How's my stocking level?

[John Minnix]

Hello,

I'm 12 months into the hobby and have been gradually adding fish to my reef tank all year. I have a 133 gallon display tank with a 32 gallon sump / refugium. I've got two QT tanks up currently (20 gallon and 10 gallon) and have been QTing each new addition for about a month.

I currently have the following:

2 x Ocellaris clown
2 x Kaudern's cardinal
2 x Blue green chromis (I got these first to make sure the tank was ready to add fish after I did a fishless cycle with ammonia for a month)
1 x Royal gramma
1 x Firefish goby
1 x Yellow tang
2 x Lyretail anthias (I bought three, but one died in QT)
1 x Flame hawkfish
1 x Ornate wrasse (It might also be called a Christmas wrasse. There seems to be confusion on this both at the LFS and the internet. It seems to be a smaller wrasse and not one of the ones that gets huge.)
1 x Yellow coris wrasse

In my 10 gallon QT, I have two more lyretail anthias, as one in my display is clearly turning male and I understand it is best to have a 3 female to 1 male ratio.

Today, I picked up an amazing looking white tail bristletooth tang as an impulse buy as it was 50% off and looks awesome. I plan for that to be my last fish, unless I get some sort of sand sifting goby to clean the sand bed.

I've been doing a 15 gallon water change weekly. I've got a pretty heavy duty skimmer, as well. I've thus far had no deaths in the display tank and nitrates remain at or near zero (the color looks like zero to me).

I believe I'm at capacity, but am I over capacity once I add the three fish in the QTs? Is a 15 gallon weekly change sufficient?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Sounds like you’ve gone pretty slowly and methodically, so congrats on that. It seems like stocking-wise, you’re probably finished after your new additions— but what are your tank dimensions, especially length (swim room)? The sump, for example, is great to help with your water quality, but it’s not swim room. Those are my thoughts, anyway.

 

[John Minnix]

Sounds like you’ve gone pretty slowly and methodically, so congrats on that. It seems like stocking-wise, you’re probably finished after your new additions— but what are your tank dimensions, especially length (swim room)? The sump, for example, is great to help with your water quality, but it’s not swim room. Those are my thoughts, anyway.

Its a Red Sea 625 XXL. It says its 58.3 inches long, 25.6 wide and 23.6 high. Thanks for the input!

 

[JumboShrimp]

... and just be aware that you’ve probably come right up against the edge of the dreaded “Impulse Zone.” (We’ve all been there.) That’s when the ‘just-one-more’ impulse fish can take you over the edge, from a perfectly balanced tank, into ‘Tankageddon!’ :mad:

 

[PDR]

You're definitely at the upper limit, but I think you'll be fine. Just make sure to keep an eye on nutrient levels. If you don't have a social acclimation box I definitely recommend getting one before adding the second tang.