# of fish??? Help!

[sslarison]

How many fish do you reccomend for a 50 gal reef with a 20 gal sump? 60 lbs of live rock, 3 inches of live sand, assorted corals. :?

 

[danmhippo]

Depends on what you want to keep. What do you have in mind?

 

[Will C1]

depends on what kinds of fish you like. if you like dotty back and that sort you could put a lot more of them in a tank that size as compared to angels or triggers and such.

 

[sslarison]

I have a Yellow tang and a Percula Clown. Any reccomendations? Im thinking about a dottyback. But how many fish (small to medium) can my tank support?

 

[Will C1]

you could probably put like 3 or 4 dotty back in depending on the species. but watch out for the tang police there gonna be after you for the yellow in a tank that size. 8O

 

[sslarison]

When they buy my fish they can tell me what to put in my tank. 8)

 

[danmhippo]

You could put nother percula in your tank. Depending on the current size of your percula, if yours is 3" or larger, then get a significantly smaller percula. Percula change sex to female when they are dominant of the pack, so you need to get a small one to pair up with it.

You could also get another flasher wrass, they tend to stay at small size. Pseudochromis or dottyback is good. So are various gobies.

 

[Leopardshark]

When they buy my fish they can tell me what to put in my tank

So if you´re not going to listen for suggestions and comments, why the heck do you bother asking if your gonna do what ever you want?

 

[brewerbob]

How about "When they buy my fish they can tell me what NOT to put in my tank"?

I think he is looking for advice not emotions.

Just my 2 cents.

By the way, is there a secret formula for the amount of fish that is safe in a tank?

x lbs of fish per y gallons or.....

x inches of fish per y gallons

I'm looking for a general rule of thumb, not something like tangs need a lot of room to swim, the albino single fin snot sucker has a higher oxygen requirement.

 

[reefNewbie]

5 gallons of water to 1in fish

 

[Anonymous]

Some of the dottybacks can be quite nasty. Orchid is beautiful and the one I had was very peaceful. Sunrise I have heard is docile also.

As mentioned, flasher wrasses are really cool- they jump out of open tanks though. Gobies and blennies are always good.

A smallish tank will seem bigger if you put small fish in it.

 

[beerbaron]

When they buy my fish they can tell me what to put in my tank. 8)

then dont ask us what to put in your tank if we cant tell you what to put in your tank.

By the way, is there a secret formula for the amount of fish that is safe in a tank?

not really because all fish are different. my clownfish of X size have never even seen the right side of my tank. however on the other hand, a tang of the same size would not have enough room. also, if you have a 100 gallon tank with crap for skimming, you wont pe able to keep as many fish as a 50 with killer skimming.

I'm looking for a general rule of thumb, not something like tangs need a lot of room to swim

well you wont find one.

5 gallons of water to 1in fish

sorry reefnewbie but when a tang gets to 10" a 50 gallon tank is to small.
BB

 

[sslarison]

Brewerbob and Beerbaron,
I thought it was obvious that i was asking for suggestions but I guess I was wrong. Also, I would be willing to bet that niether one of you have put to use all of the advice you've recieved on this site. I guess from now on when you two genius's are logged in here Ill be more detailed. Everyone else thank you for your suggestions. :wink:

 

[JohnRogan]

I agree with sslarison...the reason newbies use this is for POLITE suggestions and comments, not to have self proclaimed experts try and prove how much they know and force their beliefs on the rest of the world.

 

[teevee]

5 gallons of water to 1in fish

so you're saying i can put 37 4" anthias in my 150 gal? doesn't seem right.

 

[sslarison]

Thanks, JohnRogan I Knew someone had to see it the way I do.
:idea:

 

[AllenF]

5 gallons of water to 1in fish

so you're saying i can put 37 4" anthias in my 150 gal? doesn't seem right.

That would be .98 inches per 1 Gallon. (37x4'=148 Inches)

He said 1 inch per 5 Gallons which would be 7.5 4" Anthias in a 150 Gallon tank (150Gallons/5Gallons=30 Inches/4 inches= 7.5)

Sheesh. 8O

 

[kparton]

I had a 50G reef and when i broke it down and sold everything, I had the following:

2 true percs (living in a BTA)
1 Midas Blenny (I highly recommend this fish)
1 Orchid Dottyback

The percs and the orchid were all small (although one of the percs was growing, must have been the female) and the Midas Blenny was about3" long or maybe 4" at the most. I thought this was a good load for the tank. i'm redoing my tank right now and I'l probably try to find another Midas Blenny, 2 true percs, and a lawnmower Blenny maybe.

The only other fish I ever added was a Banggai Cardinal and he never ate and only lasted a week or so. All of these still are happy and healthy with their new owner

 

[brewerbob]

Brewerbob and Beerbaron,
I thought it was obvious that i was asking for suggestions but I guess I was wrong. Also, I would be willing to bet that niether one of you have put to use all of the advice you've recieved on this site. I guess from now on when you two genius's are logged in here Ill be more detailed. Everyone else thank you for your suggestions. :wink:

Dude, chill the hell out. I am on your side. My comment was directed at Leopardshark not you. I knew what you meant; I was simply restating your question so Leopard would be happy with the wording and wouldn't give you another smart-ass answer.

I even said you were looking for advice. I don't know who the Tang police are but I figured you weren't looking for zealots.

 

[brewerbob]

Is the 5 gallons per inch of fish for amount of water that is actually in the tank, the capacity of the tank empty, or inclusive of the water in the tank and sump?

A 65 gallon tank with a 100 lbs of live rock isn't going to be anywhere near 65 gallons. But you could have a 30 gallon sump and a 30 gallon refugium.