1 inch per gallon?

gottalovethefish

Ok I have heard this rule 10298302 times. BUT I have also heard some people say it doesn't truly work. Ex. a 10" cichlid in a 10 gallon tank. Now what are all of your views on this subject? I have always been curios.

Thanks guys

Pleco_stomus

ive always been told 1 inch per gallon of water. but a 10 inch cichlid in a 10 gallon? oh no no no no. he'd have no swimming space WHAT SO ever!

it depends really on the fish, its waste and the water quality.

SKAustin

The 1" of fish per gallon is not meant to be held as gospel. It is a generalized statement intended to give those who are new or inexperienced in the hobby, an idea of proper stocking levels. As is obvious from your statement, there are exceptions to the "rule". The fish size refers to the adult (fully grown) size of the fish. A 10 g tank with a 1" baby tiger Oscar in it is seriously overstocked. Other factors must be considered if one is to expect any level of success in the hobby. Factors such as filtration, territorial issues, aggression, breeding, and overall size of any given inhabitant should always be considered.

For the record, 1"/Gallon is the FW Aquarium guideline. The marine guideline is 1"/5 Gallons, and the Watergarden/pond guideline is 1"/sq foot of surface area.

Pleco_stomus

i didnt know that marine was 1"-5 gallon ratio! thats sweet.

SKAustin

um, not really that sweet. That means in a 55 gallon marine system, you would be limited to 11" of fish. Since most smaller marine fishes still reach a size of 3"-4", you would be limited to 3-4 fish.

Pleco_stomus

my brain hasnt been working all that well today. i got mixed up.........

SKAustin

:D It's all good. We all have those days.

new2fish

Do bottom feeders such as dwarf frogs or algae eaters(pleco) count?

Cameron

From what I have heard they do. I believe they would because they contribute waste to the community. I personally don't believe this rule other than for the beginner. I think it can't be applied for small fish such as tetras or danios. Personally I believe that you can have as many fish as long as you keep all your levels ok, you account for the fish's full size, and there is space in your tank. You should always look what size tank the fish requires. So yeah I don't think the rule truly works but is much more of a guidline. 8)

fish_4_all

It doesn't work very well. Here are some more classic examples:

Neon tetras are often kept in very large school. A 10 gallon tnak with 20 of them can be kept well and you may never have aprblem with them.
A single BN Pleco only gets to about 5 inches but they need a 20 gallon minimum because the produce a ton fo waste and need room to establish somewhat of a territory.

Somewhere I saw a better rule. It actually calculates the body mass of the fish, LxWxH. In the case of an Oscar, the adult size may be 12 inches long, 6 inches belly to back and 2 inches wide. Thats 144 inches of fish mass. I think you simply divided that number in half and thats how many gallons you needed. I will have to see if I can find it again but the source has eluded me for a while.