My fish handbook says...

[freakumDRESS]

It says i can put about 16 inches of fish in my ten gallon tank because of it's surface area! Not volume of water. Has anyone ever heard of this, and do you agree? Why? Okay, i multiply the length and width of my tank, and get that number. The author also says that tropical fish will need about 12 inches of space per inch of them, not including their tail fin. So, my ten gallon can fit about 16 inches. Whatcha say about that?

[bettafish15]

I think it's all fish poop.

[freakumDRESS]

Ha, you never said why. =]

[shinybetta]

Nope, I don't think it is true. Heck, it won't work unless you do tons of water changes. Ten gallons can really only hold about 8-9 inches of fish, depending on the requirements and waste production.

[bettafish15]

Originally Posted by shinybetta

Nope, I don't think it is true. Heck, it won't work unless you do tons of water changes. Ten gallons can really only hold about 8-9 inches of fish, depending on the requirements and waste production.

Exactly, it doesn't take into account the bioload.

[freakumDRESS]

My fish handbook also says to take your filtration system into account, too.

[JackisLost]

Sure you can put 16 fish in the 10 gallon tank, but that doesn't mean you can put just any fish in. I had an eheim filter (the filter itself holds more than a gallon of water, depending on model. I used the 2217) which is very efficient. I bet you can pull off a school of neon tetra easily. I done it before in a 10 gallon, water levels were fine.

[freakumDRESS]

I think the best way is to calculate the amount of ammonia each fish you have produces. If a fish eats 2 grams of food, will they give off that much ammonia?

[bettafish15]

I dont really think it can be calculated, they release ammonia all the time, no matter how much food it does or doesnt eat. @.@

[freakumDRESS]

Really? how? Do fish sweat or something? Or maybe its the slime they have on their skin?