The "one inch per gallon" rule

[n0zqh]

I over heard a LFS employee telling a couple one day, "1" per gallon". I was standing right next to them because I was looking at a jaguar that had been dropped off to the store by someone who couldn't care for it no more.
I quickly chimed in and asked, "OOOH, does that mean I can buy this brute here" pointing down to the 9" female Jag, "And put it in to my 10g tank?" He stuttered some stupid crap at me. Then the poeple he was helping asked the very same question I'd just asked. They didn't like his answer to me, so they asked it again.
He started to say something to them about stocking their tank and I'd listen'd for a moment and started to shake my head, that is when the g couple cut him off and asked me what I thought. They were looking at firemouths because the lady seen the color of them at a tank at work and she wanted to get some. Haa, firemouths (big grin) a fish I know something about.
I made a sale that day at the fish store, that was even bigger then what that employee would have made.

Now if they'd just hire my unemployed ass.

Bad side to the whole thing is, now I get crappy service when he is working. I can live with that.

 

[Kratos65g]

that is really good to know but i have a question i have a red devil,dovii,pink convict,blueberry oscar,trimac,firemouth,salvini,jaguar in a 65 gallon they are all about 1 inch to 2inches how long do i have with them in there

 

[guppy]

that is really good to know but i have a question i have a red devil,dovii,pink convict,blueberry oscar,trimac,firemouth,salvini,jaguar in a 65 gallon they are all about 1 inch to 2inches how long do i have with them in there

8 fish, all which will grow pretty large, if they grow at the same rate you will need to start retanking some once they reach about 6 inches.

 

[Brackishbandit]

this rule is stupid if you are a real fish aqurist you know that if you put 10" fish in 10gal tank you are loony and if it is a matter of amount of fish like 10 1" fish it matters if it is neons or gold fish (meaning how messy fish are) but that just my opinion. I usually try to find out what the full sizes and growth rate and if I have to move in less then 1- 1.5 years then I will not even get those fish I like to see my fish as if in wild not crowded. you almost have to picture you fish as full size swimming around the tank
What do you guys think. This is an mistake you learn with your first fish tank when all those awesome fish you picked out ,out grow your tank

 

[Bderick67]

this rule is stupid if you are a real fish aqurist you know that if you put 10" fish in 10gal tank you are loony and if it is a matter of amount of fish like 10 1" fish it matters if it is neons or gold fish (meaning how messy fish are) but that just my opinion. I usually try to find out what the full sizes and growth rate and if I have to move in less then 1- 1.5 years then I will not even get those fish I like to see my fish as if in wild not crowded. you almost have to picture you fish as full size swimming around the tank
What do you guys think. This is an mistake you learn with your first fish tank when all those awesome fish you picked out ,out grow your tank

This is just a guideline for begenning aquarist. It is good to see you are so experienced and don't need these guidelines,

BTW what's the definition of a "real fish aqurist"

 

[kydsexy]

ok, havent read the other 6 pages of posts, but this would mean that two full arowanas would need 200? gallons, assuming 24". is there any +/- with this, and to what extent? I've kept 2 silver 24" arowanas in a 125 before. Just curious, would you let this go up to an extent, like in a 10k tank, or would you stop somewhere before that, around 300 or so. Thanks for any and all replies

jay

 

[Brackishbandit]

that is not a good rule for any one beg. or exp. if you tell that to some one with no exp. then they might get a cool baby oscar and put it in a 10gal tank which it will out grow in 6 months to a year hope fully this beginner is ready to up grade to 30 then 55.
(and not dump fish in local lake or river)I beleve you have to take the thought process of a beginner in mind and not to tell them a rule 1" per gallon the need to do 1 thing only research the fish you want max size and be prepared for it, as the fish will grow

 

[Brackishbandit]

a·quar·ist (

-kwâr

st)n. One who maintains an aquarium (thefreedictionary.com)

maintains is the key word here

 

[Bderick67]

that is not a good rule for any one beg. or exp. if you tell that to some one with no exp. then they might get a cool baby oscar and put it in a 10gal tank which it will out grow in 6 months to a year hope fully this beginner is ready to up grade to 30 then 55.
(and not dump fish in local lake or river)I beleve you have to take the thought process of a beginner in mind and not to tell them a rule 1" per gallon the need to do 1 thing only research the fish you want max size and be prepared for it, as the fish will grow

Since you obviously missed this part, now hi-lighted in red and large font, just for you.

This is something that comes up fairly often and is rather misunderstood therefore I will attempt to clarify the original meaning of the general guideline of "one inch of fish per gallon of water".

This is a suggested guideline for a well maintained and filtered tank.
It does not apply to all fish as some have differing requirements.

Here is the part that is being misunderstood.

The "rule" does NOT refer to the length of the fish!

The "rule" applies to the cubic inches of fish in the tank.

This means that a 5" gourami should be measured in this manner,
length overall (5"),
thickness, (1/2"),
height, (2 1/2"),
so for this fish you multiply the following, 5x 1/2x 2 1/2, this gives you a total of 6 1/4 gallons of water.

For small fish like glo-light tetras you will end up with something like this,
1 1/2"x 1/4"x1/2", this comes to 3/16 of a gallon (about 1/5), and that gives you 5 fish of this size per gallon (quite reasonable)

For larger fish you end up with something like this, my example here will be a silver arowana at 24" long, 24"x 4"x 1", which gives you 100 gallons of water.

As you can see this works fairly well.

You do also have to apply some common sense and allow for such things as potential growth, the fish types' tolerance for crowding, and of course the width and length of the tank (a 24" gar will not work in an 18" wide tank even if the tank holds 100 gallons).

So please people, accept that this is just a generalized guideline to figure potential stocking levels, not a hard and fast rule.
Also remember that just because you don't like it doesn't mean you should slam somebody for using it.
And lastly, please don't flame someone by saying a 10" oscar doesn't fit in a 10" tank.
Of course it doesn't,
but the rule never said it would.

 

[Brackishbandit]

this is not a rule of any one with exp. to tell beginner period if you want to tell your friend this rule with disclaimers attached go ahead I am not wasting my time posting on this It is not the amount of post but the brains behind them.