today i did my o's a huge favor... i hope they're happier and grow better... i un crowded my tank and got rid of 3 africans and 3 southies, and my jd, now i have my 2 o's and a pitcus cat and a pleco...the tank is spacious.. lets hope my boy are happier..

I'm sure they'll be much happier and you won't have to worry about aggression issues with a crowed tank.

my lutino was getting bullied... i thought it was my jd, but well see if it was my red

Good for you and your fish. Overcrowded tanks usually lead to problems of either water quality or aggression or both!!

good for you.. i am a firm beleiver in understocking tanks in order to reduce maintenance and help keep the water in better condition. im sure your oscars will enjoy the extra space you have provided them.

however overcrowding a tank does also have its advantages. the best being the dilution of aggressive behavior. if there are lots of targets in your tank then an aggressive fish will have more targets to chase therefore eliminating the constant harassment of only one fish. anyone with an african setup will attest to how this will work wonderfully.

necromancer4 wrote:


good point but this doesnt really apply when only keeping foot long fish, its just impossible to be able to stock at high enough level to spread the aggression while keeping the water even ok. It works when keeping a couple of foot long fish and several smaller fish (Sd's for example)

delboybully wrote:


well, since i currently have two 4-6 in fish, three fish now starting to approch the foot mark and two that are comming up on the thirteen each mark, i will be able to tell you fairly soon if my theory will hold up or not. so far i only have one fish that is starting to show some aggression but he picks on no one in particular, they all seem to fall into his radar at one point or another.

as for water conditions so far i have yet to have my nitrates hit 40 in a week and usually they are around the 20-25 mark.


but i guess time will tell.

I guess it depends on how aggressive your fish are. I was refering to fish that are known to be aggressive like a GT for example

sweet dude, bet yr oscars will lvoe ya for it!

did ya sell them? or just move to a dif tank??

traded them for store credit at a local shop...

delboybully wrote:



funny you should mention gts(Aequidens sp. 'Gold Saum' ) because thats what one of my fish is. the others are a true texas(Herichthys cyanoguttatus) and a red tiger mota(parachromis motaguensis). so on the aggression scale i would say the rate fairly high.