1 inch per gallon.

That guidline seems like it would be way too much for my tank.
An inch of fish per gallon that is:
How Many Fish Will My Aquarium Hold?

I know it depends on a lot of things such as how much they eat, equipment you run ect.

Just wandering how much you guys have or plan to have.

 

I think it was much less than one inch per gallon, and that guideline was more appropriate before skimmer technology and stuff improved water quality to be able to maintain more fish. I have around 14" of fish in a 55.

 

The general rule of thumb is one inch per three gallons in a SW tank. It is one inch per gallon in a FW tank. The reason for the three fold decrease is primarily oxygen (or the lack thereof). You cannot dissolve as much oxygen in SW as you can in FW. Now, you can tilt it a little in your favor by running PHs that greatly agitate the water surface, you can run airstones and you can keep your SG around, say, 1.020 rather than 1.028. You can also run a large sump/fuge. The oxygen in the sump/fuge is available as long as there is power. But if the power goes out..BOOM.....overstocked. The oxygen is no longer available for use and the supply will run out. Now, there are those who push the outer envelope and do overstock, but there is always a limit and you will know it....because fish will start dying. So that's it in a nutshell.

 

I was getting ready to ask.. that must be for freshwater. Even 1/3 seems like too many for me.. Good post as always farmerJ.

 

The book, "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies", suggests 1 inch per gallon also. Along with a myriad of terrible advice and piss-poor information. Unfortunately that book along with advice from the LFS was the only things I had when starting my tank

 

Thanks man.

No way. 1:1????? Wow. That is bad.

 

thats not only bad, thats out right rediculous!

 

I have about 35 inch of fish in about 140gal of water and wont add no more

 

1 inch per 5 gallons for a lightly stocked tank. 1 inch per 3 gallons is pushing the envelope, leaving you very little margin for error. Plenty do it, but you will encounter problems if something bad occurs (say a power outage of a couple of hours). Keeping it lightly stocked will give you peace of mind, as well as an easier time of keeping your Nitrates and Phosphates low. Just my 2 cents from my personal experience.

 

well said!