natural filtration accomapnied with a tripple 500 series reactor for GAC, Phosban, and another inert media such as Purigen.

And overstocking a reef tank comes long before there is not adequate room for the fish to maintian there own space. Fish selection is always paramount when setting up any tank, and in a case where tank space is streched it becomes far more important. However,I would never recommend to crowd fish to where they are stressed, This goes beyond MY definition of overstocking.

Remeber to keep it Happy Reefing

[bongarone]

Originally Posted by Allmost

hey, I have angels and moorish Idol with my SPS tank !

Again, good for you.



Still not recommended.

[o2manyfish]

Increasing your water volume gives you a good starting point to stabilize the system. The larger the volume the more it takes to alter parameters. That also means the more it takes to control the parameters.

Next is to increase your filtration. Oversized skimmer is a good start. If you are serious about a heavy fish stock list, and perhaps larger fish, then you need to increase your biological filtration. Adding sumps and liverock is one method, but there are more efficient means.... Spend some time researching fluidized sand filters - Small foot print, zero maintenance and they greatly increase your biological filtration.

And when you pick out that big skimmer, and go to set it up on your tank, find yourself a nice large ozonizer and hook it up as well.

And then finally you want to increase your chemical filtration --- For sure I would recommend a large reactor for Carbon. And then depending on your research perhaps a large GFO reactor.

Dave B

[mgraf]

I just think it is funny that everyone is saying "over stocked". My 120 is stocked. My advice is if you are a shop-a-holic, plan on trying to keep yourself out of the LFS. If you can't limit yourself, your looking for disaster no matter how large your tank is.
I also like how everyone on here advises about tangs in too small of an aquarium, too many fish etc., all you have to do is explain to everyone how you are an accomplished aquarist, and it is all good again!

[Merlin3100]

Hello,

I'm now so go easy on me, but can't you make up for over stocking any given tank (to a point) if you were to just double up on everything. 2X the filter/sump, 2X the skimmer, 2X the whatever other equipment that would work for any given tank?

[ReeferYork]

Originally Posted by mgraf

I just think it is funny that everyone is saying "over stocked". My 120 is stocked. My advice is if you are a shop-a-holic, plan on trying to keep yourself out of the LFS. If you can't limit yourself, your looking for disaster no matter how large your tank is.
I also like how everyone on here advises about tangs in too small of an aquarium, too many fish etc., all you have to do is explain to everyone how you are an accomplished aquarist, and it is all good again!

Yup, I keep my Tang in a 10g but I have powerheads all on one side of the tank to create a neverending pool effect, he can swim for miles...

I'm a very accomplished aquarist, I make sure to spend atleast 10x more than I should on every purchase to justify how accomplished I am.

[Khemul]

It depends on what type of overstocking it is.

Territorial overstocking, nothing you can do.

Bioload overstocking, a very large refugium. A frag-style tank with a similar footprint to the display filled completely with Caulerpa or Hair Algae should do it. Upgrading the equipment also works.