Whos Right, Whos Wrong

[dazzadub]

Well I've not been keeping fish for long so have asked lots and lots of questions across different forums, fish shops, pet shops and talked with specialist aquatics people


This is what gets me to the point, who's right who's wrong argument.


People on here say some certain cm per ltr of fish. And live by that and you can see it in every topic that's made.1cm per ltr

Pet shops , well they haven't much if a clue and will just selling you what ever you want, but they do go with certain CM per tank. 1 cm for every ltr.


Aqautics centre, don't seem to follow this rule, well to be honest actual think this rule is crap, they say line your fish up one by one, and they can go to edge it tank to edge of tank on length, holding much more fish

Specialist . He tends to agree with the aquatic s centre. He said all different fish require different things and he also went on to say, that most tropical and cold water fish are bread in tanks, and have been mix bread, he said what's the problem in my case 3 mollies in a 40ltr, he said they should be lucky they get thatmuch space, he went in to say people keep fish in bowls. In very small tanks. He said as long as fish seem happy and have room to swim they will be fine .



So the question is who is right who is wrong.


My view, I go with the aquatics and speacialist views.

It makes more sense.




I didn't even mention the other forums who also agree along the lines of aquatics centres etc.

 

[milindsaraswala]

@
dazzadub
 
You hit the right point, I also like to know about this. I will be eagerly waiting for valuable reply on this.    

 

[dazzadub]

@
dazzadub
 
You hit the right point, I also like to know about this. I will be eagerly waiting for valuable reply on this.

I think people stick with there policies on size fish fir tanks


My mollies look lost in there tank.

They happy and they have plenty plenty room to swim. I've seen people with smaller tanks will these fish and have lived for a very long while.

 

[DrRob]

Option 4, they're all wrong?
 
Different fish have different demands, and you have to work on the fish's potential, not on it's current size. A baby monster needs to be treated as a monster, and a messy eater will need heavier filtration (and probably more room to spread the mess). Fast swimmers need length, others need cover. Fish like mollies, you need to keep breeding potential and increasing population into account, plus they're actually quite big fish once they grow in.
 
That doesn't even start to take into account the breadth and width differences between fish, so length isn't everything.
 
Individual species will also have individual requirements, such as flow and oxygenation requirements.
 
Overall, the closer needs are met the higher stocking densities you can, generally, get away with, plus the more you're willing to up the maintenance regime, the more you can bend the rules, so experiences keepers, who know their species requirements well, and are happy to do much higher maintenance levels, may appear to get away with all sorts of things.
 
Sadly that doesn't really help you, but hopefully helps to show why we tend not to be keen on simplified rules and prefer open stocking thread discussions.

 

[the_lock_man]

+1 to what Rob said. It's simply not as simple as "this tank will hold x" of fish"

 

[star4]

Option 4, they're all wrong?
 
Different fish have different demands, and you have to work on the fish's potential, not on it's current size. A baby monster needs to be treated as a monster, and a messy eater will need heavier filtration (and probably more room to spread the mess). Fast swimmers need length, others need cover. Fish like mollies, you need to keep breeding potential and increasing population into account, plus they're actually quite big fish once they grow in.
 
That doesn't even start to take into account the breadth and width differences between fish, so length isn't everything.
 
Individual species will also have individual requirements, such as flow and oxygenation requirements.
 
Overall, the closer needs are met the higher stocking densities you can, generally, get away with, plus the more you're willing to up the maintenance regime, the more you can bend the rules, so experiences keepers, who know their species requirements well, and are happy to do much higher maintenance levels, may appear to get away with all sorts of things.
 
Sadly that doesn't really help you, but hopefully helps to show why we tend not to be keen on simplified rules and prefer open stocking thread discussions.

 
 
Best answer ever!!!!!!!!   

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yup, have to agree.
 
I have been in this hobby only for a short while, and only just beginning to get a picture of how good or how bad a stocking can be.
 
Like you, when i first started I thought 1cm per litre or 1inch per gallon was a good general rule of thumb, but discovered this is not really the case.
 
Have to take into consideration a lot of factors, full grown adult sizes, aggressiveness, territorial species, breeding, active swimmers, bottom dwellers, middle and top water dwellers, specie compatibility, filtration, type of tanks, high or long tanks, decor, rocks and wood all take space inside tanks as well as internal filters and so on and so forth.
 
A lot of the above is pretty much what Dr Rob says just to give you an idea of how hard it can be to really be sure how stocking levels varies from tank to tank.
 
No simple rule or guide really to be honest.

 

[Baccus]

Another option not always considered when working out stocking levels is the actual oxygen requirements of the fish species being kept and if that is a cold water or tropical species.
Cold or cool water holds more oxygen which can inturn mean you potentially can keep slightly higher stocking rates (dependant of course on the fishes other requirements), where as warm water holds less oxygen and therefore can mean lower stocking rates for fish with high oxygen needs.
 
As already stated there is no hard and fast rule for which fish and how many will fit into a particular set up, instead many factors must be considered. And as a rule of thumb the only real use of 1cm per Litre of water is really only a starting point to help people begin to understand that just because it appears that there is an ocean of room in a particular tank, doesn't mean that you can fill it nose to tail with fish.

 

[fishwarrior]

I typically over-stock my tanks with no problems.  I also up the filtration too and do regular water changes.  I've also gained good experience with lots of different fish so I kind of know what will work and what won't.  As long as the fish get along and are healthy that's what matters.  No two fish are ever alike, your best tool is good observation skills when buying fish and keeping them.  Understand their behaviors and needs goes a long way.  I tend to stay clear of extreme views and stick in the middle, much of it comes from your own experience.