Planning stock for a planted tank

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Gsdsar

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 16, 2013
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160
Location
Maryland
Ok, so we all know the rule, 1in of fish per gallon(except goldfish)

So how do you truly calculate that, with 3 in of substrate, and a moderately planted 55 g tank. How do I figure out how many is too many? Do plants take away from the inch per gallon?

Right now I have 4 boesmani, 2 turquoise, 2 banded Rainbows. If I figure for their adult size it's about 26 inches of adult fish.

I would like to add 2 Red Irian and 2 Praecox rainbows, along with a Bristlenose Pleco. Is that okay?

Thanks, I am many weeks from adding anything, tank just got gravel and hard scape. I am going to slowly move my current Rainbows in, then use my old tank as a quarateen tank for new purchases.
 
It's more of a guideline really...


I don't know about rainbows so I can't really tell you anything in that regard.
 
The inch / gallon rule is outdated now that we know more about fish. Now it's based more off of an individual fish's bio load. For a good base line on stocking an aquarium try AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor This will give you a great starting point. It is possible to take a tank up to 150% stocking on aqadvisor (I did) but the tank maintenance gets to be a bit tedious at that point with a difficult time keeping nitrates down.
 
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