The One Inch Per Gallon Rule

[OldMan47]

It seems that I am a bit different to many people here. I use the inch per gallon guidance as a first approximation when deciding how heavily to stock one of my new tanks. I keep mostly small fish like goodeids and poeciliids so the guidance works fairly well. Once I get a look at how my first stocking works, I then adjust stocking levels based on the fish interactions that I see and my own experience with keeping fish. The inch per gallon almost always means that I am watching an understocked tank and that I conclude that I can tolerate breeding or can add more fish. Even knowing that, I still start each new tank using the inch per gallon idea until I get to see it in place and make my adjustments. I hate having to take my stock for a new tank and splitting it because I went the wrong way and overstocked. I am patient enough to build my stock over time instead.

 

[Squidward]

Stocking is part art, part science, and part experience that includes gut instinct, there are no "rules". Try as you might you won't be able to quantify this with any sort of consistent accuracy.

Absolutely agree.

When I started with tropical fish 2 years ago, I went for a Malawi setup. The general advise with this sort of tank is to overstock!
I had way more than 1 inch/ gallon.....35 odd Mbuna in a 240L tank. I was meticulous with maintenance/cleaning. Never had any problems.

Then I converted my tank to a general tropical setup. And I must admit, I have probably exceeded the inch/gallon rule again. A tank with lots of fish was something I was used to! I continue with my large water changes and weekly gravel hoovering, and so far no probs.
And I have also not had any algae problems either.

I think stocking levels comes down to common sense and dedication. Even a tank stocked with the inch/gallon rule will eventually crash if the owner doesn't do water changes on a regular basis and sufficient gravel cleaning.