How many fish is too many?

[Paulie069]

I have 2 clowns for my 32g. I’m wondering how many more fish I can add moving forward. I’ve seen videos that discuss this and say 1 fish per 5g to 10g. 1 fish x 10g seems very conservative. Thinking 6-8 is realistic.

I have 11 fish and 12 seahorses plus a large cleanup crew in a 65 gallon set up and I’ve never had a problem with overcrowding or anything like that but there is a lot of poop lots of sock changes

 

[Scott Mayberry]

I have 2 clowns for my 32g. I’m wondering how many more fish I can add moving forward. I’ve seen videos that discuss this and say 1 fish per 5g to 10g. 1 fish x 10g seems very conservative. Thinking 6-8 is realistic.

All things under the sun are possible. While I agree with the " what is best for the animal" philosophy, I have, during an emergency, kept a 1 foot eel, a 5 inch trigger, a three inch clown, and a5 inch pufferfish in a 20 gal, with an FX 4 filter, and kept ammonia levels under .01ppmfor two months (feel loves his silver sides too). All are fine and residing in much larger environments more suitable towards their natural environments, including my rapist clown and three anneomes.

While I would never recommend this, the point is with aggressive filtering, you can do more with a smaller tank.

Repeating others, research your fish and make them happy, all else, tank size, habitat should follow.

Happy reefing and best to you.

 

[NashobaTek]

This is entirely tongue in cheek humor, but to many is when you have to shoe horn that last one in.

Seriously though it depends on how much your biological filtration can handle, if they're all tiny gobies blennies probably more than you think.

 

[Dburr1014]

I lost power last night. It's time like this that I am happy I'm understocked in my 75 g. Only 5 fish.
If the power goes out for 5-6 hours they are fine. O2 will deplete quicker with more fish.
Longer than that I worry but I am usually home by then to start the generator.
Something to keep in mind when doing a stocking list.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I had 9 or 10 in my 34 gal for 6 years. I had a pair of clowns, orange stripe prawn goby w/ pistol shrimp, and 6 or 7 small 1" gobies made up of Eviota and Trimma species. The small gobies don't have a very long life span. (5 to 6 years)

 

[Injoynit]

I was always told 1" of fish per gallon. That is final fish size.
Two clowns would equal 6 inches of fish because when fully grown they should be 3 inches each.
So, 32 gal - 6 = 26 inches of fish left.
Don't know how well that works. Take with a grain of salt.
I think a better way would be square inches of fish.
The same inches for clowns (3x1 each). But for tangs (Whole other problem with needed swimming space, but using as an example) They are 5x4 inches grown then that's 20 inches.
This leaves only 6 inches of fish left to put in tank to max fish. (2 clowns + 1 tang + 6 inches of more fish = 32 gallon tank)

Sorry, a lot of talk for not being sure ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

I have 11 fish and 12 seahorses plus a large cleanup crew in a 65 gallon set up and I’ve never had a problem with overcrowding or anything like that but there is a lot of poop lots of sock changes

Seahorses? I thought they had to be kept alone? I take it they are not dwarfs.

 

[Paulie069]

Seahorses? I thought they had to be kept alone? I take it they are not dwarfs.

All H.Erectus and nothing bothers them,, ever

 

[Paul B]

Seahorses? I thought they had to be kept alone? I take it they are not dwarfs.

People keep them alone because they are slow feeders and if kept with almost anything will not get enough food.

 

[HB AL]

For me it's as simple as having ALOT rock. The more rock the more fish allowing your biological filter to do its job beyond what it can handle. A minimalist reef tank cannot have as many fish as one full of live rocks unless you have a large sump with tons of rocks and a skimmer of course. I figured this out a long time ago thus I have a ton of rocks in my reef and ALOT of fish.

 

[jim_fitz]

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