how many fish for a 55 gal tank?

Answer 1

It depends on what you want to keep. Fancy goldfish, as adults, require a minimum of 20 gallons of water per fish. Slim-bodied goldfish, as adults, require 40 gallons of water per fish. You'll hear the "rule" for tropicals is 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon of water. That rule is, for the most part, inapplicable, but can apply to the small fish such as tetras and guppies, but that rule increases in size as the longer and bigger in girth the fish gets. For instance, an adult cichlid, while only reaching about 5 inches in length, will require 50 gallons of water, partially because of its overall bulk, but also because they are territorial and can become aggressive if not given room to stake out their territory. And too often, people forget to include bottom feeders in their calculations because, I guess, maybe they don't consider them "real" fish, or maybe, "out of sight, out of mind"? And then also, you need to consider which fish are compatible, not only in whether they're aggressive, but also temperature, ph and other environmental requirements. Here's a link that gives some quick basic information on most fish you'd ever want for an aquarium. Good luck!

Answer 2

It depends on what type of filter you have. If you have a filter that is able to handle a 60 gallon tank than you should be able to put in about 45 fish with no problems. Also the size of the fish will have an impact on the amount of fish that the tank can hold. If you have 45 fish that are one inch long they will not pose a threat to the tank but if you have 45 fish that are 3 or 4 inches long then you will be pushing the limits of the tank. The bigger the fish the bigger the bio load on the tank. always buy a filter that is rated for the next size up. I don't recommend getting a filter that is rated for the exact size of your tank unless you plan on only putting like twenty small fish in the tank.

Answer 3

Pitch the one inch per fish out the window. That is the biggest farse for fishkeepers. It all boils down to the type of fish you wish to keep. Oscars for example will grow to be quite large and require much more room than say a black molly. Even if your oscar starts out as 2". You have to take into account the Adult size of the fish and the fish requirements.

you could very easily have 75 guppies living happily in a 55 gallon tank. Whereas you could never put 75 oscars, gold fish or really any other fish.

you also need to figure out your water displacement. Adding lots of decorations, rock piles, wood etc. displaces water so you are really not stocking for a 55 gallon any more.

What would you like to have? Be sure of their adult size and their temperment. Know their water requirements and start from there. There are so many combinations it is impossiable to list them all.

you can start with your clean up crew. Snails algae eaters etc.
or choose what fish you would like, then choose your clean up crew. Be sure they get along.

Fish prefer different strata in a tank. A good mix would be a few high strata, a few middle and a few bottom. The more you research the types of fish you want and how to keep them, the healthier your tank will be.

Good luck

Answer 4

It depends on the kind of fish that you want it sounds like everyone else has agreed to what I follow and that is every fish inch sholu have two gallons. That is for fresh water. For saltwater you can only have one inch for every 4 gallons for the first 6 months after that you are allowed to have 2 inches per gallon. Just remember less is better. Just becasue 10 people can live in a house with 1 bathroom is that comfortable. I think that you know where I am trying to go with that. you don't want to over stress you fish

Answer 5

rule of thumb(that isnt very reliable in my opinion) 1 inch of fish per gallon. for example, 55 1 inch fish, 27-28 2 inch fish. or a combo of any sized fish. 5 1 inch fish 10 2 inch fish 10 3 inch fish ... just dont mix huge fish with really tiny ones, the huge ones might try to eat the small ones. remember, less fish is almost always better.


by the way, this was the last answer i needed to get to the next level in yahoo answers [= thank you

Answer 6

Depends on what kind of fish. Your best bet is talk to a pet store worker.

Personally, I have a 55 gal tank with
1. catfish
1. algy eater
4 iridescent sharks

they all seem to be happy. Down side is.. I moved the sharks from a 10 gal tank to a 25 gal, now to a 55 gal and they keep on growing. They're 1year old and about 6 inches long.
The algy eater is wicked huge. Its kind of scary looking.

Answer 7

I agree to one inch of fish per gallon, but I usually consider the volume taken up by gravel and decor. So in a 55 gallon you may only want 45 inches of fish. Having more than that will bring nitrogen levels in the water too high with excess waste.

Answer 8

In a 55 I would put know more than 10 to 12 fish and thats pushing it. ALSO DEPENDS WHAT TYPE OF FISH

Answer 9

a lot of ppl say one inch per gallon. but my petstore said it depends on the species. for instance some fish take up room on the bottom, some middle or top, some poop more than others and make more messes then others, but smaller schooler such as neon tetras can do fine with up to 2 inch per gallon. if goldfish, no more than 5 or so they are messy and grow big.

Answer 10

it depends on the type and size of the fish
u could fit about 300 guppies or 20-30 mollys or an assortment of different fish