1 inch per gallon, Piff......

[virus]

hello all you guys!


Well i was reading over some posts and i saw taht ALOT of people were using the famous "one Inch per gallon" rule. adn as any experienced people know that THIS is just a VERY general rule, and this also does not apply to all of the fish speices. and i have made this post to conjure up all of you human-fishies to help me.

This is the catch,the flake, the pellet

all of you aquariust have diffrent special knowledges about certain types of fish, as in example, you would rely on Pufferpunk's advice for puffers. so i wanted to make a Diffrent guide for Fishes using this forum for all the noobies out there (including me)

A example is that if somone knows alot about cichlids then you can post somthing like " african cichilds need more gallons per fish since their aggressive so you need more like 5 to 6 gallons per inch" so i will start off and if anyone has any questions or im explaining this no-so-good then just post!!


ok this is a example of what to include in this thread
Guppies
the one inch per gallon rule can apply to Guppies, guppies are very hardy and when kept with other fish like platies and mollies the 1' rule can be used"

 

[krap101]

5 to 6 inches per gallon"

hmm. does that mean you need more fish per gallon of fish with africans?

 

[virus]

well taht was a example i dont really know but i would guess since they are bigger. but thats the thing somone who knows alot about africans would be able to correct me

and whoops i think i made a typo i mean 5-6 gallons per inch lol

 

[krap101]

lol that would be alot of fish

 

[DeFeKt]

I disagree with that, guppies can be kept 3x that. and still remain healthy
eg. 30 guppies can live comfortably in a 10-15 gallon..and still have the water remain balanced, provided enough filtration...
I feel there are to many factors that go into the equation and really can hardly be judged to be a "standard" of length per gallon

I think this thread will cause alot of conflict and overvoiced opinions. I also think it has the potential of sparking a wide range of political debates about humanity that aren't nessicary, so be careful with that.

 

[virus]

well tahts what im saying i love to hear theses things!!!

 

[krap101]

oxygen consumption is also a big factor. the ammonia isnt that big as long as theres plants or some way to get rid of the nitrates. and another one is swimming room. if its 2 small they'll grow deformed. but this is basic stuff that you guys already know.

oh and agression

 

[coolchinchilla]

I think it sounds like a good idea. Sure there is controversy on how to stock a tank but the discussion will be helpful. You can certainly give both sides as advice (Some stock their tank this way, while others feel more comfortable stocking that way...)

Obviously people are looking for guidance otherwise the "1 inch per gallon" rule wouldn't be invoked as often. It's the only advice out there for the newbie so to create a stickie with better guidelines would be a great help. It would also keep everyone from having to answer the same questions again and again.

Here are a few ideas to get people thinking.

Things that figure into stocking:
1. The amount of work the aquarist wants to do. For example, I know someone who put two FW angel fish in a 90 gallon tank. He automated the lights with timers and filled an auto feeder once every two weeks. Not much work to do for that tank. Heavier stocking requires more work.

2. The experience of the aquarist. One with more experience will be able to recognize when things are going downhill in a tank faster than a newbie. Thus perhaps a newbie should stock more lightly to start off.

3. Filtration equipment. If someone has a lot of extra filtration on a tank then perhaps more fish can be happily housed in it. If someone has a canister on a 30 gallon would they be able to house more fish than for an HOB? (I don't know the answer to this.)

4. Plants. Do plants affect stocking plans? (I don't know the answer to this either).

5. The type of fish. Large bodied fish need more tank space than smaller ones.l (e.g., goldfish need more tank space than a guppy). It would be good to give guidelines according to the kind of fish. One thing that always puzzled me was the concept that a fish is "messy." I didn't understand what that meant for a long time. As I take it, "messy" means that the fish consumes a lot of food and therefore produces a lot of waste. Big waste makers need more gallons to the inch than minimal waste makers.

6. Some fish are schooling fish so there should be at least 6 of them (e.g., tetras). I didn't know that you really should count on having multiples of some kinds of fish. In a stocking guideline this would be good to mention.

7. Tank size. Some fish need more swimming room than what can be had in a particular tank. For example two african ciclids make up about a total of 10-inches of fish. But to put them in a 10 or 15 gallon tank would be cruel because they need something closer to 55 gallons to be able to swim around.

8. Aggression. If a fish is more aggressive/territorial, then it needs more space in the tank, not just more hiding places.

9. Cold water fish vs. tropical fish. On the FW side, I see people wanting to put goldfish or bettas in a tropical community tank. Guidelines should explain why these fish have different needs and shouldn't be housed together. I didn't understand the concept that these fish were different at the beginning. They are all lumped under freshwater so they should be able to be in the same tank, right? Wrong.


Just my 2 cents.
coolchinchilla

 

[DeFeKt]

I think coolchinchillas post should BE the sticky...
There is no true conclusion to this debate, and you mentioned all the factors i could think of..

Well said.

 

[Andos99]

I agree that this could be debated forever. I think it really comes down to the aquarist and how much effort he puts into his tanks. True, that there are general guidelines i.e. not a good idea to put an oscar in a 10 gal, however, someone who does 1-3 water changes a week and has strong filtration will definitely be able to house more stock then someone who sets up the same tank with a weak HOB and does water changes once a month.

 

[haus]

Are you looking at only FW fish? SW (somebody correct me if I am wrong) is 1 in of fish per 5 gal. Big difference in the two. I had my 55 gal set up as FW and had 24 fish in it. I tore it down and re-established it as a SW. Now I have 2 fish in it and only plan on adding 1 MAYBE 2 more. A LOT of diffent possibilities when stocking, and there are always questions that need to be asked. Other wise this forum would be non existant .

 

[coolchinchilla]

Haus: My experience is only with FW, so SW stocking guidelines would be different -- at least some of it would be different. Is there other SW stocking advice beyond the "5gal per inch" rule?

DeFekt: <blush> thanks. I think more dialogue would be helpful before we get into thinking about a sticky. How can we get more input? Can an AA advisor take this up and spread the word for more input? Stocking guidelines for newbies... suggestions needed?

Lets see... what else affects stocking? I'm just asking questions in hopes that someone else will know.

water parameters, pH, KH, GH?
DOCs?
Nitrates from tap water?
plants?
CO2?
substrate?
UGF vs. HOB vs. canister?
aireation with air stones?
footprint of the tank (tall, hex, long)?
Tank mates (lg fish will eat small fish)?
LFS? (LFS will encourage more fish because that's how they make money, not because they're right.)
Liklihood of getting diseases (fish more prone to illness should be lightly stocked)?
What fish do better with others? (A school of tetras will draw out a shy discus)

What do you think?

 

[coolchinchilla]

What is our goal for this stocking advice sticky?

Many times newbies get discouraged when they ask about stocking and AA people tell them they are maxed out or even overstocked. They feel offended at our adamacy about it. Because the LFS told them such and such was fine, they don't believe us when we say differently. They don't know quite what to do with the "extra" fish. :| They feel embarrassed that they made such a "grave" mistake. They may decide that it is too hard to keep an aquarium and quit. I was a little crestfallen when I realized that my tank was overstocked. We tend to discourage people who are just getting their big toes wet with the hobby. We need to be much more affirming and positive about newbies and stocking issues IMHO.

1. We need to affirm people's foray into the hobby and encourage them. They are here and asking questions and that is GREAT!
2. Educating that a properly stocked aquarium will THRIVE, not simply survive.
3. A properly stocked tank will be much easier to take care of -- less frustrating in the long run.
4. A properly stocked tank will be cheaper to maintain -- less disease, fewer losses of livestock
5. It is FUN to have fish functioning at their best and it makes the fish keeper feel good to know the fish are doing well.. 8)

another 2 cents.
coolchinchilla

 

[virus]

ok this is where im going with this now mabe like cichlid secton then others like Guppies then platies and us as a community can come togther to make a grand sticky!!! lol and help all of the stickys

 

[Jchillin]

Well, this has proven to be a very valid discussion. While it's true that the 1" per gallon rule is not absolute, it is a guideline. What I've seen occur is that as mentioned, someone will say "Your overstocked" instead of "You may want to consider reducing the amount of fish you have for the following reasons..."

On the other side, if someone really has overdone it, something that may be already life threatening, as experienced aquarists, that person should be informed of this. It can be done without making the person feel inadequate or feeling that they were negligent in their actions.

IMO, I think there is a huge difference between having one too many guppies and having one too many Oscars. One will be affected much sooner than the other.

In light of the information that has been posted, Kudos to each of you.

 

[virus]

ok so let me ask everyone mabe this can be a pre-sticky, i mean the info would probably be scatterd in this thread so i think that i can collect all the info when its done! ohh and mabe when making a post about lets say somthing like oscars or balas, put that THEY will grow fast and they WILL need a bigger tank, becsue i seen many aquariust do that mistake, like me for example, i got 2 oscars for my ten gallon not relizing that they are gonna grow HUGE, but in all fairness they get a nice big 75 when christmas rolls around!!!

 

[krap101]

i think the higher the ph gets or something the more deadly ammonia is?

 

[Jchillin]

I believe your correct krap...plus higher temps.

Virus - I would suggest submitting this thread to an Advisor and requested as a sticky in the "Getting Started" forum. Perhaps outling some of the thoughts listed above.

 

[virus]

ok now how do i do this?
do i just pm with the thread addy?

 

[coolchinchilla]

virus,

sounds like this little project will do a lot of good. Maybe a first sticky can be general ideas as above. Then a followup can be species-specific guidelines with each species with a separate sticky instead of one grand uber sticky. Then people who have no interest in guppies, oscars & goldfish don't have to wade through all that information to get to the info about mollies. Besides, I'm thinking it might take a while to gather enough info for the different species, so let that be created as it happens. If you get an initial sticky up as an example maybe it will increase the interest and more would be willing to participate.

Another suggestion is to ask regulars here to write up a sticky in their expertise such as an Oscar breeder writing about oscars and a puffer expert writing about puffers. Then you don't have to collect all that information yourself from various posts.

Just some thoughts. I'm not attached to any of these ideas... just trying to make suggestions so creative juices keep flowing.

coolchinchilla