What is considered clean up crews?

The inch rule is a rule of thumb, and perhpas a poor one, especially when dealing with a lot of predetorial/territorial fish (i.e. cichlids, etc.)

Anyways, you are essentially correct about the WPs. The higher the bioload the more maintenace and care that will be required due to larger and faster buidlups of toxins. Also, the greater the chance for other issues associated with overcrowding (disease, aggression, stunting, etc.)

Also, the rules of thumb really go out the window on bottom fish and even more so with inverts!

Personally I would say my 30G (see Sig) is overstocked. I let the fish dictate to me what is enough, and those fish are MAXED IMO for my 30G. If I add more, the gouramis get very aggressive and attack other fish (moved extra fish to 75G). The level I have they act peaceful w/ no aggression. I have tried adding more, same issues - removed, aggression left. (Tank decorations, hiding places play a large part too)
 
So adding the shrimp won't put a huge load on the wp's and watch for the fish's behavior to dictate new additions to the family or not. I get it now I think. But why do the rules of thumb go out the window with bottom feeders and inverts? Because of their cleaning the debris out of the water and the bed of the tank? If this is the case getting 2 corys and the 10 shrimp should be ok and allow me to complete the tank without stressing the bioload. And once most of the swordtail fry are transferred to the 10 g I can be done and eventually place the fry when they grow up in the 120 g and so forth.
 
I think AC should come up with some kind of "rule of thumb" for newbies. Everyone always says that the 1inch/gallon rule is crap, but most people do not provide an alternative for newbies to go by. Then what you've got are newbies who go way beyond the 1inch/gallon rule and kill all their fish. (I'm not talking about you guys in particular, just everyone in general).

Maybe some kind of species/gallon rule like:
Dwarf gourami - 3 gallons
Otocinclus - 1/2 gallon
Platy - 2 gallons
Betta - 2 gallons
Botia Striata - 10 gallons
(Just randomly making these #s up, don't follow them).

And your total number shouldn't add up to more than your tank size. There's got to be some kind of formula that newbies can follow until they get the hang of it.
 
kjr928 said:
I think AC should come up with some kind of "rule of thumb" for newbies. Everyone always says that the 1inch/gallon rule is crap, but most people do not provide an alternative for newbies to go by. Then what you've got are newbies who go way beyond the 1inch/gallon rule and kill all their fish. (I'm not talking about you guys in particular, just everyone in general).

Maybe some kind of species/gallon rule like:
Dwarf gourami - 3 gallons
Otocinclus - 1/2 gallon
Platy - 2 gallons
Betta - 2 gallons
Botia Striata - 10 gallons
(Just randomly making these #s up, don't follow them).

And your total number shouldn't add up to more than your tank size. There's got to be some kind of formula that newbies can follow until they get the hang of it.
Click to expand...

the problem with a generalized formula is ..it does not take into account the species of fish. there is the bio-load to consider, aggression issues, size when adult etc.

it may be easier to ask simple questions regarding tank size and species.
 
There are some basics to go by, such as 10G for each Angel, but combinations make this quite honestly impossible unless a schematic was made for EACH combo - OH, and then the tank setup, cover, and individual fish personalities would come into effect too! Impossibe IMO.

As for the typical bottom-feeder (corys, etc.), they do not eat waste (poop, etc.). As to why the 1-inch rule is even more useless is because they do not spend a lot of time in the water column. But there is most certainly a limit, as with anything, and again the combination of species, and cover provided, etc., etc.
 
Maybe we could work on a big sticky with various beginner stocking ideas, specific to various tank sizes. For example, start with 5g hex/bow, and list several groups of livestock/set ups. Then move on to 10g and list several groups of stock. I don't mean several species of fish that would work in a 10gal, but complete setups from top to bottom, with fish that would be compatible, entertaining, and eye appealing together.

Perhaps a different thread for intermediate and seasoned aquariasts.... but I think a thread like this with hardy species for beginners would be great. It would help people get a very good idea about how stocking works.

Have the person keeping the list update the first post in the thread and add the setups as new suggestions are made, so it's all organized and easy to find.

To get more in depth, when a setup is listed that has very few fish in it, a comment could be added such as (this fish is territorial and requires a good deal of space to itself).

As for the 1-inch per gallon rule, I go by it vaguely, to get an idea of what my bio-load will be like, but make sure to take into account whatever info I find on behavior and such. I already know I don't have any fish that are considered heavy on bio-load though. I think the rule is helpful if used loosely, making sure to pay attention to species specific requirements.
 
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No one would agree first off, and just one tank size would be very, very long and exhaustive IMO. We're talking over a hundred combos, easily (just 9 different species (i.e. 9!) offers well over 100k combos total! :eek:)

Hey, try it, what can it hurt? :shrug:

personally I think it's a great idea, just hard to actually complete.
 
No doubt a complete database like this would be infinite. I think just several setups per tank size would get the basic ideas across.... not listing large stocks of the same species repeatedly.

Ie.. do a livebearer setup.
Do a gourami setup.
Do a beta setup.

With the main attraction of the tank, then possibly options for schools or cleanup crews?

10gal setup: Betta
1 male betta <--- this being the main squeeze in the setup.
10 shrimp OR 5 such and such OR 1 such and such. <--- a few options for "other inhabitants"

10 gal setup: Gourami
3 small gourami
5 axelrod rasbora OR yadda yadda OR so on and so on

I am no expert on stocking, nor on shrimp, so pay no attention to the 10 shrimp I listed there. Just making a hypothetical example.
 
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Ok. I think I'm getting it. I have really been trying to take into account the adult size and their individual personalities of the fish I am going to keep permantly in the 37 g. This said, the cc will complete it nicely I have fake plants, a few living plants, a pretty large cave, driftwood and hopes of getting some java fern and moss to complete the tank.
 
I would as a newbie et al be extremely delighted to find such a sticky. The info everyone has supplied here has helped me tremendously. I am an animal/fish lover and want to do things right the first time, not keep trying until it works while in the meantime having killed off dozens of fish learning the ropes. And even though there are thousands of possibilities, just a few per tank size will help the newbie start to understand the basics and where to go to research more. Growing up I never knew the benefits of driftwood and the ph, I never knew about using living plants instead of the fake plastic ones. I never knew about checking wp's. I have learned all this from this forum and am extremely grateful to not be losing life due to my lack of knowledge. So, I offer a huge thank you to everyone.
 
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