120G tank stock

[deus_24]

This is my first large tank so I need some advice on how many fish I can have in there.  I prefer overstocking to control aggression and my tanks comes with a pretty large sump so it is filtered really well.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[bitterman]

Tank measurements? 60"x18" foot print?

If its a 5' tank you ight get away with a Frontosa colony of 1M and 3-4F, some calvus or comps (pair or more) and a colony of Syno Multi's

Bruce

[PaleoFishGirl]

Are you looking at stocking fish from a particular lake?

[deus_24]

I was thinking of doing a mixed tank.  The fish I have in mind are: Yellow labs, Estherae, Elongatus, Afra.

[artw]

that would work pretty well
be careful with the afras and the elongatus they will cross if they look similar
you can mix lakes if you want but generally thats not recommended if the fish are wild, since they will be used to the different chemistries that exist amongst the lakes.   if they ain't wild it doesn't matter if you mix them.

[hamstercaster]

This is my first large tank so I need some advice on how many fish I can have in there.  I prefer overstocking to control aggression and my tanks comes with a pretty large sump so it is filtered really well.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I don't personally see the need to overstock wether you have adequate filtration or not.  Technically a 120 gallon means around a 120 inches of fish.. more or less.  Lets say you want to give them a bit more room to swim and put the equivalent of 100 mature inches of fish in your tank, I am positive that you won't get any more agression problems then if you had a 120 mature inches of fish.  I could see it being useful in smaller tanks perhaps, but in a big tank like that, by the time you reach the "acceptable" inches per gallon maximum, you'll already have plenty of fish to spread agression.   

[artw]

the inches of fish rule really doesn't apply to africans, malawis at least.   I had well over 200 inches in the 110g,  but I also had around 12x filtration an hour...   

but since deuce 24 is looking for a simple answer then yes I agree "120 inches" is a good starting point

[beowulf]

the inches of fish rule really doesn't apply to africans, malawis at least.   I had well over 200 inches in the 110g,  but I also had around 12x filtration an hour...   

but since deuce 24 is looking for a simple answer then yes I agree "120 inches" is a good starting point

I agree, i have at least 65 inches of fish in my 65g tank

[darkdep]

I have always had more inches than gallons; the rule definitely is not appropriate for africans.

[hamstercaster]

I don't understand why you guys say that the rule doesn't apply for Africans.  It should be a case by case rule of sort.  I can see it not applying for smaller tanks where you would end up with fewer fish, but in a big tank like a 120 gallon, I believe the rule applies although you don't need to abide by it.  The whole point of the rule not applying to Africans has more to do with aggression than anything else, however, the bigger the tank, the more fish you have.. generally anyway and then wether or not you get up to 120 inches or more is usually irrelevent because by the time you stock a 120 gallon tank chances are that you will have 15-20 fish, or more and that usually more than enough to dissipate aggression amongst the group of fish.  I really don't see any reason to push towards overstocking just because we are dealing with Africans.  It just seem to me that this has become some type of big scare it seems to people starting African tanks.  I'm not saying not to overstock, I'm just saying don't overstock if you don't need too.  Your fish should have a better life if they have some room to move around in your tank

[beowulf]

I don't understand why you guys say that the rule doesn't apply for Africans.  It should be a case by case rule of sort.  I can see it not applying for smaller tanks where you would end up with fewer fish, but in a big tank like a 120 gallon, I believe the rule applies although you don't need to abide by it.  The whole point of the rule not applying to Africans has more to do with aggression than anything else, however, the bigger the tank, the more fish you have.. generally anyway and then wether or not you get up to 120 inches or more is usually irrelevent because by the time you stock a 120 gallon tank chances are that you will have 15-20 fish, or more and that usually more than enough to dissipate aggression amongst the group of fish.  I really don't see any reason to push towards overstocking just because we are dealing with Africans.  It just seem to me that this has become some type of big scare it seems to people starting African tanks.  I'm not saying not to overstock, I'm just saying don't overstock if you don't need too.  Your fish should have a better life if they have some room to move around in your tank

So your saying that if a 120g tank is a little overstocked the fish will not have any room to move around?  Please there is enough room in there even if overstocked for them to move around.  Do not forget that most of these fish are use to being in giant schools in the wild.

[hamstercaster]

I'm not saying they'll have no room, but it just seems to me that a bit more breathing space for the fish should be advisable when the situation permits.  And saying that these fish are usually found in schools in the wild is irrelevant I think.... as they swim in a much larger body of water and the schools have more than enough room.  Let it be clear that I am not against overstocking as I'm actually a bit overstocked myself, what I'm saying if you don't want to overstock and don't need to, then by all means don't overstock.  It's one thing to say that when it comes to Africans you can overstock but it's another thing to say that you have to overstock, stating agression dissipation as the reason to overstock.  Where to draw the line is really a case by case thing as the decision to overstock or not should be based on observing your fish behavior, knowing what you have in your tank and what their usual behaviours are etc.  If you are understocked but there is no agression whatsoever and you are quite happy with what you've got.. then no problem.  If you are understocked or at the general 1 inch per gallong rule and you see some agression problems in your tank, then by all means, add a few more fish in there and see if it will do anything.  But if the inch per gallon general rule does not necessarily apply to African, the overstocking rule does not necessarilly apply either.  I still say that a case by case analysis will be much better to guide a fish lover, experienced or not than just saying overstock, or understock or whatever... and sometimes having a tank where all fishies are good friends is just a matter or removing one bully from the tank ;-)

[sniggir]

for my self I accualy prefer to under stock...I had a 160gal that had about 16 fish in there...but a couple of them would have grown to be huge.... now I would suggest making sure that no matter how many fish you put in you resurch and make sure that you have tons of rock work in many differnts locations so that your little friends can set up teritories...and such...also remember that these fish produce alot of waist so you will want to have a realy good filtration...I had 2 ehiem canister's and then I had a huge biowheel...i like the combo of either Biowheels/Aqua clears....with canister filters... the reason for this is so that you get great mechanical filtration....from the AC's and top biological... from the canister...again just the way i like to do things...even right now in my daghters tank I have 2 AC 300, and a eheim ecco

[artw]

It's quite simple, really. If you decide to overstock your tank, for whatever reason,  you need to commit yourself to providing extra filtration and water changes.  in the example I posted previously I was doing 50% once a week with an enormous amount of filtration.

[beowulf]

for my self I accualy prefer to under stock...I had a 160gal that had about 16 fish in there...but a couple of them would have grown to be huge.... now I would suggest making sure that no matter how many fish you put in you resurch and make sure that you have tons of rock work in many differnts locations so that your little friends can set up teritories...and such...also remember that these fish produce alot of waist so you will want to have a realy good filtration...I had 2 ehiem canister's and then I had a huge biowheel...i like the combo of either Biowheels/Aqua clears....with canister filters... the reason for this is so that you get great mechanical filtration....from the AC's and top biological... from the canister...again just the way i like to do things...even right now in my daghters tank I have 2 AC 300, and a eheim ecco

I think you bring up the best point, after filtration the most important thing is to have defined territories.  I have africans in a 65g and tons of rocks and caves for them to hide in.  My 110g community is also overstocked but has tons of hides.