Stocking a 180 gallon tank

[Rafaelpadro24]

Hello everyone, just about over withmy tank cycling. 180 gallons with a lifereef berlin sump,protein skimmer and refugium. My question is how many fishes can I put in now and not cause any issues with the bioload.

 

[laxer23]

It's not so much how many, but the size/ feeding habits of the fish you want. For example you could put like 80 chromis in there and be fine, but a fewer amount of a larger messy fish would be a problem. I'm looking at a 180 myself until I get a bigger house, and was thinking 3 tangs, some fairy/flasher wrasses maybe a leapord wrasse, a small mixed anthias school of like 7-9 fish. couple clowns, a bangaii cardinal. So you could do something similar, as long as you have good nutrient export.

 

[thewedge]

My only advice is to take it slow and give time for the tank to achieve balance. I would not dump 10 fish in all at once or anything like that. For my tank, I added 3-4 fish at a time. I'm still only at a dozen fish in my 133gal over the course of a year, but I have so far avoided any major issue with the uglies.

 

[dstockwell]

All depends on what you want. Predator or not, or look at the compatibility list. You have enough tank to house a big selection, just not a bunch at one time.