The Ten Inch Rule Is False

[I'm the new guy]

I have a ten gallon aquarium with the following fish in it: 3 albino corys, 2 Lyre-tail mollies, and 1 otto. The tank is planted well with several live plants and a couple fake plants. The total inches of my fish at their current sizes total 16 inches. I also have a lot of river rocks in the aquarium. With the river rocks and gravel my tank only holds roughly 8 gallons of water if that. This tank totally defies the one inch per gallon rule. Not to mention that most people think mollies cannot be kept in under 20 gallon of water, but that's beside the point that i'm trying to make. The point is the the common rule that says one inch of fish can be kept for every gallon of water is not only incorrect, but it isn't even reasonable. Most of you know the one inch rule isn't perfectly accurate, but it is way off. My tank is well established, it's been stocked for over a year. The fish are thriving. In my opinion you overcome the one inch rule with a few principles. First you must have a good filter. I have a power filter rated for a 25 gallon aquarium.Secondly you must do frequent water changes. I change my water 5 times during a two week period. Every time I change 3 gallons of water. The third reason is the live plants. Live plants help the water quality of your tank tremendously. Before I started growing live plants in my tank the water was in much worse condition. This is my first post. I would love to learn what most of you think about my statements. I also have a poll up about the one inch rule if you want to be a part of that. Thanks for reading.

 

[raptorrex]

wow, you came to this conclusion after only 1 year.
just think what you will learn over 2,3,4,5,6,7 and on!

there is no "inch rule", mealy a "practical" suggestion. (based on the experience of many keepers over decades)
personally i like to look at the environment each fish needs (both when young and as it ages. as opposed to using a "general rule".)
but that requires knowledge of all the fish you wish to keep.
as most fishkeepres rarely know anything about fish when the get their first tank.
it seems right to have a "cover all" stocking guide with which to start.
hence the "inch" suggestion.

and remember, there is much more to keeping a successful community, than good water quality.
no point having "the best water quality" if your fish aint got enough room to move.

anyway, glad your tank is up running and fine.
keep us updated as you progress.

oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

 

[Essjay]

I would also like to add that the one inch per gallon rule is usually misquoted. The full rule is "one inch of fish per gallon for fish that remain under 3 inches adult length". Some people also add "and in a tank at least 3 ft long" This means that the rule doesn't apply to mollies.

There is also more to stocking than the 1 inch per gallon rule. There is the "stocking to suit the fish's requiremnts" rule. By this I mean having sufficient numbers of fish from shoaling species. Eg at least six cories of the same species and at least three otos.

 

[I'm the new guy]

That is very interesting to know Essjay, because I have never heard that about the one inch rule. My local fishstore basically told me just to go pick out 5 inches worth of full grown fish back when I got my first 5 gallon. I got a goldfish which did ok for 2 years then died. When it comes to having 6 cories does it really affect my fish if I don't get three more. They school together already and do just fine. The oto won't have a problem being alone is what I have been told by experienced aquarium owners, but i'm always up for a second oppinion.

 

[I'm the new guy]

wow, you came to this conclusion after only 1 year.
just think what you will learn over 2,3,4,5,6,7 and on!

there is no "inch rule", mealy a "practical" suggestion. (based on the experience of many keepers over decades)
personally i like to look at the environment each fish needs (both when young and as it ages. as opposed to using a "general rule".)
but that requires knowledge of all the fish you wish to keep.
as most fishkeepres rarely know anything about fish when the get their first tank.
it seems right to have a "cover all" stocking guide with which to start.
hence the "inch" suggestion.

and remember, there is much more to keeping a successful community, than good water quality.
no point having "the best water quality" if your fish aint got enough room to move.

anyway, glad your tank is up running and fine.
keep us updated as you progress.

oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Your right about most new fish tank owners. I deffinately agree with you about the water quality thing also. If you put fish that aren't suitable for a ten gallon in a ten gallon it won't end well nomatter how good your water is. Good water quality helps you take on a larger bio-load for you aquarium.

 

[Essjay]

[quote name='I'm the new guy' timestamp='1348745600' post='3423218']
The oto won't have a problem being alone is what I have been told by experienced aquarium owners, but i'm always up for a second oppinion.
[/quote]

Most reputable sources say at least three otos with some saying six is the minimum.

And your comment

If you put fish that aren't suitable for a ten gallon in a ten gallon it won't end well no matter how good your water is

in my opinion, mollies aren't suitable for a 10 gallon tank, they get too big. The smallest mollies grow to 3 or 4 inches, with larger ones reaching 6 or 7 inches.

 

[Davo86]

Where Fishkeeping is concerned there are No Rules, only guidelines that range from strictly adhered to, to completely ignored.

the inch per gallon Guideline is just one of many that also includes, 1w of heater per 1L of water, 4ft min tank for mbuna, keep at least 6 of any shoaling species

 

[I'm the new guy]

I find that your opinion is the most common one, although i disagree with it, I respect it because that's what you think is best for the fish. Most believe Mollies will not be happy in a ten gallon, but in my experience they are. My mollies growth is normal. They look great. They are mating and my female is pregnant. They are very active swimming through plants with no aggression problems. I think the only real big problem with mollies in a 10G is that they eat like crazy. If you don't maintain the water it would get dirty, fast.

Where Fishkeeping is concerned there are No Rules, only guidelines that range from strictly adhered to, to completely ignored.

the inch per gallon Guideline is just one of many that also includes, 1w of heater per 1L of water, 4ft min tank for mbuna, keep at least 6 of any shoaling species

I couldn't have put it and better than that.

 

[I'm the new guy]

Just curious, who thinks i should leave the oto by himself, add 2 more otos, or give the oto to someone. This is figurative, I most likely will not give the oto away or take in more otos.

 

[fluttermoth]

I would never try and keep an oto by itself; they are a shoaling fish and don't do well with no company.

Of course, it's up to you; no-one's going to come round and forcibly take the fish away from you! But do think about whether it's fair to keep a fish if you're not prepared to give it the proper conditions to thrive

 

[I'm the new guy]

I would never try and keep an oto by itself; they are a shoaling fish and don't do well with no company.

Of course, it's up to you; no-one's going to come round and forcibly take the fish away from you! But do think about whether it's fair to keep a fish if you're not prepared to give it the proper conditions to thrive

I am not convinced it's not thriving. Maybe this is ignorance on my part maybe not, but it is very healthy and active. If it ever got unhealthy and I had any suspicion at all of it being sick because it didn't have proper tank mates or room to swim then I would address the problem. I love my fish. Right now the only danger they have is the family cat

 

[snazy]

I recently read a lot of articles on otos and came across quite a few claiming that otos have a better survival rate on their own in a tank but my guess is because people don't address their feeding requirements when the algae is gone. I don't know but I came across this video of a shoal of otos, they are beatiful together:


http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aApMVZ8jWM

 

[I'm the new guy]

I recently read a lot of articles on otos and came across quite a few claiming that otos have a better survival rate on their own in a tank but my guess is because people don't address their feeding requirements when the algae is gone. I don't know but I came across this video of a shoal of otos, they are beatiful together:


http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aApMVZ8jWM

They sure do look better in groups. Nice video and those angels looked great. I have seen a lot of your posts Snazy how many tanks do you have?

 

[snazy]

[quote name='I'm the new guy' timestamp='1348768103' post='3423428']
[quote name='snazy' timestamp='1348767329' post='3423425']
I recently read a lot of articles on otos and came across quite a few claiming that otos have a better survival rate on their own in a tank but my guess is because people don't address their feeding requirements when the algae is gone. I don't know but I came across this video of a shoal of otos, they are beatiful together:


http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aApMVZ8jWM
[/quote]
They sure do look better in groups. Nice video and those angels looked great. I have seen a lot of your posts Snazy how many tanks do you have?
[/quote]


Oh, no, this is not my tank. I wish it was I only have 3 tanks for now

 

[I'm the new guy]

Ok that makes more sense, because I have seen so many of your aquarium videos