Tazmiche

Ok depends on breed of fish but is there a rule of thumb?

I have 2 tanks now and wanting a 3rd, much larger tank asap. ( greedy!!)

l Have a Guppy tank ( 4 male) and a Barb tank at mo.

Wondering how big to go tankwise..........i'm saving up!!! Any suggestions? I have read many of your tanks and envy you!! But i would hate to overstock.

tan.b

...don't quote me on this...wait for someone who knows what they're talking about to confirm, but i think its an inch per gallon, but fatter and/or messier fish need more. some fish poo more than others i believe, so the extra waste requires more water to dilute the toxins, or there'll be too much ammonia produced and it'll overload the biological balance. i think when it starts getting overcrowded fin nipping can start to be a problem too. make sure you take into acount the full adult size of the fish as things like plecos can get to be huge. also from what i've read on here, many lfs's will try and sell you fish even if your tank is overstocked, just to get a sale, so dont always trust them.

JMatt1983

use the full adult size of the fish for a good start, you ae correct with the 1 inch per gallon ROT, but its much better to have 1:2gallons or even 1:3gallons, also, the mass of the fish needs to be considered, 2 inch guppy will not take up as much room as say a 2 inch dwarf gourami. as for tank size, depends on what kind of fish you want to put in it, obviously, bigger fish and more active fish need more space to swim around.

Tazmiche

TY a great help