thoughts about an inch per gallon replacement

M

maaltan

AC Members
Sep 11, 2004
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Im sitting here bored and the topics of "inch/gallon" crop up again on here. There needs to be some sort of standardized system though. The average consumer base needs something that makes decisions brainless. (no offense to anybody, i find my self falling into same patterns against my hardest efforts).
The current rule of thumb is unfair to the fish. There needs to be something that is easy to calculate, easy to interprete , and most importantly one that takes at least the most important factors into consideration.

I have no clue how one would get a standard rating system put into general use but maybe if one could get petsmart, walmart, etc to use it it would catch on.

Just as a brainstorm, feel free to comment add/remove whatever. I have to think about how to derive the final number. This "support index" directly references tank size. So for example you could put 3, SI:3 fish in a naked 10g tank. pretty much the same as 1" per gallon.

If adopted it would be nice to see modifiers on filter(media) packages that quote "addes 3 SI to your tank" or whatever. (sorry play too much RPGs, I have a power filter +10 :P).

I guess first we need to list what the "most important factors" are. Here is a starting list.

adult Fish dimensions (length most important)
fish waste production (maybe more important than size)(ppm nh3/day?)
aggressiveness/required territory.

But, then again. Preventing people from killing thier fish prevent them from buying replacements so whatever. Its somthing to occupy my brain with.
 
How about this, if you want a rule that would be safe for most fish, how about 20 gallons per inch of fish. That way if some on does not what to do the reading needed for a fish they would have a big tank for their fish and hopefully they will not get a massive size fish (one that starts small and grows very large over time but get ones that stays small)

Yes I know for some fish that would be way to much room, but it protects the fish, untill the person learns better. And no fish ever died from to much room to my knolage.
 
Good call./\ I don't think there will be an accurate "rule" as a generality. The species profiles do thier best to determine what can or can't be done. Since each species is different, each one has a lable of tank size, socialbility, and agressiveness. And since each individual has its own "personality" (I had a 1" danio that would chase my 2" dempsey) you need to treat it as more of a gudeline than a rule. Research each fish you would like to own before you purchase it, and don't rely on a general rule.
 
The inch per gallon thing is so wrong.
Weigh a 4" adult parrot fish then weigh 4 one inch neons.
The parrot fish outweighs those neons 100 times or better.
now what do you think would happen if somebody sold there 10" oscars out of there 55g and replaced them with the same weight in neons.
were talking a 1000 neons or better the tank would foul.
My rule is stock the tank for bi weekly water changes when the nitrates hit 10ppm between changes the tank is fully stocked I now start a weekly water change pattern for that tank.
Basicaly I stock the tank till my waterchange pattern is not cutting it,I dont add anymore fish then adjust the amount water and time between changes to keep those nitrates 0-5ppm weekly.
 
The main problem is that most people do not know how big most fish grow, that includes the sales people at your LFS. People see a 2" fish in a tank at the store and think it looks cool. They do no research and take the word of the guy scooping the fish out of the tank that says it will fit no problem...
 
I made a stab at it with an article here.

As for standardization I got laughed at over on aquamojo forums over the idea that any rule can cover things. Even what I came up with I was told didn't even touch what was reality. The members were happy to point me to exceptions to everything I came up with.

But if better understanding of the actuall problem can be had from my little attempt then it is worth something.
 
okay
I think I am having a stupid day.
Snakeie, where is your article?
Maatlan, I get the general idea and it would be fun to play with but I am missing something...
What would an SI of 1 mean, for instance. would it mean "one of these could fit in a naked ten?
maybe more examples. maybe type really slowly, use smal words and big letters lol.
just a thought on the filteridea. yeah, but, if SI truly incorporated territoriality, activity etc, that wouldnt translate so readily to filters.
 
I think the rule should incorporate not length, but weight of the fish, due to the fact that some fish are skinny as hell, and others are fat...(like the oscar/neon thing mentioned earlier) But in reality, there will never be an accurate rule, because there are so many factors that need to be incorporated, and even if you did come up with a plausible formula to calculate it....By the time you were finished plugging stuff in, it wouldn't even be worth it.
 
Ah, link in signature,

the Tank stocking one

The third point I made tries to adress the volume of the fish rather than just the length.

please comment on the article and ask questions if something isn't clear the way I put it. I just realized that I put things in function notation which might not be familiar to most people.
 
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i swear i just made a forum about this just this week. humm the old inc/gallon, it used to work but not no more. to many factors to play with like length, width, height of fish, are the fish low, medium, top dwellers, how much waste is going to be produced, how much filtration do u need, will the fish be happy, some fish school and others don't.

here is a method, when buying fish always do research and buy according to what your tank can handle and are the fish going to be happy. so to be honest unless you have the government to back you financialy to experiment no one is going to actualy figure this controversy out. use judgment, knowledge, and what reliable people have told you.
 
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