Hey how many fish in a 30 gallon?

[Natescorals]

Would 2 clownfish be enough? I heard that corals can die if there aren’t enough fish is this true?

 

[Wolf89]

Would 2 clownfish be enough? I heard that corals can die if there aren’t enough fish is this true?

They just need nutrients. Not fish. You can have no fish but if you still put a little food in you would be fine

 

[ScottB]

Corals needs some nutrition in the tank and fish are the natural source of ammonia, nitrates and phosphates. Adult clowns can create enough waste to feed some amount of corals. And you can supplement the system with coral foods to meet the rest. In a natural reef environment, it takes both corals and fish to make a healthy reef.

Most people like more moving creatures in the tank and you have hundreds of options. You might want to think about what other fish species you MAY wish to have in the future. Clowns can also be rather territorial and resistant to new tankmates, so adding the more docile species first is safer.

 

[DeniseAndy]

In a 30g you have choices of many cool little fish. If you decide on clowns, you are more limited IMO because of who will get along and when you add them. In my 28g, I had a mated pair that would not let any new fish in once established and breeding. So, remember that if you do add clowns.
If you stick with small species, you can have lots of fish if you so want. Such cool little goby species and some blennies.
What corals and other inverts are you getting or have?

 

[vlangel]

My tank is bigger but I have blennies and gobies and they are such fun little fish. Barnacle and eyebrow blennies are very interesting. Some of the combtooth blennies are cool plus they help with filamentous algae which can be a nuisance. I have citron gobies and a yellow watchman but there are so many fascinating varieties. I can not imagine my reef without my fish.

 

[fish farmer]

I have three fish in a 29 gallon. A pair of clowns and a sixline wrasse. That's it for fish for me unless it was something tiny like neon gobies.

Just be mindful of the adult sizes of the fish you get. They need room to grow, 4 small fish might be fine when they are young but be too big when they are adults and this is regarding feeding as well. Say you have to feed a full cube of food to keep your 4 fish fed, but that causes nutrient issues in a small tank.

 

[Natescorals]

I have three fish in a 29 gallon. A pair of clowns and a sixline wrasse. That's it for fish for me unless it was something tiny like neon gobies.

Just be mindful of the adult sizes of the fish you get. They need room to grow, 4 small fish might be fine when they are young but be too big when they are adults and this is regarding feeding as well. Say you have to feed a full cube of food to keep your 4 fish fed, but that causes nutrient issues in a small tank.

I had a six line wrasse with the 2 clowns but i took him out he was very aggressive towards the clowns trying to kill them. i even got the clowns before i got the six line. he would constanly chase and bully the clowns.

 

[fish farmer]

I had a six line wrasse with the 2 clowns but i took him out he was very aggressive towards the clowns trying to kill them. i even got the clowns before i got the six line. he would constanly chase and bully the clowns.

Before my sixline I had a royal gramma, that was a good fish for me. He would hold his ground with the clowns but not be a bully.

 

[Natescorals]

yeah the six line was bad. Even though they are beautiful fish

 

[Gernader]

Going to add a Banggai cardinal and royal gramma with a single clownfish and a wrasse in my 29g reef. For inverts, you should add a cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp if you do not have them!

 

[Natescorals]

Going to add a Banggai cardinal and royal gramma with a single clownfish and a wrasse in my 29g reef. For inverts, you should add a cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp if you do not have them!

My cleaner shrimp killed one of my hammer corals. tore away the flesh ill never get another one

 

[Gernader]

My cleaner shrimp killed one of my hammer corals. tore away the flesh ill never get another one

Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that. My shrimps are model citizens

 

[Natescorals]

Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that. My shrimps are model citizens

Whenever I spot fed the hammer it would jump on top of it and completely rip open the mouth and steal all the food and it damaged the tissue and flesh. I should have taken him out the first time I saw him doing that but I didn’t I let it happen too many times til it was finally too late

 

[Victor_C3]

Just for generalities, I’ve found that five 3”-4” fish was always the sweet spot in my 30 gallon tanks of the past. Whenever I tried to add a sixth, one fish would invariably die.