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HI. Apologies for me newbie no nothing questions, LOL.

I plan to have quite a few rocks and bog wood etc in my tank. I have been wondering about the water they will displace. When working out how many inches of fish I can keep, does it depend on the empty volume of the tank or the number of gallons that go in after the rocks etc have been placed?

Both, but you'll want to consider the ammount of acutal water in there .
It can be hard to calculate if you're adding the decor after adding the water but you can estimate.

Tank dimensions will determine how large of fish, tank volume in a way determines how many of them you can keep.
Hope that makes some sense, I've been up too long and should go sleep ....Welcome to the site .

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You must calculate how much water you have.


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Basically, I agree. But you should not forget about all other parameters that you may have introduced. Did you add any plants? If so, I would say that you can add a few more fish than without.

How big is your tank anyway, and what kind of fish do you intend to have (or have already)?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

An easy way to begin to figure out how much water is in there to begin with, is only fill it 2/3 to 3/4 of the way then add the rocks and such, then top off the tank...that way you have a good estimate of how much water is in the tank....

So as it's been asked how big is the tank? What kind of fish are you planning on?

hml

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Hi shifting sands and welcome. You know, that is actually a very good question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Hi,
Personally, if knowing the effective capacity of the tank
is important (it is) I'd place the tank where it will be
permanently, add the gravel and any ornaments (rocks,etc)
in the tank, and then fill it with a gallon jug counting
the number of jugs required to fill it to the desired level.

When you get within say 20% of the capacity, you should
take a indelable(sp) felt tip marker, and in the back,
on the outside of the tank, on a corner, draw a line at
the water level for each of the last few gallons.
That way, when draining the tank during normal
maintenance, you will know when you have removed
10 or 20% of the water.
Next time you just syphon down to the desired mark.

Knowing the actual capacity of the tank is important when
ever one needs to dose the tank with either medications,or
fertilizers for plants. The old "rule of thumb" is a good
guide for the number of fish, but keep in mind that it
really only works for tetra like fish, and is thrown out
the window when it comes to larger and thicker fish such
as Oscars and other thick bodied fish.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 27-Jul-2005 16:39

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Thanks for your replies.

The tank is 36" X 12" X12", I've calculated that at 22.4 Us Galls/18.6 UK galls/85UKLitres

I shall have live low light plants and have bought a Fluval 3 pump and a 200W heater. I have my master test kit at the ready and water treatment stuff to start the cycling off.

I am going to start with mostly small shoaling fish, so that I can keep quite a few. I'll follow Franks advice and measure how much water goes in when I've put everything in.

Only 2 days til I get my tank now.....

and then I am sure to have loads more questions

Last edited by shiftingsands at 30-Jul-2005 11:34

Last edited by shiftingsands at 30-Jul-2005 11:38

Last edited by shiftingsands at 30-Jul-2005 11:53

I am going to start with mostly small shoaling fish

I only ask this because you did mention being new to all this...But when you say you're starting with shoaling fish you do mean after you've finished cycling the tank (generally 3-4 weeks) right?.
If you're not sure on the cycling process read up on [link=this link]http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/begin-cycling.asp" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]. And if you have any further questions we'll be happy to help .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the [link=pain]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I&#8217;ve got another confession my friend, I&#8217;m no fool.
I&#8217;m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."