Overstocked??

[Mr.Weathers]

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So I’ve been fighting po4 for months and started to think I have a bioload issue. I recently got rid of a 2ft snowflake eel because of this. We have a 6ft 125gal tank with a 50gal sump fuge full of macro. Good oversized skimmer and 2 filter cups. As for tank we have a ton of rocks and a 3 inch sand bed. Being turned with 2 4K Ice cap gyres. We have roughly 50 inches of fish gonna list below. Is 50 inches of fish really too much for my setup? The tank looks like it has so much room for more fish I really wouldn’t even dream it was overstocked honestly but something’s going on…maybe the eel being gone will help.



6 inch hippo tang

6 inch magnificent fox face

5 inch sail fin

4 inch yellow

4 inch powder brown

Fully grown engineer goby he’s gotta be 6+

Then 2 clown fish 1 blue damsel 1 Toby puffer 1 lawnmower Blenny and a rangeford goby. None of these fish are bigger than 3 inches. I would really appreciate any help this tank is a year old and I still only have a few corals because of my parameters. Po4 is showing maxed out on hana and nitrates are showing high with a api. How many inches do y’all have in what size tanks? I have a buddy that would take fish off my hands in a heartbeat so I can start moving some out if needed I just want to get into coral finally.

 

[Spieg]

Unfortunately it's not as simple as adding total length of fish. It also depends on how much you feed and what kind of food. I think you may be close to the limit for fish, but if you feed lightly it may be okay (tangs can be pooping machines if they eat a lot). Do you feed corals as well as fish? I ask because coral food can be pretty high in nutrients.

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Unfortunately it's not as simple as adding total length of fish. It also depends on how much you feed and what kind of food. I think you may be close to the limit for fish, but if you feed lightly it may be okay (tangs can be pooping machines if they eat a lot). Do you feed corals as well as fish? I ask because coral food can be pretty high in nutrients.

Nope no coral food anymore.I know this is a hard question maybe some with a heavy stocked 125gal can give me a round about on how many inches of fish they have

 

[JumboShrimp]

Is there any aggression? At 6’ and 125 gallons, does that mean you’re only 18” front to back?

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Is there any aggression? At 6’ and 125 gallons, does that mean you’re only 18” front to back?

Very little aggression they chase each other sometimes when I feed but rarely and have been fine for nearly a year. There are tons of rock and hiding places in this tanks rock scape.

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Very little aggression they chase each other sometimes when I feed but rarely and have been fine for nearly a year. There are tons of rock and hiding places in this tanks rock scape.

Yes 18 inches wide

 

[JumboShrimp]

Maybe a photo of your tank-- I know that one of the main hardships with 18" is getting rocks away from the back wall for true swim-behind room for larger fish-- like you obviously have. If it were me, I'd be thankful for a nice collection of fish and no aggression; I don't think I'd push it, and risk a good thing. (Maybe a Yellow Tail Damsel, for one last pop of color.) I know that's hard, because we ALL want that 'one more' fish.

 

[fish farmer]

I used to maintain a 120 gal 6 foot tank, with maybe five fish total at the time, regal tang, foxface, one clown, couple of damsels. Both the tang and foxface were 7 to 8 inches. I had high phos and nitrate levels as well, I had an average skimmer and no macroalgae.

You have some fish in there that will grow bigger, all the tangs and the foxface will fill that tank pretty quick.

I think you have found the max for that tank.

 

[Carwin]

That seems like a LOT of stock for that size tank. In my 120 I had 2 Tangs, 2 Clowns, a Royal Gramma and that's it. I was also keeping a large carpet anemone which did cause some nitrate issues. Do you run macroalgae in a fuge or a reactor?

 

[ApoIsland]

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So I’ve been fighting po4 for months and started to think I have a bioload issue. I recently got rid of a 2ft snowflake eel because of this. We have a 6ft 125gal tank with a 50gal sump fuge full of macro. Good oversized skimmer and 2 filter cups. As for tank we have a ton of rocks and a 3 inch sand bed. Being turned with 2 4K Ice cap gyres. We have roughly 50 inches of fish gonna list below. Is 50 inches of fish really too much for my setup? The tank looks like it has so much room for more fish I really wouldn’t even dream it was overstocked honestly but something’s going on…maybe the eel being gone will help.



6 inch hippo tang

6 inch magnificent fox face

5 inch sail fin

4 inch yellow

4 inch powder brown

Fully grown engineer goby he’s gotta be 6+

Then 2 clown fish 1 blue damsel 1 Toby puffer 1 lawnmower Blenny and a rangeford goby. None of these fish are bigger than 3 inches. I would really appreciate any help this tank is a year old and I still only have a few corals because of my parameters. Po4 is showing maxed out on hana and nitrates are showing high with a api. How many inches do y’all have in what size tanks? I have a buddy that would take fish off my hands in a heartbeat so I can start moving some out if needed I just want to get into coral finally.

Inches of fish have nothing to do with it. My 6 inch marine beta eats less food in a week than my 2 inch royal gramma eats in a day.

That tank is not overstocked for a lot of people, but if you have nuisance algae issues then your tank could be overstocked for your specific nutrient export methods.

im sure getting rid of the eel will help a little so maybe give it some time.

Lighting could also be an issue.

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Inches of fish have nothing to do with it. My 6 inch marine beta eats less food in a week than my 2 inch royal gramma eats in a day.

That tank is not overstocked for a lot of people, but if you have nuisance algae issues then your tank could be overstocked for your specific nutrient export methods.

im sure getting rid of the eel will help a little so maybe give it some time.

Lighting could also be an issue.

No algae at all film on glass once every week or two.

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Inches of fish have nothing to do with it. My 6 inch marine beta eats less food in a week than my 2 inch royal gramma eats in a day.

That tank is not overstocked for a lot of people, but if you have nuisance algae issues then your tank could be overstocked for your specific nutrient export methods.

im sure getting rid of the eel will help a little so maybe give it some time.

Lighting could also be an issue.

What would lighting do? I have 4 165watt viparspectras

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Maybe a photo of your tank-- I know that one of the main hardships with 18" is getting rocks away from the back wall for true swim-behind room for larger fish-- like you obviously have. If it were me, I'd be thankful for a nice collection of fish and no aggression; I don't think I'd push it, and risk a good thing. (Maybe a Yellow Tail Damsel, for one last pop of color.) I know that's hard, because we ALL want that 'one more' fish.

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

just my 2 cents but if you don't have any algae issues why bother if your phosphates are too high? Coral needs phosphates and I can't think of many draw backs to too much phosphates so long as you're stable and not dangerously high (I'm sure we can get a chemist over here to tell us what that is).

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

tank looks great by the way, enjoy it!

 

[ApoIsland]

What would lighting do? I have 4 165watt viparspectras

Sorry I read that first post wrong and thought you were having nuisance algae issues. I didn't realize it was just high po4. I would not worry about it unless there are visible signs something is wrong.

 

[HB AL]

I've been in the same boat as you for a long time as I love having lots of fish. What I do to keep po4 in check is dose nopox and will be adding an algae scrubber very soon.

 

[ZoWhat]

One thing I've learned since 2007 is that whenever someone asks if they are overstocked, 99% of the time they are for even asking the question

 

[NowGlazeIT]

You can try bio pellets, algae turf scrubber or carbon dosing to help export your excess nutrients. I don’t think you have too many fish for that tank size, but you do have too many for your filtration methods.

 

[Mr.Weathers]

Maybe a photo of your tank-- I know that one of the main hardships with 18" is getting rocks away from the back wall for true swim-behind room for larger fish-- like you obviously have. If it were me, I'd be thankful for a nice collection of fish and no aggression; I don't think I'd push it, and risk a good thing. (Maybe a Yellow Tail Damsel, for one last pop of color.) I know that's hard, because we ALL want that 'one more' fish.

You can try bio pellets, algae turf scrubber or carbon dosing to help export your excess nutrients. I don’t think you have too many fish for that tank size, but you do have too many for your filtration metho

just my 2 cents but if you don't have any algae issues why bother if your phosphates are too high? Coral needs phosphates and I can't think of many draw backs to too much phosphates so long as you're stable and not dangerously high (I'm sure we can get a chemist over here to tell us what that is).

I would like to start getting coral and my Hanna checker is maxed at .90ppm so idk what it really is. I only have a low range tester