How Many Fish?

One of the most important things to consider when starting a fish tank is the amount of fish you can have in your tank. Many people face the problem of over stocking/overcrowding their tanks. Too many fish in a tank can cause a lack of oxygen in the water which will lead to death. Too many fish also causes higher waste levels which will make it harder to care for your aquarium. To add, too many fish can stunt the growth of your fish in your tank and will cause them to stay small. The proper way to know how many fish to add into your aquarium is using the inch per gallon rule.

 The inch per gallon rule is basically a way to find out how many fish can fit into your fish tank. All of the fish in your tank should have a gallon for every inch it grows. For example: if you a fish that is 6 inches long, that fish must have 6 gallons to itself, and those 6 gallons should be subtracted from the total number of gallons in your tank. It is important that you always use the maximum length of your fish and not the current length when using the inch per gallon rule. Down below is a little scenario explaining the inch per gallon rule:

I just bought a 35 gallon tank and plan on stocking it with tiger barbs. I did research, and I know that tiger barbs grow to a maximum length of 2.5 inches. So how many 2.5 inch tiger barbs can I fit into a 35 gallon tank? 35/2.5=14. So my 35 gallon tank can hold 14 tiger barbs!
The inch per gallon rule is a simple rule that assure that you fish can live happily without being over crowed and with enough room to grow full size. The amount of fish in your tank can be determined with common sense. Put yourself in the fish’s place in consider if you would want to live in that size aquarium an how many others you would want to live with you without being cramped!