How many fish can I safely add at one time??

[chort55]

I have a 180g, with a 100g rubbermaid sump (roughly 75-80g of actual water volume), and a 30 cube all plumbed together. I have an aquaeuro 400 skimmer that runs like crazy and pulls thick nasty gunk like you wouldn't believe (well with my current feeding and stock u might lol)... cheato doesn't grow, I dose vodka and mb-7.

Currently I have 10 or 11 fish.... 3 of which are "bigger" fish that are 4-6". I am looking to add several large groups/ harems.... thinking a nice 5-7 group of lyretail anthias, and probably several different wrasses either pairs, maybe even a trio or 2. As far as wrasses go thinking 1-2 fairy (maybe pink margin, exquisite, orange back), and maybe a trio+ of leopards (may go with larger amount and do several from the regular, black and a potters or two if I can get them all at the same time). If I have to I can break all this up into a few sets of additions but I would like to knock as many out in one shot as I can safely!

 

[_Alex_]

you could do the 5-7 anthias and im sure many people do a lot more than that at once, but i personally would do that many and then wait a few weeks before adding more to give the tank a few weeks to catch up on bio load.

 

[chort55]

I have easily 250g of water volume, and with dosing mb-7 and vodka do you think the bio-load increase would actually be a big deal?

Also, until about 2-3 months ago I was just running a prism pro skimmer and the tank has been running for about a year and a half now.... so my system is probably still fairly well used to having alot of crap in it :squigglemouth:

 

[soccerbag]

Alex is spot on with the Anthias. You can and should add them all at once. Just know that you will need to feed Anthias many times per day (at least 3) for best results. I would have them in your tank for at least a month to monitor, not only the new fish, but any stress signs to the existing fish. If you can't QT this is the only way to go. I would add the wrasses but would listen to some of the wrasse experts here (Brad Syphus is first to come to mind) as some are more aggressive than others - I doubt you would want to add multiple species at once but I am not a wrasse expert by any stretch.

Most of the wrasses will likely bury for a day or more once they get into the tank. And make sure you have a top on your tank! While I know it would be easier to add as many as you can all at once, I would recommend taking it slow. It only takes one fish to get stressed and the rest of the tank can follow suit (Ich, velvet, etc). All to save a little time? Not worth it : )

Sounds like a really nice bioload though. Can't wait to see it all once adjusted!