I am MOA (an acronym for the username math-only aquarium), and this thread is dedicated to helping new, and even experienced, freshwater aquarists get a good start in the hobby. While most of the information in this thread is dedicated to stocking considerations, it also contains other tidbits that may prove useful.

Recent Fishsheets 

The fishsheets are spreadsheets that I developed with the help of several members of FishChannel.com and are meant to give more accurate portrayals of what actually affects how many fish can be kept in a particular environment. They are not 100% accurate, nor will they replace research and common sense. No less, they are more accurate than many of the stocking rules commonly found in the hobby today.

The problem with many stocking rules is that they are either length-based (like the "inch per gallon" rule), and thus ignore biomass and metabolism, or they cannot be used to project possibilities (like using test kits alone to determine stocking capacity). Still another concern is what is truely good for the fish--whether or not the possibility of a particular arrangement working justifies doing something risky. The fishsheets, by allowing the individual aquarist to enter his or her own data and preferences, accounts for most of these concerns.

Particularly, the fishsheets are most useful when first setting up an aquarium or when contemplating whether or not new fish should be added. They are basically a tool that can be used to brainstorm and "try" various combinations without making the monetary investment that would be required by trail-and-error approaches. However, the fishsheets cannot be used in lieu of regular water testing as there are factors that can change on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis that the fishsheets are ill-equipped to account for. As an example, the fishsheets cannot tell if a power outage is going to occur (which can affect filtration).

To use the fishsheets, simply enter the data in the appropriate fields and then scroll down (or to the side) to see the results. In the fishsheets, the results are usually labeled as such and have a different color than the fields requiring input data. Usually towards the bottom is a description of how to interpret the results. Lastly, the fishsheets (except for the custom fishsheet) use fish families rather than fish species in most cases and thus might not be suited to the particular fish you are keeping, but they will get you in the ballpark.

Any questions or concerns can either be sent to me as a reply to this thread or as a personal message. I will respond as soon as possible.

Supplemental Documents

These documents cover such details as how the fishsheets were made, they give information about selected species of fish, and some basic theories on stocking aquariums. They are not completely authoritative, but they can be handy as quick references (especially in the case of the species index). Also, they share my views and the principles upon which the fishsheets were made.

Freshwater Aquarium Tools

As the day-to-day operation of an aquarium is not only about stocking considerations, I included several tools in the above link that can be used to help answer other questions. Among the questioned addressed are "How big is my aquarium?", "Is there a way to keep track of my water chemistry?", and "Are structures and decorations important for my fish?".

Old Fishsheets

So that curious minds can see the progression of spreadsheet ideas, I included the above link to all my previous work.

On the Drawing Board

I always have a special project that I am working on and sometimes take on questions that other people suggest. Right now, I am working on a book regarding freshwater aquariums and trying to synthesize equations for a saltwater fishsheet. The book will include material mostly from FishChannel.com and is meant to cellebrate the many contributions of its members to freshwater aquarium husbandry. The saltwater fishsheet, on the other hand, is just an idea I keep tinkering with--hopefully it will bear fruit someday.

Thanks,

MOA

All of my current work can be found at my website: http://sites.google.com/site/moashowmanyfish 

Check Out the Freshwater Stocking Guide: http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic132702-5-1.aspx

MOA's: How Many Fish: http://sites.google.com/site/moashowmanyfish/

	Post Attachments
	FishsheetA5.xls (170 views, 114.00 KB) Custom_Fishsheet_(Freshwater).xls (132 views, 54.50 KB)

Jfish13

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Check out my fish blog... http://www.fishchannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=54666

MOA's: How Many Fish: http://sites.google.com/site/moashowmanyfish/

"How come I have 3 kids and no money? Why can't I have no kids and 3 money?" Homer Simpson

creature_casey

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I'd hate to say it, but I think I may have been utterly out-smarted by a fish.

(\__/)
(='.'=)
('')_('') This is bunny. Copy and paste him in your sig so he can achieve world domination.

What, exactly, are you having trouble with? Do you not understand what the percent stocking potential, percent cleanliness, and aggression rating mean? Please tell me so I can fix it. Thanks.

Check Out the Freshwater Stocking Guide: http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic132702-5-1.aspx

MOA's: How Many Fish: http://sites.google.com/site/moashowmanyfish/

so IFUs (can't remember what it stands for, but remember reading it in your other posts) are basically set up for each individual fish type based off of what parameters? again, that answer may be in that other posts, but i'm tired and its been a long day so i'll check another time. and what's the A Total stand for?

Advice:

1. i would alter your cleanliness scale from 3-8 to make it 1-10.....it may be stupid, but it's just what people are used to rating things on.
2. i didn't notice an entry for plecos or algae eaters....they're pretty common.
3. maybe for those w/ increased interests you can add another worksheet as an appendix that would list all of your "assumptions" that are built into the calculations for each species of fish.
4. and i'm fairly new to fish keeping, but was wondering why when i toggled the activated carbon question to "yes" it lowered my stocking potential (i.e. giving me more potential). i thought that really only dealt w/ chemicals and wouldn't have a bearing on the health of the fish (unless chemicals are being added to the tank and needed removal).
5. i assumed that the GPH was a straight up total for those running two filters (e.g. i have one at 200 & one at 300GPH, so i put in 500GPH). - EDIT: YOU ALREADY ANSWERED THAT IN THE INITIAL POST TO THIS THREAD.

i don't even know if i mentioned that i think this is great!!! i'm definitely going to use this....repeatedly. i think it's pretty user friendly. i'll give you more advice as i use it, if you'd like. take it as constructive criticism, because i already think it's pretty good as it is right now. also, please post if you develop further iterations. are you in school, using this (all of your research) as a project or something? if not, you got to get it posted somewhere...and like i said before, all that research makes a nice technical paper.

                                                       

Check out my fish blog... http://www.fishchannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=54666

Check out my fish blog... http://www.fishchannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=54666

First, IFUs refer to Ideal Fish Units and are a relative measure of a fish's biological signature. There are a few things that the spreadsheet knows to help it calculate IFUs accurately: 1) the portion of the fish's overall length that has a biological effect (the spreadsheet omits the tail length from the overall length that you type in), 2) the relative proportions of the fish (tall or wide fish displace more IFUs than skinny fish), 3) and the dietary habits of the fish (predatory fish tend to make a mess when they eat and therefore have a larger bio-signature). The spreadsheet already accounts for all these parameters when you type in how many and the adult size of a particular species you plan on keeping.

Second, the A Total denotes how relatively aggressive a fish (or group of fish) is. This serves as a means of telling how likely fish are to coexist well with each other. If you punch in one 4-inch african cichlid and one 4-inch tetra into the spreadsheet, you will see that the A total for the tetra is 63.67 units while the total for the cichlid is 216.81 units. Thus, as the cichlid is nearly four times more aggressive than the tetra, they probably would not be good tank mates. Also, the A Total is used in calculating your aquarium's aggression rating.

As to your suggestions (which I do appreciate):

1. A cleanliness scale from 1 to 10 would make more sense, but the calculation that the spreadsheet uses wouldn't understand such values because the values correlate directly to monthly percentages. Additionally, that particular field was meant to be an either/or field--meaning you type in either 3 or 8, but no intermediate values (sorry, I didn't define that initially). It's kinda like the activated carbon field--"0" if you don't use carbon and "1" if you do.
2. Actually, plecos and algae eaters are in the spreadsheet in that they fall into the category of "Herbivorous Catfish." I apologize for not mentioning that earlier. The reason why I used this heading instead of "plecos" or "algae eaters" is that it accounts for otocinclus and farwolla species as well, thus reducing the number of entries required and the number of calculations that the spreadsheet has to do. If it still bothers you, I can rename the field (tell me if you would prefer this).
3. I'll consider adding another worksheet that would list all the specifics that go into each calculation, but my worry is that it might be too complicated for the average person to understand--that was the problem with my earlier posts and some people still think that the spreadsheet is too complex.
4. Activated carbon does increase stocking potential a little because it can absorb certain nitrogen-based ions that result from the fish waste, but adding activated carbon will not affect stocking potential as much as buying a bigger, more powerful filter will.
5. Ok, you already noticed my edit in my first post.

Lastly, I really appreciate your advice and I will be making revisions. Also, I am enrolled in college currently, but since I am majoring in mathematics and minoring in physical science all this research has pretty much been for the sake of the hobby; I just want people to have a better idea of what to expect than the genral rules create.

Question: Do you think that the value that the activated carbon field returns is too high and do you think I should rename the herbivorous catfish to account for the common names of pleco and algae eater?

Thanks!!!!!

Check Out the Freshwater Stocking Guide: http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic132702-5-1.aspx

MOA's: How Many Fish: http://sites.google.com/site/moashowmanyfish/

1. 3 or 8....got it. Putting in any number in that range also seemed to work though. The percent cleanliness just increased as you dropped it from 8 down to 3.
2. Got it. I'm still fairly new to the hobby. For other newbies, maybe you could put one example in parenthesis (e.g. algae eaters) to attract their attention to that cell.
3. I could see that. As it stands now though, I don't think it's too complex.
4. The difference in me using the activated carbon or not was only 2% difference in my stocking potential.....so I wouldn't change it as the effect is minor.

i'll let you know if i think of anything else as i'm using it.....keep up  the nice work!

                                                       

Check out my fish blog... http://www.fishchannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=54666