Stocking idea...

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emerald76

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This may sound ridiculous but I have an idea to help people stock tanks.
It is a point system. I haven't worked out the details but each fish is worth so many points for its minimum tank size, like a guppy, which minimum tank size is ten gals, is worth 2 points. So if you are stocking a ten gallon tank you could have five guppies. It is a version of the inch system but I believe its better. There would be a list of fish and how many points they are worth. You can have as many points of fish as your tank is in gallons. Please tell me what you think and any ideas you might have towards it. No idea if this should go here, if not mods please move.
 
I think that it is a cool idea, but I think the flaws would be almost the same as the inch per gallon rule. You would have to put all these extra side notes such as whether or not it is schooling, its aggression level, the area where they mainly swim, minimum tank size, etc. If you could find some way to work out those kinks it would be a great idea but until then it is a lot like the inch per gallon rule.
 
That would be included- forgot to mention it
Thanks for reminding me!
I don't know if anyone is confused but you would pick from fish that required your tank size or less(the list would have schooling, aggression, etc notes) and you could continue to pick fish until you had as many as you wanted under or equal to your point limit. Then people here on AA can help you check the list.
 
bud29 said:
Also, would there be recommendations on how many points or what % of your allotment is for bottom dwellers?

Good idea! I dont know but it sounds like a great idea
 
jetajockey said:
Stocking is an art form, I don't think any refined rules do it justice unfortunately.

Agreed... I don't think there is any rule or chart you'll ever be able to go by. It all comes down to proper research and making informed decisions to create a "perfect" stocklist
 
I do agree that stocking is very hard and complicated. However IMHO it is worth a "test run" so to speak. I think that the system would be of help to people. For instance, my mom thought you had to use the inch per gallon rule. When she found out it was a bad rule, she thought, "well then how do I know now when enough is enough?" I think this points system would kind of give people a guideline of how much they can put in their tank. Of course, a person would have to do research too. Everyone has to do research. But I think this system would be a very helpful starting point.
 
It all comes down to proper research and making informed decisions to create a "perfect" stocklist

Plus since fish are like people with individual personalities even with all the research in the world it still fails on occasion. There is no program to decide if people are combatible nor will there ever be a successful one for fish in my opinion, there are simply to any variables to calculate.
 
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bud29 said:
I do agree that stocking is very hard and complicated. However IMHO it is worth a "test run" so to speak. I think that the system would be of help to people. For instance, my mom thought you had to use the inch per gallon rule. When she found out it was a bad rule, she thought, "well then how do I know now when enough is enough?" I think this points system would kind of give people a guideline of how much they can put in their tank. Of course, a person would have to do research too. Everyone has to do research. But I think this system would be a very helpful starting point.

The inch/gallon rule is a pretty basic "test run". Since most know it already, a new rule would need to be similar in its simplicity if we expect it to take hold in any major way.
 
I do not mean to thwart your enthusiasm at all, but I do agree with the others that unfortunately stocking is not something suited to any easy guideline system. I have seen a handful of attempts at similar systems, but all of them either quickly became overly complicated, or else were too simple of ignored too many factors to actually be of much use. My best advice when stocking a basic community is just to do your research, and then start small and work your way gradually to greater numbers. No matter what, it is really hard for new aquarists to picture what a tank full of fish will actually look like.
 
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