Newbie is my tank overstocked?

[vicltruong]

I have a 10 gal with 5lbs live rock. No corals; HOB filter 70gph and an internal filter 70gph. I have in it 4 fish:

1.5" ocellaris clown
1" ocellaris clown
1" blue damsel
1" 3 strip damsel.

I have this for 2 weeks and everything looks alright. I added the fish slowly and cycled the tank properly. 15% water change every week. Amonia 0, Nitrate 0 and PH 0.

I'm wondering if this is overstocked? According to most literature it is overstocked when the fish grow up. But I see so many people overstock their tanks and it's doing okay. I was also wondering what are the consequences of overstocking? And also why are most of the fish literature recommeding such rediculously low stocking guidelines? i.e. I have read some people recommend 1" per 10 gallon. What is the point of that?

[Boomboy]

well that 1" per 5G at least as i have heard it, its just a guideline, some fish eat more or are more messy eaters, but as a guideline its not to bad, its not accurate but just good for the health of your fish and so you dont raise levels to much but back to the fish, your tank is very very new. 2 weeks is just the time it took for your tank to finish its cycle, when you said you added the fish slowly, you mean you added them all at once? but just slowly? or just added fish over those 2 weeks slowly? im assuming your PH is not 0, you have very little live rock in your tank for bio-filtration. another thing is that mixing damsels are said to be a no-no because they are very aggressive towards each other. and your fish need room to swim and also room for territory. youve made some mistakes but thats ok, just learn from them, and progress from it. read up alot more and try and get rid of at least half of those fish.

[PoonTang]

I would think if you were to gut the filters and fill them with LR of atleast 20 LBS and add a small skimmer you should be ok. However, those damsels are evil, trade them back in if you can.

[langdon reefer]

Originally Posted by PoonTang

I would think if you were to gut the filters and fill them with LR of atleast 20 LBS and add a small skimmer you should be ok. However, those damsels are evil, trade them back in if you can.

Agreed the damsels gotta go i just got rid of the last one in my 220gal tank and he was chasing and killing fish 3 times his size he even killed his 6 brothers/sisters

[fdiddy]

Originally Posted by poontang

i would think if you were to gut the filters and fill them with lr of atleast 20 lbs and add a small skimmer you should be ok. However, those damsels are evil, trade them back in if you can.

+1

[marie]

I personally am a fan of damsels (after all, clown fish are damsels) just as long as a person is aware that they are aggressive and should be the last fish added.
They are tough, hardy, cheap and colourful who could ask for anything more

[vicltruong]

yeah I added the 3 strip damsel last he is getting chased by the blue damsel. but he keeps going back to the rock. The 1.5" clown is the boss but he doesn't do anything and the 1" clown just follows him around. it's interesting watching the territory battle.

I'm planning a predator tank next want a trigger, puffer, box fish, and cow fish. and maybe these damsel will go in there after they get bigger. What size of a tank minimum do you guys and girls think I need?

[vicltruong]

sorry PH is 8.0. I guess my real question is what will happen if a tank is overstocked, assuming water quality can be maintained (i.e. Amonia and nitrite at 0) and all fish are at the same level of aggressiveness so no bullying? Is there any other factors that will kill a fish besides fighting and poor water quality?

Thanks for your help. I ask because I think 1" per 5 gallon makes the tank look very sparse and not very interesting.