1 inch a gallon or no??

I've been recommended 1 inch a gallon by expert fish caretakers

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hmmm, i'd suggest that such "experts" don't know what they're talking about. the number and size of the fish you keep in your tank should be based on several factors. it should not be based solely on the chemistry of your water nor on the magic of the inch per gallon myth. it's more than simply a matter of successfully keeping the ammonia and nitrites at zero or the fact that you may have "great filtration". certainly these are important issues, but one of the most important factors is almost always overlooked. the number and size of fish that one maintains in a tank should be predicated on the "biology" and behaviour of those fish.

this means that the interraction of a mixed community tank and/or the behaviour of a single species is the single most important factor to consider. you want the fish you're keeping to have the ability to exhibit "normal" and functional behaviour. normal behaviour is important. abnormal behaviour results in stress. stress leads to disease. disease can lead to death. for example:

1. if species (A) does not get along with species (B), then these fish don't belong in the same tank no matter how few fish you have or how large the tank. "getting along" is based on the visual and behavioural Q's that each fish species is genetically programmed with. this is why African cichlids don't belong in the same tank with Central American cichlids for example. Africans don't "understand" Central American fish speak and this leads to behavioural problems and stress.

2. if species (A) has specific food or water chemistry requirements which are completely different from species (B), then these fish don't belong in the same tank no matter how large it is.

3. if species (A) is aggressive and defends a territory of 2 square feet, then you cannot expect to successfully keep more than one of these fish in a tank which is smaller than 2 square feet. convict cichlids are an excellent example of this ... this little fish aggressively defends territories of about two square feet give or take. if you have a tank which allows only that much room and no more, the convict will defend the entire tank to the detriment of any other fish (no matter how large it is) in that tank.

fish need room to swim without having the rest of the tanks inhabitants "in their face" continuously. when crowded, fish exhibit stress syndromes that result in poor color, improper fin form, insufficient metabolic development, do not exhibit proper musculature, do not develop properly functioning organ systems and most importantly slowly lose their inherant resistance to disease. this results in a significantly shortened lifespan and along the way, lots of diseases for which the poorly conditioned fish is a good target..

think about your local lake or river --- the fish are free to inhabit whatever space suits them biologically. if it gets crowded by their standards, some will disperse and move to other areas where they again have the space they need to exhibit functional behaviour.

it's difficult to allow for that "space" in your tank -- the fish have no escape within the confines of your tank so it's up to you to insure that the fish have that space in the first place. if your tank "looks bare" .. it's probably just right.

Yea what Liv2padl said. There are many reasons why the inch per gallon rule is not effective.

that goes double for me on what liv2padl said. every time I hear that "rule" I shudder.

Even neons and guppies would enjoy large tanks since they would have many places to hide when threatened. All fish schooling or territorial need to have suffiecient room to display thier true behaviors. I have a school of 16 cardinals that roam in a 55g and I can see stronger bonds between them then when I had 7 white clouds in a 10g.

Hi,

I think the 'one inch per gallon rule' only works in some situations. I don't use the 'one inch per gallon rule' most times.

Cory Lover

some say that the inch gallon rule works will tiny fish like neons, but that isnt true either. it does not condier the fact that they like to be in groups of at least 6. will a neon fit in a 1 gallon tank? yes. will you see it ever and will it show its best colors? NO!

according to the rule, you can keep two male blue gouramis in a 12 gallon. will that work? not a chance. they WILL tear eachother apart. male blue gouramis fight just as aggressivly as male bettas IME.

ive always wondered- if places like petsmart and petco go by this "inch-gallon" garbage, then why do they sell tanks for bettas that are less than a gallon. a betta will get to at least 3 inches long, and by this "rule" we need at least 3 gallons.

Setting aside all issues of territory, water chemistry etc. the inch-per-gallon rule works for fish of 2 iches or so in a 29gal tank. Otherwise it doesn't work. You could comfortably keep species like neons at a greater density than one inch per gallon, provided you have a big tank (wouldn't work with smaller tanks, say under 29gal). On the other hand, you can't have five eleven-inch fish ina 55gal. This is because the (leaving aside territoriality, swim space etc) bioload of an eleven-inch fish is much much more than the bioload of 11 one-inch fish (it's closer to the bioload of a couple hundred). But even this assumes the fish are of the same proportions and have the same habits, which is of course not the case. Big fish which don't move use less energy and therefore less bioload, and vice versa.

BTW, fishcatch 22, your avatar is terrifying

back to your question, an 8 gallon is much to small for an angel. they need at least 30 gallons.

putting it into an 8 gallon will only stunt it horribly. i have experience in this exact same thing, and trust me, it wont do the fish any good. i had an angel given to me by my aunt that rescued it from a 5 gallon tank her neighbor had.