Fully Stocked Aquarium: a tricky thing to deffine

[hedonic]

I have seen a lot of people post about rules of so many inch's per gallon in the slatwater aquarium. Personally I don't think any such guideline is appropriate for saltwater tanks. I might have just missed the thread when I searched for it, but there does not seem to be a lot of info on how to better describe when your tank is fully stocked.
To me that is the point at which any bio-load addition (in a well maintained tank with acceptable water parameters) causes irreversable or unsually fast nitrate gains or any (in an established aquarium) significant bump in nitrites. Of course there are a large amount of variables (skimmer size, amount of LR/LS, Gallon capacity) but these changes are some what independant of those variables as any persistant problem means something is not right.
So what does fully stocked mean to you? Have you found inch per gallon rules to work? And what is your reasoning? Just thought it would be an interesting discussion.

 

[slappy]

ive always wondered this myself. i personally only have 5 small fish in a 54corner tank. i always figured as soon as the tank looks like that volkswagen with all the clowns in it your overstocked....

this is a good ? who decided the rule of stocking fish. hopefully someone will chime in on this one. just my long version of a bump

 

[hedonic]

rightous bump indeed

 

[saltwater8]

The approximate 1 inch per 5 gallon rule has many reasons, most professional aquarists (people who have been doing this for years, researchers, aquatic veterinarians, etc.) follow this rule.
One reason is for what you stated, the bio load, nitrates, nitrites, etc..
Another reason is that most species, and certain species in general, need their (for lack of a better word) "space". Almost all fish have their "territory" and are territorial. Having too many fish in their "space" will at the very least stress them, and at the very worst cause sickness and possibly death.
I know having several fish in a display tank looks very enticing, but think of it as one person said - like a VW filled with clowns. None of the clowns stays in the car for very long...
:happyfish

 

[jhov2324]

I'm still thinking about that rule, I have a 40 gal. and want to put a whole bunch of fish in there, but i read it's the bioload and territorial needs of the fish, if there isn't enough territory for a fish, it might not stay healthy,

 

[jhov2324]

Originally Posted by Saltwater8
The approximate 1 inch per 5 gallon rule has many reasons, most professional aquarists (people who have been doing this for years, researchers, aquatic veterinarians, etc.) follow this rule.
One reason is for what you stated, the bio load, nitrates, nitrites, etc..
Another reason is that most species, and certain species in general, need their (for lack of a better word) "space". Almost all fish have their "territory" and are territorial. Having too many fish in their "space" will at the very least stress them, and at the very worst cause sickness and possibly death.
I know having several fish in a display tank looks very enticing, but think of it as one person said - like a VW filled with clowns. None of the clowns stays in the car for very long...
:happyfish

Good Point

 

[sinner's girl]

My tank is fully stocked when I have the fish I want. I'm an only child and like lots of room, therefore, I give my fish lots of room two. In my 55gl I had 3 fish, a pair of clown and damsel, (had other fish at different times, but mostly just three). When one clown died I just had two.
I would be happy with a yellow tang and a pair of clowns.

 

[jeps]

don't mean to hijack.. but a quick question. does the gallon per inch rule apply to fishes only? or does it apply to EVERY living thing in your thank? thanks.

 

[fishguy83]

Originally Posted by jeps
don't mean to hijack.. but a quick question. does the gallon per inch rule apply to fishes only? or does it apply to EVERY living thing in your thank? thanks.

i'd say fish only - shrimps/hermits/snails all do not produce much waste - and actually, probably, clean up as much waste as they do produce
As for corals - you have to have them spaced accordingly at whatnot, so you are limited, but do not count much, i would think

 

[surfinusa]

i heard you can keep 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons in a reef and in fish only 1 inch per 3 gallons

 

[zeroc]

Well i'm screwed then with 6 chomis in my 55, 6 times the eventual length of 3 inches is 18 inches 55x5 = 11 inches allow, hmmm... Oh, 4 inches for dragon golby. Well, everyone is alive and well, at the moment. And this isn't including my hopes for a pair of clowns and a yellowhead jawfish or two.
ZC

 

[phixer]

Well for fresh H20 the rule used to be 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. For saltwater its much different (in addition to territoriality) because of the way salt water fish respire. Freshwater fish never drink and excrete copious amounts of diluted urine to counteract the effects of osmosis.
Marine fish drink continuously and excrete only small amounts of concentrated urine in order to counteract the dehydration effects of the saltwater. Constant ingestion of seawater makes marine fish more susceptible to water pollutants than freshwater fishes so low levels of toxic waste can have far-reaching consequences for marine fish.
It is equally important as to the species of fish you would like to keep. Some fish are messy eaters while others are cleaner. For example it may be possible to keep many more clowns together then larger messy fish like Groupers or even sharks in a given tank size because the smaller fish are less taxing on the enviornment.