Water In The Tank...............

[bennett418]

I had a thought while looking at my tank last night,

if my tank is 30x15x12 then it is said to hold 19.5 Uk gallons, that bit i no is right,

BUT, with the gravel, stones, plants etc etc all of this is going to take up the space in the tank,

what i mean is, if i was to drain the tank of just the water then there might only be say 17 gallons, this must be right? and therefore do i need to re think how many fish are in there as the actual vloume of water is not by the size of the tank............

 

[Squid]

I had a thought while looking at my tank last night,

if my tank is 30x15x12 then it is said to hold 19.5 Uk gallons, that bit i no is right,

BUT, with the gravel, stones, plants etc etc all of this is going to take up the space in the tank,

what i mean is, if i was to drain the tank of just the water then there might only be say 17 gallons, this must be right? and therefore do i need to re think how many fish are in there as the actual vloume of water is not by the size of the tank............

In theory yes... but remember the inch per gallon rule is just a rule of thumb, and not an exact science. If you are adding fish slowly you will soon get a feel for whether a tank can realistically take more fish. Take into consideration your water stats (nitrate levels at each water change), swimming space and how the fish will grow and that will help.

Squid

 

[bennett418]

I had a thought while looking at my tank last night,

if my tank is 30x15x12 then it is said to hold 19.5 Uk gallons, that bit i no is right,

BUT, with the gravel, stones, plants etc etc all of this is going to take up the space in the tank,

what i mean is, if i was to drain the tank of just the water then there might only be say 17 gallons, this must be right? and therefore do i need to re think how many fish are in there as the actual vloume of water is not by the size of the tank............

In theory yes... but remember the inch per gallon rule is just a rule of thumb, and not an exact science. If you are adding fish slowly you will soon get a feel for whether a tank can realistically take more fish. Take into consideration your water stats (nitrate levels at each water change), swimming space and how the fish will grow and that will help.

Squid

Cheers, yeah first 4 weeks all i had in there were the neons and serpae tetra, then added 4 barbs, then 2 weeks later added sunset platies, then 3 weeks later the dwarf gouramis...

have tried to do it as careful as poss and not shock the tank with loads of new fish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah squids right, in theory decor and equipment does reduce your space slightly, but it's not something i ever worry myself with really. you get a feel for stocking once your used to it.