How many "Fish per Gallon" do you have?

[-Logzor]

I'm just curious how heavily stocked everyone's tank is. Please base your gallons on the display gallons ONLY and not full system gallon. Thanks!

This will require some math....fish/gallons. The result will most likely not be a whole number unless your tank is very heavily stocked...

While I understand that inches of fish per gallon might be a better determinate in "tank overcrowding" I feel that typically most people's fish end up averaging out to similar lengths. I did not use this metric because I'm also curious how many different "personalities" people are able to keep in a single aquarium.

I'm working on this theory that fish and their moment around corals is critical in how SPS and other corals feed and remove waste. In our home systems powerheads play this role (flow) but I'm trying to figure out how large of a role fish play in the equation. If you watch the above video fish are totally packed around some of the SPS corals. The movement of the fish is creating "flow" for the corals(allowing them to feed/expel waste).

To add to that, the fish would be practically pooping right into the coral, providing nutrients directly to the corals.


[video=youtube;wbNeIn3vVKM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbNeIn3vVKM[/video]

 

[cdness]

Just so you have some more data:

5 Chromis, 4 Clowns, 2 medium size tangs, 1 Goby, 1 Blenny, 1 Anthias, 1 Cleaner Wrasse, 1 Royal Gramma = 16 fish in a 125G display tank = .128 fish per gallon

Inches per gallon would be pretty hard as my fish won't stay still long enough to get a good head to tip of tail measurement

 

[-Logzor]

Just so you have some more data:

5 Chromis, 4 Clowns, 2 medium size tangs, 1 Goby, 1 Blenny, 1 Anthias, 1 Cleaner Wrasse, 1 Royal Gramma = 16 fish in a 125G display tank = .128 fish per gallon

Inches per gallon would be pretty hard as my fish won't stay still long enough to get a good head to tip of tail measurement

Thank you! That's perfect. I posted this same poll on my local forum and found that most people have very lightly stocked tanks. I was kind of surprised.

 

[bct15]

15 in a 150, but have two more coming tomorrow so 17/150 = .113

The list for size comparison
5 chromis
2 clownfish
2 royal grammas
3 tangs
1 mandarin
1 yellow wrasse
1 hoevens wrasse
1 radiant wrasse
1 Kaudern cardinal

What do you considered lightly stocked?


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[-Logzor]

I consider anything under .10 lightly stocked. So far from my research I've found that .20 is probably the ideal stocking level for a "full looking" reef.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Mine is low when you consider 6 fish in a 120 gallon, but one is a clown trigger, so when he's fully grown his size and bioload will be like that of 5 fish at least lol. I keep SPS and have a small skimmer for my tank (it's rated for a max of 120 g and typically people get skimmers rated for twice the size of their tanks).

 

[-Logzor]

Mine is low when you consider 6 fish in a 120 gallon, but one is a clown trigger, so when he's fully grown his size and bioload will be like that of 5 fish at least lol. I keep SPS and have a small skimmer for my tank (it's rated for a max of 120 g and typically people get skimmers rated for twice the size of their tanks).

Thanks Sarah, that's a really good point about having one larger fish that might be equal to many smaller fish bio-load wise.

I suppose I'm not terribly concerned about too much bio-load. In fact I feel the opposite way. I feel that with the advances in skimmers, algae-scrubber, carbon dosing, bio-pellets, our "war on bio" is backfiring in many instances. While I agree with aggressive skimming and nutrient removal, I feel that we don't contuanally put enough back into the system and keeping the cycle going.

In addition to the bioload factors, the idea we refer to as "fish feeding our corals with their poop", I'm trying to figure out if there is a piece of the equation we're missing, some natural phenomena where somehow the corals benefit just from fish swimming in and around them, as seen in the video in my first post.

 

[1.0reef]

3 in 19 gallon- haven't got them yet but I will.

 

[-Logzor]

For what it's worth, for anyone with a .20 or above please post your opinion about how "full" you think your reef is and if there are any problems you encounter relating to having so many fish.

 

[PaulKreider]

1 False Perc clown (1.75in), 1 Onyx clown (1.25in), 2 Lyre Tail Anthias (2.5in), 1 Hawaiian Yellow tang(3.5in), 1 Yellow barrel Chested Twist Wrasse (2.15in), 1 Starry Eye Blenny (3.5in) 55gal tank

 

[-Logzor]

OK who had .30 to .35. That's a lot of fish!

 

[icedearth15324]

Temporarily, I have 3 fish in a 12 gallon, so .25 stocking. I have 2 clowns and a sixline. And I personally think the tank seems stocked. There's always things moving around, and always something to look at.

Besides dominance fighting between the clowns, I see no aggression between the fish. And I do weekly water changes, and have had zero issues with waste.

 

[ohio reefer]

Lubbocks wrasse. Bi color wrasse, 2 black onxy clowns. Diamond watchmen and a unknown damsel. In a 55 so .10 per gallon


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[amppdx]

DT is a 29g. Fish load is: perc clown (2.5"), pygmy cherub angel (2.5"), Watchman goby (3"), green chromis (3") six line wrasse (2.5").
5 fish in a 29g is 0.17 fish/gal.
I feel like the tank is very healthy, almost completely softies though, but very minimal algae in spite of heavy feeding and a 175W MH on a pretty small tank. I would say the biggest issue in the tank with regards to the fish is aggression. This crew has managed to find respect for each other, but I would not add another fish due to fears of territory and aggression issues harming the new comer.

Edit: The green chromis is constantly trying to bite my arm when I am in the tank

 

[AZDesertRat]

6 fish, 100 gallons.
I never go over 6 or 7 total and always consider their full grown adult size and special requirements when stocking as I have had many fish live past 13 years in my systems.

 

[Bartmmackey]

Do you give any consideration to shrimp or crabs like emeralds.

I think this is a great study and am very interested. It appears the folks in the Asian countries load the tanks much heavier than we do.

 

[-Logzor]

Do you give any consideration to shrimp or crabs like emeralds.

I think this is a great study and am very interested. It appears the folks in the Asian countries load the tanks much heavier than we do.

I am not currently considering inverts, just fish. If you have any video examples of highly stocked tanks please post them

Ultimately I'm trying to find a connection between fish load and success of SPS corals.

 

[oceanparadise1]

3 fish 29 gallons...

.10-.15 range

 

[tbone74]

2 percs
2 tomato clowns
1 sailfin tang
1 powder blue tang
1 yellow tang
1 regal tang
1 six line wrasse
1 yellow coris wrasse
1 yellow watchman
1 pixy hawk
1 starry blenny
1 purple psudochromis

14 fish, 240 gal display = .0583

I feel my tank is overstocked or at least right to the point... my tangs are all about 3"

 

[Rikerbear]

Number of fish is really only half the equation...the other half is SIZE of the fish.
I think a slightly better question would be inches of fish per gallon.

In my 29 gal: 5 inches of fish
In my 16 gal: 1 inch of fish