Stocking question: inverts vs. fish?

I'm not sure quite what you are asking. But, if you mean what I think you mean, a lot of people don't really account for inverts considering waste from shrimp and molluscs (snails) quite negligible due to their small size.
Also the inch to gallon rule for fish isn't quite right.


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Thanks. Yes, that is what I meant.

Re: the inch per gallon, I know that's not right (at least for a planted tank), but I'm using that as my baseline for re-stocking things. Just taking it very slow- after that will be experimentation.

Of course it always depends on the type of fish or shrimp, but the rough guideline I always hear is 10 adult dwarf shrimp per gallon. A 10 gallon tank should be fine up to 100 dwarf shrimp, but of course you can keep more RCS than Amanos so I don't think that "rule" is really more of a general guideline. I don't think any of it goes on a linear scale though, and the larger the tank, plant mass, your specific water conditions, etc., you can easily sustain more than that.

10 per gallon is the general guideline. Smaller than 10 gallon tanks you should err below that number, and larger tanks you can go above that number. Of course, as mentioned, it also depends on your feeding and maintenance schedules, as well as the species.

Unless you are an advanced hobbyist, "nano tanks" (anything smaller than 10 gallons) isn't recommended for shrimp keepers due to a bigger chance of water parameter swings. The bigger the tank, the better chance of stable parameters, which shrimp like. Also, for beginners, it's not recommended to do more than 10% water changes 1-4 times a month. Every 2 weeks, or even less, would be fine. Advanced hobbyists could get away with 50% water changes once a week and have no problems with their shrimp.


As others are saying though, general guideline for the smaller dwarf shrimp is 10 per gallon, but it's possible to have more than that with the right setup.

Thanks. This will be a heavily planted 55 gal. peaceful community tank. I've had problems before stocking too much livestock for a non-planted tank so wanted to make sure I wouldn't overload things if I added any inverts.