Stocking

[New Boy]

I know that stocking has been done to death but I read in another post that 1" per gallon is only for fish up to 3 inches, and fish that are bigger will need 5" per gallon, that right? Will I be way overstocked with that theory once my fish are all fully grown then? - Can't see how I won't be.

Thanks
Andy

 

[modernhamlet]

That's incorrect. To illustrate: Which do you think generates more waste, a school of 8 neons or an 8 inch common pleco?

Larger fish create more waste per inch than smaller fish, so if anything, you should be stocking larger fish at less than an inch/gallon. A 10" Oscar needs something like 55-75 gallons just for himself!

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I saw that too by 'crazie.eddie'. He said fish over 3" should have 5 galls per inch.

Just think of having 10" of neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank, compared to a 10" Oscar in a 10 gallon tank.

I can't see the exact post with the above as he's posted in just about every topic!!

HTH

 

[New Boy]

Just noticed my typo above - should have read 5 gallons per inch of fish for fish larger than 3" and therefore leading to my concern that I'll be overstocked.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Just noticed my typo above - should have read 5 gallons per inch of fish for fish larger than 3" and therefore leading to my concern that I'll be overstocked.

Cheers
Andy

In the case of what he said I most certainly will be in my larges tank. Fortunatley I do not go on inches per gallon rules and go on how the fish actually look and the water parameters. I also think it's important to consider the space the fish actually occupy. You couldn't have all your inches of fish per gollon on the bottom etc. Also, I think more fish can be kept if there is a mixture of nocturnal and day fish.

I am quite sure others disagree but it's JMO.

What fish do you have in your tank? What size is it and what are your parameters and maintenence schedule?

 

[New Boy]

With my current set-up that stocking rule of thumb seems to suggest that I need 5 gallons per inch on my blood parrots, labs, plecos, syno’s and SAE’s. Assuming BP’s get to 6 inches ish, barbs to 2 inches and the rest to 4 inches ish then I’ll need 436 gallons!! I only have 80 at the moment……..surely you can’t say 1” per gallon under 3” then jump up to 5 per gallon over 3” ? Shouldn’t it be on a sliding scale or something?

One stocking rule I read (on this forum I think) suggested that you only need 6”square surface area for fish under 2”, 9” square surface area for 2”-4” fish and 12” square surface area for 4”-6”. Obvioulsy you need to do regular water changes etc.

My details are in my sig and I change 15% of water weekly and have two 1,000 litre per hour filters.

Cheers
Andy

 

[crazie.eddie]

Yes, that was from me. Overstocking can lead to fish stress, which leads to diseases, even deaths. IMO, you can have an overstocked tank and still be well balanced, as long as they are balanced amount of top and mid dwellers and also bottom dwellers. You should also have a larger filtration system (at least 1 1/2 times your tank).

I belong to several pl*co sites that have large, tall tanks for their plecos. Unfortunately, plecos are bottom dwellers, so a tank than maybe 6' wide and 6' tall won't matter with a tank for of plecos, since they'll mostly occupy about 2' above the bottom and that's only if they're climbing up on wood or stones.

I think it would only be best for the more experienced hobbyist to allow their tanks to overstock. This is becuase they would have the proper equipment, have the proper maintenance schedule, and know their fish well enough to determine if they can be overstocked. For example, an experienced hobbyist would know to probably never overstock a tank full of cichlids. Most beginner hobbyist normally buy smaller tanks to start out with and overstock them. Smaller tanks are harder to maintain than larger tanks, when it comes to water parameters. A slight change in water parameters could drastically effect the tank and the fish in it. For example, 1 teaspoon of chlorine in a 10 gallon tank would kill all the fish in the tank, while 1 teaspoon of chlorine in a 55 gallon tank would probably just iritate the fish, but they would do well. Also, beginnier hobbyist buy those filters rated exactly for the tank their size. Unfortunately, the tank ratings are a bit misleading. I'm doing research on this, so I rather not comment on this further.

In the end, the beginner hobbyist would probably buy a small tank, overstock it, use a smaller filter, and not maintain it properly, which we all know it will lead to disaster.

Yes, freshwater fish are cheap, which is the reason why some beginner hobbyist don't care much if there fish die, since they just go out and buy another one. Sooner or later they get tired of buying new fish to replace the ones that die and give it up. Which is sad.

So, all in all, not knowing everyone's experience, I will tell everyone the same stocking rule. I also know that it's hard to resist buying those nice fish we see at the LFS.

 

[New Boy]

Crazie Eddie,

I agree with what you are saying for the most part, I just think that rule about 5 gallons per inch is a bit drastic. Buying fish that occupy different levels is good common sense, but having kept african mbuna I'd say that it is better for fish stress to deliberately overstock with some cichlids. I could understand if it was 1 gallon per 1" for small fish, 2 gallons per inch for medium fish etc, etc. I just get a bit panicy when I work out that I'll be 5 and a half times (!) overstocked with my current levels when most forums have told me I'm ok.

Cheers
Andy

 

[crazie.eddie]

I guess most forums would agree that you are ok is they may still follow the 1" per 1 gallon rule, not taking account for larger fish. Again, going back to the comparison of 10" of neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank versus a 10" oscar in a 10 gallon tank.