Maximizing how many fish you keep in a tank....

[lewis.maryann08]

Where is a good place to buy fish?

 

[lewis.maryann08]

Where is a good place to buy fish?

 

[Myka]

To over simplify...

"The nitrate in my tank is 40 ppm" -> tank is overstocked
"The nitrate in my tank is 0.5 ppm" -> the tank may be able to house more fish
"I'm nitrate dosing daily just to keep a whiff" -> the tank is quite likely able to house more fish

** You could say the same thing subbing "nitrate" for "phosphate". **

Imo, "overstocked" means the tank has more fish than the system can effectively handle, and "crowded" means the tank has more fish than is traditionally acceptable.

"What the system can effectively handle" is a direct relation to the following major things: amount of food the person feels the fish and other animals need, the size/effectiveness of the skimmer, the size/effectiveness of waterchanges (simply take water out, put back in isn't very effective), flow within the tank, and rock formations.

A barebottom tank with minimal rock formations touching the bottom, high flow, and unobstructed flow with a massive skimmer, biopellets, and effective hands-on waterchanges can support a heck of a lot more fish than a skimmerless, 3" sandbed with a giant rock wall formation, water out/water in waterchange system with an owner than feeds the snot out of the fish 5x per day.

 

[sheepdog76]

I just got back in to saltwater about a year now after a long break for my wallet. I jumped in with a BC29 and it wasn't long before I decided to run canister because of the fact I like to push the bioload factor. In the BC I have Protein skim in 1, micro with air stone and fuge light in 2 and my heater and intake in 3 and my output is going into the tank. my numbers stay so stable I can swear by them with exception of PH which will flux a point here or there no big drops and never to a dangerous level 8.33-8.15. Nh4 goes up only when I feed from 0 to .004-6 and with in 30 mins to an hour is back to 0. O2 is always 8.1 . temp always 77.9. phosphate .25 and salinity 1.025. As Myka had stated there is a difference between "overstocked" and "crowded" and with filter technics and equipment today and knowledge it is much easier to push your bioload and get a way with it per say. I have a "crowded" BC. I have a lot of rock and a deep sand bed that I never have to clean. I never have any kind of build up other then a film on the glass ever now and then and the coraline I let grow in the back. I have lots of crabs and snails of all kinds because they all do their own thing for clean up. I clams that came as hitch hikers. 2 serpent stars, 3 shrimp, electric flame scallop all doing their part for cleaning.Fish I have coral beauty, Fire fish, Purple Fire fish, Zebra Gobie, Watchman, Stary, Green goby (somewhere haven't seen him in a month), six line, carpenter wrasse, Blue devil Damsel, Splendid Dotty and three mini carpets. And LOTS of Coral (Zoa, Kenya,leathers, Candy, Goniporas, GSP ect) most of all of this has been in the tank and happy for over 6 months now. I added very slow. None of them bully or fight and corals don't get picked on either as you would think with some of my choices. It all is a working bio sphere in a way and yes pushes all laws of what is said you can have in a tank. I QT each fish before it was added and dipped all coral and most I watch in the store for a week or so. and YES before any one jumps on me for my stocking I know they will grow and already have a 75 to transplant everything to in 6-10 months from now. So I guess What I would say is what you can stock is all relative to your knowledge and equipment just keep in mind every fish is different and may react different when stress is involved .

 

[RoyalGrammaJohn]

What I do is any fish that gets 4 inches or under , 1 fish per 10 gallons of aquarium space, any fish that gets between 4 inches and no more than 6 inches 1 fish per 15 gallons any fish that gets over 6 inches to just under 8inches 1 fish per 20 gallons, and 8 inches and over 1 fish per 30 to 40 gallons. So a 45 gallons assuming after displacement from rock and sand say 40 gallons. So no fish over 4 inches should be in that tank. So four fish that are no more than 4 inches would be fully stocked. This is also a safe and conservative way of stocking an aquarium but it's a good guide line

 

[Todd A.]

In regards to the "How Many Fish" calculator (link provided in previous post);
I don't understand why it doesn't calculate height (or water depth) of the aquarium. I have a 55 gal with basically the same length and width as my 90 gal, with the 90g being substantially taller. Considering that different types of fish occupy different levels in the water column, even in the micro-environment of a aquarium, common sense says the 90g should be able to safely stock more fish than the 55g. I'm certainly not trying to knock the valuable info that this calculator can provide, I just don't understand how their math works. Am I wrong in my assumptions about the water depth?

And really, there probably isn't any one sure fire way to determine how many fish (or any living organisms) can be kept in any one aquarium. You have to consider everything suggested above and figure it out as best you can. All of our goals are pretty much the same; to have something beautiful to observe, nurture and grow while making ourselves and the inhabitants healthy and happy for as many years as possible.

 

[DracoKat]

When you say "1 fish per X gallons".. whatever gallons that may be.. does that count for sump gallons as well, or just the DT gallons?

 

[CarrieB]

In regards to the "How Many Fish" calculator (link provided in previous post);
I don't understand why it doesn't calculate height (or water depth) of the aquarium. I have a 55 gal with basically the same length and width as my 90 gal, with the 90g being substantially taller. Considering that different types of fish occupy different levels in the water column, even in the micro-environment of a aquarium, common sense says the 90g should be able to safely stock more fish than the 55g. I'm certainly not trying to knock the valuable info that this calculator can provide, I just don't understand how their math works. Am I wrong in my assumptions about the water depth.

From the page: This calculator uses "surface area" to determine fish stock levels rather than gallons or litres. This is better than a calculator that uses volume alone, such as the common how many fish per gallon rule. (Reference: The Complete Aquarium by Peter W. Scott.) The surface of your aquarium is where oxygen diffuses into the water. The more surface area, the more easily oxygen diffuses, and therefore the more fish your aquarium will support

 

[CarrieB]

I would think that surface area of the sump should be included since that also enables oxygen diffusion.

The calculator doesn't address the impact of a skimmer.

 

[roger saltwaters]

Ok update time. I now have 10 super healthy fish in my little fish prison. They all get along well and everything seems to be going great for quite some time now. Here is what I have.

Mated pair of Black Snowflake Clowns
1 adult lyretail Anthia
1 adult Evansi Anthia
1 pj Cardinal
1 adult Firefish Goby
1 adult 6 line
1 adult Starry Blenny
1 Juvenile Azure Damsel
1 Blue Star Damsel

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, the number of fish that should be put into a reef tank has a great deal to do with how many it can support in an emergency (like a power failure or main pump failure, etc.) and much less to do with how many it can support when everything is functioning perfectly.

Almost everyone will eventually suffer some sort of emergency, and this fact should be taken into account when stocking.

 

[roger saltwaters]

IMO, the number of fish that should be put into a reef tank has a great deal to do with how many it can support in an emergency (like a power failure or main pump failure, etc.) and much less to do with how many it can support when everything is functioning perfectly.

Almost everyone will eventually suffer some sort of emergency, and this fact should be taken into account when stocking.

Hadn't thought about that. Good point. I kinda plan on setting up some kind of power failure contingency plan soon.

 

[Paul B]

The question is where does this goal - as many fish as I can- rank in comparison to these goals:

Happy, healthy, stress free fish
Low maintenance
Robust ecosystem that doesn't crash swiftly when something goes wrong (equipment or maintenance failure)

Personally, these three are much more important than having a few extra fish, so yes, I'm conservative.

As I see it, the problem is there's no neon sign that says "no vacancy" to warn you to stop, just a dirty tank and/or dead fish.

I agree with this

IMO, the number of fish that should be put into a reef tank has a great deal to do with how many it can support in an emergency (like a power failure or main pump failure, etc.) and much less to do with how many it can support when everything is functioning perfectly.

Almost everyone will eventually suffer some sort of emergency, and this fact should be taken into account when stocking.

Randy has a good point. Occasionally he does that. The emergency thing is a big factor. Surface area is normally the determining factor but that varies on how much circulation you have and how much the surface is agitated. In a power failure it is not agitated at all. Another big factor is that most of the fish we buy are babies, and fish grow very fast and can get huge. I buy all my fish very small and they normally live out their normal lifespan which could be anywhere from 10 to 25 years. In that time, they get big. I have about 25 fish in a 100 gallon long tank. I have way to much bioload because I was stupid and bought too many small fish. (like I always do) My copperband was the size of a quarter when I got him, now he is about 5". My watchman was an inch, now he is 5". All the fish grow and can be 500 times the bio load as adults.
I have never lost fish in a power outage but I was always home and invented ways to move the water by other means. If I were away, I would have lost my tank many times.