12 inch rule

[jenny]

I have seen alot of posts about how many axy's in this/that size tank and the general rule seems to be 1 axy per 12 inches of tank.

Now can somebody tell me is this 1 axy per 12 inch 'square' of floor space?

as my tank is 20 inch from front to back and 48 inch long

 

[joan]

It's 12 linear inches along the longest part of the tank. So a 48 inch tank can keep 4 adult axies.

 

[jennifer]

I suspect that the 12-inch rule assumes that the tank is 12 inches front-to-back, as this is standard. If the tank is 48 x 20", then it could *theoretically* fit more animals (5 or 6), but you would also need to provide more hiding places.

The problem you could have is that, although the water capacity may be OK for 6 axies, they will all tend to "hang out" in the favorite spot(s), so they will tend to interact more closely even though the tank is huge. Depending on the personalities involved, this could be fine, or not.

 

[jenny]

Thank you