i found a good article on stocking

[krap101]

http://www.aquahobby.org/articles/e_howmany.php

 

[fishfreek]

While I agree that the rule of thumb of 1" of fish per gal of water is not for the experenced aquarists in trying ot figure out bioload it sure does help the newbie aquarists. The BIGGEST problem with new hobbists is overstocking the tank and common intelegence would tell you 1 10" fish would not be at home in a 10gal tank but 10 small 1" fish would be assuming proper filtration. Yes you have to assume proper filtration.

Once a hobbists is more aware of the enviormental concerns, ammonia, nitrite, filtration, oxygenation, etc then the general rule of thumb can be ignored and stocking can be more on a per tank basis.