Surface Area, Gallons Or Filtration Power?

Hi, I know the 1 inch per gallon rule, but I find this rule a little bit absurd, for example gold fish or very active fish like danios need a lot more water. I have heard that the important thing is the surface area and no the gallons per se, so a larger horizontal aquarium is better than a tall vertical aquarium. But other people argue that the important thing is the filtration power, a goldfish cuold be in a very large aquairum but if the filtration system is not good then there is sense. What do you think?

 

The one inch rule really doesn't apply anymore due to the advancement of filtration. However common sense has to be applied when stocking a tank.
A tank which has more surface area is better than more volume with less surface area. Its an exchange of gases issue.

 

The one inch per gallon rule is a general guideline that works in some cercumstances. For example, you could stock a 20 gallon long tank with a maximum of 20 neon tetras. Or 10 neon tetras and 10 panda cories. It works well for fish like that.

But obviously it isn't true all the time. You can't keep a 5 inch goldfish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank... Danios need way more room than the inch per gallon rule gives them since they're such active swimmers, etc.

 

The one inch rule really doesn't apply anymore due to the advancement of filtration. However common sense has to be applied when stocking a tank.
A tank which has more surface area is better than more volume with less surface area. Its an exchange of gases issue.

The one inch per gallon rule is a general guideline that works in some cercumstances. For example, you could stock a 20 gallon long tank with a maximum of 20 neon tetras. Or 10 neon tetras and 10 panda cories. It works well for fish like that.

But obviously it isn't true all the time. You can't keep a 5 inch goldfish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank... Danios need way more room than the inch per gallon rule gives them since they're such active swimmers, etc.

So would you say that it depends on the fish type? Just as an example to make the 1 inch per gallon apply, as an excersise, lets suppose you have a 5 inch goldfish and the problme with the goldfish is that they produce a lot of waste right? so a better filtration system is what you would need to apply the 1 inch per gallon rule to the goldfish. But in the case of a danio the solution is tryying to get as much surface are as possible ?
So as A201 said, I thin is all about common sense and knowing the fish that you are getting and not about follwing a rule for every fish.

 

What if you’re 70 inches tall and someone puts you in a 70 gallon tank?

 

100% depends on the type of fish....., but it only works in the proper tanks too. You couldnt keep 10 guppies or neons in a 10 gallon, but you could easily keep 20 in a 20. And regardless or the filtration, you couldnt keep a 5" goldfish in a 5 gallon tank. And fish like Oscars, throw it out the window completely. Ive been keeping and breeding them for 25 years roughly, and I wouldnt keep a single adult in anything less than a 125. Lots of times sticking big fish in small tanks results in stunted growth and lots of health issues.

 

100% depends on the type of fish....., but it only works in the proper tanks too. You couldnt keep 10 guppies or neons in a 10 gallon, but you could easily keep 20 in a 20. And regardless or the filtration, you couldnt keep a 5" goldfish in a 5 gallon tank. And fish like Oscars, throw it out the window completely. Ive been keeping and breeding them for 25 years roughly, and I wouldnt keep a single adult in anything less than a 125. Lots of times sticking big fish in small tanks results in stunted growth and lots of health issues.

Sorry what is the thing with the guppies, or why you can't keep 10 in a 10 gallon but you can with 20 in a 20 gallons?

 

Theres just too many of them, they swim too much and create too much waste. This is why the inch per gallon "rule" isn't any good. It can really only be applied to very specific fish in certain sized tanks.

 

Horizontal swimming space .

 

So would you say that it depends on the fish type? Just as an example to make the 1 inch per gallon apply, as an excersise, lets suppose you have a 5 inch goldfish and the problme with the goldfish is that they produce a lot of waste right? so a better filtration system is what you would need to apply the 1 inch per gallon rule to the goldfish. But in the case of a danio the solution is tryying to get as much surface are as possible ?
So as A201 said, I thin is all about common sense and knowing the fish that you are getting and not about follwing a rule for every fish.

It absolutely depends on the fish.

The factors on stocking certain fish in a given tank size are:
1. How much waste they produce
2. How active of swimmers they are
3. Their intelligence and amount of stimulation they desire

Addressing 1, adding more mechanical filtration doesn't mean the biological filtration isn't still an issue. Using the 5 inch goldfish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank as an example... A bunch of filtration will clean up all the waste, but you still have to worry about the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. If you're able to cycle a 10 gallon tank with a 5 inch goldfish, the nitrate will increase above 100 in very short order (assuming you're feeding the fish enough). You'd basically have to do 50% water changes every day and clean the filters every few days to keep the parameters at bay.

2 and 3 kind of go hand in hand. Danios for example are probably the most active swimmers that are commonly kept as pets. They need bigger tanks than other fish their size even though they produce around the same amount of waste (slighty more as they EAT). Pearl danios are my favorite fish. I've kept them for about 4 years. I had a 20 gallon long tank until about 6 months ago when I upgraded to a 75 gallon. When I moved my danios over, they showed visible euphoria from being in such a large tank. They "stretched their fins" the first night I put them in by using the whole tank, darting around super fast, and exploring the entire area. They're still way happier than I had ever seen them in the 20 gallon tank. After seeing how happy they were about the new tank, I realized danios really have no business being in anything smaller than a 40 gallon tank.

Fish intelligence also matters. Some fish are a lot smarter than others. Puffers for example, are extremely smart affectionate. They need a large tank, lots of decorations, human interaction, and a constant rotation of the aquascape to keep them entertained. Keeping a puffer in to small of a tank is like keeping a dog in a cage its whole life.

You'll learn all of this the longer you keep fish as pets. I also realized this once I got into scuba diving. Fish show so much personality and intelligence that they deserve the biggest tanks possible, even if it's 'possible' to keep them healthy in a small tank.