25 gallon - overstocked?

[Franco724]

Hello everyone,
I figured I'd start a thread to get a little bit of feedback. I've had this 25gal running for almost two years now, and I just was curious what everyone's opinion is on the stock list. I'm not planning on adding anything more to the tank - as i'm quite happy with the current inhabitants - but if need be, I may remove a couple things. :crazy1:

Here is the current stock list:

Bangaii Cardinals x2 (paired)
Firefish x2 (paired)
Scooter Dragonet
Dracula Goby (paired with tiger pistol shrimp - though I never see it?)
Bluestripe Pipefish
Black Clown Goby x2 (pair?)

Cleaner Shrimp
Red Fromia Starfish
Pom Pom Crab x2
Unknown gorgonian
Sun Coral (Tubastrea) - x6 - I rescued these from an aquarium store that didn't know how to take care of them. I've made some small progress.
Blue leg hermits (x10)
Miscellaneous snails (x20)

The tank is running with an Aqueon 75gal HOB filter and protein skimmer. Temperature is at 74 degrees, salinity is 1.022, and all water chemistry is on point. I do a 5gal water changes every two weeks/month.
Everything is eating happily (I'm feeding a mix of frozen brine, mysids, rotifers, roe, and cyclops.) and appears to be 100% healthy.

.... Oh, I forgot to mention my sohal tang, as well. He's such a model citizen with the above tank mates. Just kidding. :haha: :haha:

Here are a couple pictures as well, my apologize for not knowing how to resize:

 

[RDtrack]

I'd say if you've been running it for two years without issue, you have your answer. I understand overstocking but overstocked to one person doesn't mean it's overstocked to another.

It depends on how good you do tank maintenance, i.e., water changes.

Let the tank tell you if your overstocked; uncontrollable algae outbreaks, fish killing each other, corals being knocked down often.

 

[Fishy 1]

If your tank and water quality is happy then I think you are alright. Especially since you've been running it for two years with one drama. I think you have your answer, nice tank by the way

 

[smilesmile2008]

like the pipefish!

 

[snorvich]

I'd say if you've been running it for two years without issue, you have your answer. I understand overstocking but overstocked to one person doesn't mean it's overstocked to another.

It depends on how good you do tank maintenance, i.e., water changes.

Let the tank tell you if your overstocked; uncontrollable algae outbreaks, fish killing each other, corals being knocked down often.

After this period of time, bioload is clearly fine. Most people who "overstock" (whatever the true definition of that is?) have behavior issues rather than bioload issues. But small tanks always have "less excess capacity" than larger tanks.

 

[Franco724]

True, true. The definition of "overstocking" always seems to be skewed from one person to another. Thanks for the replies and compliments!

 

[small alien]

Nice little tank. If you use a razor blade carefully, you can remove the coraline from your glass.

 

[Betta132]

Definitely not overstocked at this point! A tiny bit more pre-cured liverock would be a good idea, maybe just a couple of nice sculpted pieces.
What does your bluestripe eat?
As for the coraline, get a disposable safety razor and take the safety (the plastic guard) off it. Works great on coraline and general algae without scratching glass.

 

[Franco724]

Definitely not overstocked at this point! A tiny bit more pre-cured liverock would be a good idea, maybe just a couple of nice sculpted pieces.
What does your bluestripe eat?
As for the coraline, get a disposable safety razor and take the safety (the plastic guard) off it. Works great on coraline and general algae without scratching glass.

The bluestripe pipe is eating PE Frozen Mysis and frozen cyclops with absolute vigor. Thanks for the tip on coralline as well! I like the look of it, but I definitely need to scrape it off the front and sides of the glass.
I though about adding some more live rock, but i like the openness of the tank. If anything I'd try to stack it taller - hmm.

 

[Franco724]

I would love to add a m/f pair of OSFF (orange spotted filefish) to this set up - I see a pair coming up on DD tonight. How do you folks feel about this?

I can easily remove the pair of fire fish or something if need be.

 

[Betta132]

Aren't those really hard to feed?
I think two 5" fish would be a bit much, even if you took the firefish out... In fact, I'd be hesitant if they were the only fish in the tank. You may want to get another opinion, though, I'm far from an expert.

 

[Franco724]

They are really hard to feed, but these are apparently already eating, however they sold instantly at $249.99 - instead, they also listed a pair of zebra radial files that only get a max size of 3". Or I'm interesting in a group of 5 Red Spot Glass Cardinals - what do we think of these? I know I said I wasn't planning on adding anything more, but i would mind adding something a little more free swimming to occupy the upper region of the aquarium. What do we think about these?

 

[Marshall O]

Honestly, I do think your tank is very well stocked as it is. I would either stick with what you have, or upgrade

You could look into adding interesting inverts instead perhaps.