clarification on the "1 inch of fish per gallon of water" theroy

[hawkfishman]

ok i have a 55G tank running with a rena xp2 canister filter. i have heard many diffrent variations to this theory. many ending with "it all comes down to the fish" which im sure is very true. BUT, what is the average amount of fish u can safely sustain in a 55G tank?

 

[fibinotchi]

In my opinion 10 to 12 dwarf angel size and lower. But as you said, it could be more or less depending on the size, temperment, and territory of the tank they occupy.

 

[bang guy]

My recommendation has always been to find the adult size of the fish you are considering and add no more that 1" per 5 gallons of display tank. That would be 11" for you. This is not much but is perfectly appropriate for a new hobbiest.
A pair of Percula Clownfish - 5"
A Royal Gramma - 2.5"
A Flame Angel - 3.5"
The current size of the fish is irrelevant unless you don't plan on it being around very long.

 

[hawkfishman]

ok so generaly speaking, 10 to 12 fish of 3-4 inches per fish. thats not bad. i think i have roughly 20 inches of fish in there atm.
heres a list just in case anyone wants to do the math on how big they are/will get
2x misbar clownfish
1x orange skunk clownfish
2x firefish goby
1x tiger wardi goby
1x lawnmower blenny
1x scooter blenny (he is actually eating frozen brine shrimp. i thought i would have a hard time feeding him but he likes them lol)
oh and do inverts count towards the total # of inches?

 

[fibinotchi]

Not shrimps, hermits, clams, and snails, but anemones do IMO because they create so much waste.

 

[fibinotchi]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/3237724
My recommendation has always been to find the adult size of the fish you are considering and add no more that 1" per 5 gallons of display tank. That would be 11" for you. This is not much but is perfectly appropriate for a new hobbiest.
A pair of Percula Clownfish - 5"
A Royal Gramma - 2.5"
A Flame Angel - 3.5"
The current size of the fish is irrelevant unless you don't plan on it being around very long.
I agree that would be the best place to start. Most new hobbyists quickly get too many fish based on their size in the store. That is a good stock list for someone to start with, do you think they would have some trouble adding other fish in the future with those fish?

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by hawkfishman
http:///forum/post/3237726
10 to 12 fish of 3-4 inches per fish.
Such a tank in the hands of a new hobbiest will have a very low probability of success.

 

[hawkfishman]

mkay. no anemones. no shrimps either. or clams. i'm getting a crapton of snails (25 nerite, 25 cerith, and 25 of some other kind i cant remeber) as soon as the LFS gets them in. im in my algae phase now. just the brown diatom though so its more of an asthetic killer. i did get 3 conchs to start sifting the sand and they are doing a decent job although kinda slowly.
but at current, i have 1 hermit, 2 nerite, and 1 cerith snails just kinda doing what they can. they were leftover after i tore down my 20G.

 

[fibinotchi]

Originally Posted by hawkfishman
http:///forum/post/3237715
what is the average amount of fish u can safely sustain in a 55G tank?
I agree Bang, but I was answering the question not based on the experience level of the hobbyist. In general, takes into account the average experienced hobbyist.

 

[fibinotchi]

That may be a little heavy on the CUC in my opinion.

 

[hawkfishman]

i thought the same when the LFS manager told me thats what i needed. but, i said ok because i can always get rid of inverts like snails easier that i can fish. snails dont travel through crevices at warp 12 like gobys and blennies do lol. and just a FYI, i LUV gobies and blennies. my 2 favirote familes of fish.

 

[fibinotchi]

Although this wasn't your question, how long has this tank been up? That is a pretty heavy stock list for a new aquarium that doesn't even have a clean up crew yet. You could been in for some real algae problems soon like hair algae. I am guessing you haven't had the lawnmower and scooter blenny long?

 

[hawkfishman]

just got the SB saturday. and the LMB for almost a week. the LMB is actually taking care of some of the agale on the back wall of the tank.
and the tank has been up just under a month(1 actual month on wednsday) but i had my canister filter on my 20G SW tank before i tore it down so i hope that some of the good bacteria i had built up in the bio-balls/bio-chem stars that are in the filter made it to survive to the 55G. and i did wait about 2 weeks before i started to add fish to the 55. i started with the 2 misbar CF. i would have waited longer to start stocking, but i cant just look at the empty tank for a month. to me it feels like wasted moeny to see it sit there. and yea, i could be wasting moeny by getting fish then having them die off. im stupid like that though lol. and i make it a point to not spend over 20 bucks on a fish until i am confident that its fully cycled and can handle more expensive fish.

 

[fibinotchi]

Just remember the life of a 10 dollar fish is just as important as a 50 dollar fish. I would slow down a little and wouldn't add anymore for at least 3 or 4 months, maybe longer if you can help it. Lawnmower and scooter blennies can be very difficult to keep and will starve without special care. Lawnmower needs lots of film algae which you have right now but if you add 75 snails you won't have for long and it is hard to get some lawnmowers to eat prepared foods. The scooter blenny eats so slow that other fish will keep it from getting enough food and with a tank that hasn't been up that long, you won't have enough pods to sustain it, which is what they prefer, and what they should have in their diet.

 

[hawkfishman]

the good thing about the SB is that if he starts acting funny or i decide not to keep him, he has a 7 day warranty/guarentee/w.e. and i had a LMB before in the 20G and he loved algae wafers. so, i will try that once the algae is down and if he decides not to eat it, i will give him to a friend or to a LFS.

 

[reefkprz]

IMO and IME there is no definitive :"inch versus gallon rule" each species should be considered as to its needs for space and diet, plus territoriality, and size (both current and eventual).

 

[hawkfishman]

i think it all comes down to your tank and how its setup since no 2 tank setups are the same and ofc no 2 fish are the same. like my skunk clownfish. he goes to the front of the tank every night and basically goes to his "bed" he made from the tail shake move he has. lol. never seen either of my other clowns do that.

 

[bang guy]

After raising thousands of Clownfish I can agree that they are not all the same. But their behaviour can be predicted within a reasonable probability. Of course, there are always some freaks in the mix.

Seriously, I recommend against pushing the limits until you have gained more experience concerning the things that can go wrong. When an understocked tank goes bad it could take some effort to get it back on track. When an overstocked tank goes bad it is almost always catastrophic.
I understand you don't want to hear about only keeping 4 or 5 small fish in your 55 gallon but adding more is dramatically increasing the risk of failure.

 

[hawkfishman]

i have no plans on adding more fish to the tank. if anything, i would get rid of the scooter blenny and the skunk clown. the SB just because he doesnt have the prefered diet that he should have and the skunk clown because i know they can be as aggresive as a damsel. ofc i learned this after i put him in my tank and chased the other clowns around. the only thing i dread about getting him out is catching him. i have a feeling that most of the rocks will/would have to come out.

 

[fibinotchi]

Make a fish trap, search them on this site. It will save all your inhabitants much stress.