The Fish Rule

[Drumachine09]

One of my close friends works at a local fish and reptile store. Recently i asked him how many fish should be the maximum for my 29 Gallon tank. He told me that the fish rule is i gallon per inch of the fishes full grown size. However, everyone has suggested a bare minimum of a 55 for a fish that grows closer to 12 inches in a home aquarium. Has anyone else heard of this rule? Is it even correct? All feedback is good feedback.

[Nautilus291]

A good rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, but thats just a round a bout number. For a 29 g tank you could put 29 inches of fish in it, but you wouldnt want to put a 29" fish in that tank becuase it wouldnt be able to swim around. Just make sure you research your fish before you buy it that way you know if it will grow too big for you tank.

[Fishguy2727]

One of the worst things you can do is use that as even a consideration. When determining the stocking there is only one rule: 'It depends'. On: tank size, tank shape, species, max size, fish shape, swimming habit, filtration, water change schedule, and probably a few other things. The best thing: ask those with more experience. What fish are you thinking of?

[Drumachine09]

"It Depends" i like that!
Also, the 29 inches of fish, not a 29 inch fish thing makes more sense.
I want something flashy and active. I was going to try pacus, but apparently they grow too large as well. There isnt a dwarf oscar is there?

[nraposa]

you need to realize how much room it will need to move around too. You can physically put in 4 12" fish but it won't feel like their natural surroundings if that can't freely move in tank without runnning into other fish.

I would say 3-5 inches to a gallon so if you want to stay with smaller fish like tetra's and mollies or my fav swords you could probably go with about 15-20 fish more than comfortable in that tank. Plan wisely and listen to alot of the more experienced people on this site before you purchase they have saved my butt a few times already .

[Drumachine09]

Ive thought about smaller fish, but i would rather have just acouple fish 4 or 5 inches that 2 or 3 dozen little fish.

[nraposa]

well you have a big enough tank to put in what you want so go to your local fish store and look around then go back again and look around then you'll realize what fish or fishes your drawn to then you can plan out your tank around that.

[Drumachine09]

Do you have any suggestions? or anyone else?

[Fishguy2727]

Hardy, colorful, ~5", 4-5 in the tank, that brings to mind mbunas or peacocks, both from Lake Malawi.

[Drumachine09]

Are these fairly inexpensive?

[jeffs99dime]

yes they are. comparable to s.a. cichlids in price. atleast by me they are. sometimes cheaper. and also, the 1 inch per gallon rule is wrong!

[Drumachine09]

I saw some pictures of mbunas and the are pretty cool looking. Also thankyou for clearing up the 1 inch per gallon rule thing.

[jeffs99dime]

sure thing

[deckard_wa]

I've heard this ruled quoted a million times before and it's probably the biggest load of garbage and the biggest danger to Oscar health there is. It's basically saying that 12 1" neons put out the same bio load as a 12" Oscar. A blind man could see the folly in that

[jeffs99dime]

I've heard this ruled quoted a million times before and it's probably the biggest load of garbage and the biggest danger to Oscar health there is. It's basically saying that 12 1" neons put out the same bio load as a 12" Oscar. A blind man could see the folly in that

that's a load of fo' shizzle! lol
no way does a school of 12 neons produce the same bioload as a full grown oscar!

[Severus]

From what you are saying drumachine, it sounds like a African Lake themed tank would be perfect for you. (as RG said) Definitly look at the mbunas and peacocks. Very colorful and interesting cichlids