Stocking A Tank

[fishmad135]

well i have had my fish tank for about 9 months but i would still see myself as a beginner as i dont no alot about fish. I have one 17 gallon fish tank which had zebra danios, neon tetra, black neon tetra and a betta. The betta started getting aggresive and has moved to a 6 gallon tank, the zebra danio are very active and i have a large shoal and have moved to a 30 gallon tank in my study. so now i have only got 2 neon tetra ( a few died ) and 3 black neon tetra. could i put 3 more neon tetra, 1 more black neon tetra, a male dwarf gourami and maybe somthing else.

how many inches/cm of fish per gallon

sorry about this im just unsure and want to get a clear picture

thanks imi

 

[waterdrop]

There are tons of problems with the details, but the rough guideline we still like to mention is one inch of fish body (fins don't count) for medium-small style fish only per one US gallon of tank volume. The guideline is not a rule and it goes pretty badly wrong as you go to bigger fish or is overly cautious for some of the smallest fish. The idea of the whole thing is to try to help the beginner have success and get the feel of a tank that runs well and is not overstocked, hopefully for the first year or more of their introduction to the hobby. Eventually many people acquire more skills and gear and may decide to stock at higher levels.

Overall stocking guidelines are also partly about having less risk for when you have power failures. Keeping fish alive during long power outages is much harder in overstocked tanks.

Overall stocking limit guidelines are only the first round of work you have to do in planning your fish lists. Shoaling sizes are important and will change the plan. Species compatibility is also an important planning factor.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Aliena]

I'm also really confused on this topic. Mainly because the number of fish the 1in per gallon rule states I could stock in my 60l tank looks nothing like many pictures I see in this and other boards.

I think that ultimately it is a matter of common sense and research on the fish you want to stock followed by consistent monitoring of water stats after any new addition (although I may be wrong, I often am!). The problem is that those of us new to the hobby don't have the experience / knowledge / feel for the fish to be able to do this so we need to work from the 1in rule and take advice from forums like this.

I think you can come up with any number of rules, computer programs and spreadsheets but there is no substitute for experience and as I don't want to subject my fish to my ineptitude any more than is necessary I will be looking for plenty of advice.