Question about number of fish/inverts/corals

[warpdrvr]

Hey all:

So I am putting together an 80 gallon tank. I'm not sure how many fish to stock with along with the cuc and corals. I plan to only keep reef-safe, peaceful type fish. So, what's a good number of fish to have, along with the cuc and corals? Only LPS and Softies for coral at this point. I'm getting a 20ish gallon sump/refugium for it if that helps at all. It's just I have no clue how to bio load this thing so I don't overstock.

 

[Steelheader09]

I think size is going to be more important than number. If you have smaller fish you can have more, if you are stocking larger ones, then the need space to move around. I would start with a low number of cuc at first, or you will just be feeding them. Remember to try to stock only a couple fish at most at a time. The bacteria need to adjust to the new bioload. That also brings me to the next point, make sure you filtration can handle the number of fish you have as well.

 

[BeejReef]

yeah, with Steelheader09 advise in mind, I'd pay more attention to the order of the additions and their compatibility with each other.

you probably have 3-5 fish you know you want real bad. research them very well. figure out who has to be added before who and how mature of a system they require. You can always add blue chromis and cardinals.. lol One day the tank will look full enough to you, and you're done

I've had more fun with CUC than the fish. Again, easier to sprinkle them in as needed. That way you can tailor your CUC members to the type and location of algae as it presents itself.

Corals is more about total mass than number of. I doubt it's possible to put so many frags into a system that it would be overloaded. It's just that they'll grow into each other. Again, some need more mature tank than others. You'll have a lot of flexibility with mostly lps and softies

 

[foxt]

As others have already said, it all depends on what you want in the tank. There are many things to consider, which after you factor our cost and availability, seem to boil down to carrying capacity of the biofilter, how fast something might grow, and species compatibility.

Make yourself a wishlist of everything you want in the tank. Rule out the things that won't get along or will get too big. As was said earlier, the "final" list will start to mandate a stocking order. As you add animals, you'll be able to track your water parameters to tell when you are pushing the biofilter too hard and need to back off or expand your filter, etc.

There are lots of threads with stock list advice. This one has been around a long time, and I refer to it when thinking about new additions to my tank. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...for-your-tank-post-here-and-well-help.200605/

And oh by the way, it's never a "final" list!