[Kristen]

I must have some very strange combination here. I have a 20g tall tank, it's considered overstocked but everything in it is healthy, happy, active, and nothing has died in it. Ever.
In this tank I have several goldfish that I rescued from a pond. They're feeder goldfish and the biggest is only about 1.5 inches, the smallest is about .5 inch.
I have six guppies, one male and five females. The goldfish have never bothered the gups. They're healthy, active and playful so I'm sure their not effected by the goldfish.
I have 5-10 minnow like fish that I caught in a creek. They're slightly larger than the guppies. They're the most active things in the tank.
My tank is filled with decorations. I have a large shell, two smaller shells, a rock, an air pump, a filter, a fake driftwood thing, small breeding grass, large grass and other assorted plants. Like I said, the tank is what many consider "overstocked" by it's very well maintained. As long as I've had this tank I have had no deaths (which if I did I would be traumatized since their like my children) and no fishes act abnormal.

Just thought I'd share. What do you have in your tank?

 

[JIM]

I really dont think your tank is terribly overstocked with fish at least. most are small. and with all the decorations and plants etc. you described you have plenty of surfaces for good bacteria to attach to and provide good bacterial filtration. Your tank has probably reached its balance. Sounds like a nice tank to me and if it makes you happy thats what counts. I keep most all North American Native fishes in the 10 tanks i have running right now, Ive been in the hobby for over 30 years so ive done about everything possible as far as fishkeeping goes.

 

[Kristen]

I really dont think your tank is terribly overstocked with fish at least. most are small. and with all the decorations and plants etc. you described you have plenty of surfaces for good bacteria to attach to and provide good bacterial filtration. Your tank has probably reached its balance. Sounds like a nice tank to me and if it makes you happy thats what counts. I keep most all North American Native fishes in the 10 tanks i have running right now, Ive been in the hobby for over 30 years so ive done about everything possible as far as fishkeeping goes.

I counted the goldfish and I have around 5 smaller (the .5 inch) and about 5 larger (the biggest being 1.5 inch). The goldfish are moving so quick it's hard to get a good accurate count. As for the minnows, I'll never know how many are there. I'm surprised I could even catch the little lighting bolts. I forgot to mention that all my plants are fake, but the tank is filled with them

 

[JIM]

Plastic is a very good bio-holding material, i used to use the plastic ring things that held canned soda pot together, shredded up for a bio-bale material, nothing wrong with plastic plants. Now that youve given me a better count of your fish load, youre getting very close to overload, especially with gold fish, i would suggest lots of water changes, to the tune of at least 20-30% a month.