[megahaus]

Hello everybody, I am brand new to the saltwater side of fish. I understand that in freshwater, a general rule of thumb is 1'' of fish to 1 gallon of water. I have been told by my LFS that it is 1'' of fish per 5 gallons of water. I only have a 29gallon tank, which I am happy with (I have not the room to have any bigger). My LFS also told me that they don't count beneficial fish/invertebrates to the FPG list. For example, they do not count the sand sifting gobies or the parasite eating gobies, or any of the beneficial snails/crabs. They said that I could have additional fish without counting those type of fish, therefor I could have say 15 gobies, and an additional 1" per 5 gallons, to be a total of 15 gobies and 5 1'' fish. Now this seems quite odd to me, but that's why I am here.. if ANYBODY as ANYTHING to say to this it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Andrew

[SweeTang22]

with saltwater less is always better but it really depends on the type of fish you plan on. clowns, damsels, angels, and basslets all get aggresive. so your only going to want a few. like 4! and chromis most of the gobies species dont really need that much room. if your doing a reef tank though you only want to add like 3 fish. keep the room for coral, and the clean up crew. this way your water will stay nice and clean. keep in mind these numbers are examples only and in no way the number of fish you can keep lol. just wanted to throw that out there

[SweeTang22]

to add what i said earlier i wouldnt discount any fish. if it produces waste then count it, because in freshwater the 1" rule is so the filter can help keep up. packing a tank full of fish with even a big filter will still stress them out and that can introduce disease. i would like to see them take a 29 gallon and crame 20 fish in it that are all roughly 3 inches in length and see how long it stay like that with the normal water changes! i dont think it will be the most healthy system out there but again thats just me!

[megahaus]

I know at my LFS, they have kept 10-15 gobies in a 12 nano. (they always have this number... if one is bought they replace)
anybody else

[Mattfish]

Another rule of thumb I've read has to do with inches of fish per square inch of tank surface area. I just tried to find it in "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" (most of us have this book at home somewhere, I assume), but I can't find it right now.

I thought it was like 1" of fish for each 1 suare inch of surface area, but this seems a bit high.

There are two factors to consider - elbow room, and also gas exchange/filtration needs. These are always guidelines, and the other thing to consider is that you want to plan for mature size of fish, which can be limited by what size tank you give them... i.e., a smaller tank may cause fish to grow to a smaller than expected adult size.

[Tonz of fun]

I was told 1 4inch fish per 10 gallons

[lynnvangsnes]

My daughter and my wife frequently ask me this question: how many fish can we have?
I sigh and smile. Then I calmly answer: it's not how many fish we can put in the tank; it's can we establish a tiny ecosystem where all creatures can live happily, peacefully, and healthy.

[FINDING_NEMO]

the more fish, the more water changes