How many Fish can a fish tank hold?

J

Jonathan

New member
Ok im looking into buying a fish tank and I was wondering about the sizes of fish tanks and how many fish they can hold. Ok on average how many fish can a 4 gallon tank hold, 8 gallon tank, and 16 gallon tank. Im thinking about getting fish the size of a gold fish or smaller if that helps.
 
Goldfish vary in size, and can live for 20 years plus. They can also grow to rival a Koi carp. It also depends on the set up. Tropical fish need less space than cold water fish (ie goldfish) as they assimilate oxygen from the water easier than cold water fish. However they are vary in the level of care they need (ie PH levels, optium temp etc) and you really need to get the right fish other wise you could end up with battle royal in your tank. Cold water fish are much easier. You cant put a goldfish in a 4 gallon tank, its simply not enough space. A 8 gallon tank could house one or two young goldfish but you would need to upscale later on. 16 gallons could house 2 big goldfish or maybe 3 younger ones.
 
You can fit one inch of an ADULT fish per gallon. So for instance a goldfish can reach over a foot in length. So a goldfish needs roughly 10-20 gallons per fish.

If you're looking into smaller tanks looks into smaller fish like guppies, tetras and mollies. Try to get fish of one sex if possible so you don't have to worry about lots of babies. Guppies are easy to sex and mollies are fairly easy to sex as well. You could fit abotu 1 guppy or tetra per gallon and about one mollie per 2 gallons.
 
The general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. You want to go by the size of the fish when they are adults, not when you get them. Also, it depends on how clean of a fish they are, and whether they are bottom dwellers, top dwellers, or like to hang out in the middle of the water column. For instance, if you wanted to get neon tetras, they are a relatively clean fish, so you could probably put 10 - 15 neons in a ten gallon. However, if you wanted to put an algae eater (plecostomas) in there, you should probably only put 8 neons and an algae eater in a ten gallon.

Keep in mind that the more you do your water changes, the more fish you can keep in there. You want to do your water changes at least once a week, at least 20% of the water. The bigger the tank, the more stable your water quality should stay. I would go with a 16 gallon tank.

Also keep in mind that goldfish are VERY dirty fish, I wouldn't put more than 2 goldfish in a ten gallon tank. Even then, depending on the type of goldfish you get, goldfish can get very big and can outgrow a ten gallon very quickly.

Good luck, make sure you research the type of fish that you want before you get them, and research how to take care of a tank properly! A pet store that sells fish can generally educate you on the proper maintenance and set-up of a tank.

Have fun!
 
A tank will hold one inch of fish per gallon. You measure the main body of the fish. Talk to the fish store people. Some very thin fish can be counted as less.
 
It really just depends on the type of fish -- I would ask the pet store rep -- because different species of fish most likely have different preferences on how cramped up they can handle being.
 
The average equation is 1 fish per 1 gallon. But in my opinion it depends on the fish. If it is small- 2 gallons, medium-4-5 gallons, big-8 gallons =D and HUGEASS- 20 gallons and EVEN HUGER ASS- 200 gallons =D. <-- dolphins, whales, sharks, e.t.c.
 
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