What constitues 'overstocked' and what does it actually mean?

I'm trying to figure out what actually happens when a tank becomes overstocked?

do the fish physically run out of room to move?

is there a lack of oxygen?

too much fish waste?

hypothetically speaking, if it were things like that, wouldn't upgrades to your tank equipment counteract SOME of that?

I'm just trying to get a grasp on the theory here.

 

oh, and this is an excecise in "if money didn't matter and you could buy ____, then...."

 

Yes...

 

lol is that a 'yes' to each question? i don't understand "yes..."

 

Lack of swimming space and territory.

 

I'm trying to figure out what actually happens when a tank becomes overstocked?

do the fish physically run out of room to move? Yes

is there a lack of oxygen? Yes

too much fish waste? Yes

hypothetically speaking, if it were things like that, wouldn't upgrades to your tank equipment counteract SOME of that? Yes, some for the second and third questions.

I'm just trying to get a grasp on the theory here.

 

It was intended to be a generic yes to each question. Sorry for not being descriptive. Pretty much each issue you posted would be the result of overstocking your tank. Not to say it wouldn't work, but you would need to address each of the issues you posted to do so, IMO. A great skimmer could help in keeping the water cleaner as a result of feeding so much and the extra waste. Natural stress would probably occur in the fish if the tank was stocked too much. This would make them more susceptible to disease and lower overall health. There's no real right number of fish you can have. We see many tanks absolutely packed with fish that are active and seem healthy enough...

 

what characteristics do the livestock display when this happens? I've read of nipped fins, weird behavior. anything else?

 

besides a good skimmer, what can you do to add oxygen to the tank? i've only ever seen the bubble pumps on fresh water tanks.

 

Overstocking can result in many negative things, ultimately in a tank crash.

1. Lack of oxygen: salt water holds less oxygen then fresh water and temperature also affects this. You can counter this by have a skimmer, sump, good surface agitation, refugium etc.

2. Over crowding: Fish need their space or they can get stressed out, more prone to disease, death and more aggression.

3. Too much of a bioload can cause the bacteria populations to grow out of control resulting in a bacteria bloom and if there isn't enough surface area for the bacteria, there will be a bacteria bloom in the tank and water coloumn causing cloudy water and poor water quality.

4. Overall poor water quality. Need more food, supplements for the fish. Cause higher nitrates, phosphates and more dissolved organic material resulting in poor water quality which also lead to fish disease and death.

5. Tank crash, lack of oxygen, high nitrates phosphates, disease, stress leads to fish and coral death.