Community Calculator Issue...

WrittenLyric

WrittenLyric

Bang Bang Shoot Shoot
Jul 16, 2006
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Massachusetts
www.myspace.com
Hello.
I found a community calculator online which is supposed to "assist" you in creating a well rounded community. I thought wow! this is great! Then I started adding away to see what all I could put in my 10 gallon tank. The numbers were surprising due to the fact that the allowable fish with this calculator far surpassed the ideal rules for stocking on many forums I visit, this one included.

Anyone have any experience using this calculator? And why would they suggest so many fish? Why the difference in stocking?

By going with them my 10 gallon would come out like this:
4 albino cories
2 serpae tetras (already in tank)
2 rosy barbs (already in tank - Poopface passed away from a creepy tumor on his side)
3 albino danios (already in tank - saved from original tank set up)
3 XRay Tetras
2 Neon Tetras

This is with room to spare... I'm confused.
Edit: To clarify - the site suggest the correct numbers in each school, but working with what I already had (which weren't correct numbers) this is what I threw together to see if it met their stocking level number wise.
 
there are no "rules for stocking" that work. 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.
 
liv2padl:
You are awesome, thank you for taking the time to address my questions. I still have so much to learn about fish keeping and I'm paranoid about making mistakes if they are easily avoidable. Taking into account the considerations that you addressed, makes much more sense as to way one tank is "overstocked" while another is not - even if the numbers of fish vary or are very much similar. I guess it was common sense, but it's helpful to hear it from another person's perspective.
Thank you!
Kris
 
liv2padl said:
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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.
.
Click to expand...

Yes and if they do not disperse many will die, of starvation, predator, or disease. You can probably prevent the first two causes, but the third will always be looming. This is why beginners are better of starting small. If some little thing goes wrong in an over stocked tank it can trigger a variety of diseases. As one becomes a more experienced fish keep they can push the stocking level (to a certain extent), when they can better handle and prevent disease. Also when they better understand fish behavior as liv2padl stated.
 
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