how many fish in a 29 biocube

[Polscot]

hi i currently have 3 clown fish in my biocube, 2 orange 1 black (same family) would it be too much if i added in a fire fish? its suppose to be 1 inch per gallon so i should be under........any input?

[kevNnic]

you should be fine with a firefish, they are all relitively small fish, i wouldnt be to worried. Depending on corals and such your bioload wont increase to much!

[viperfish]

Don't rely on the 1 inch per gallon. There are way too many "rules of thumb" in this hobby and very few of them work. There are just too many variables to consider, Amount of live rock, flow, feeding habits, type of fish, skimmer efficiency... and the list goes on.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

and if you go by the "rule of thumb" it is actually 1 inch per 2 gallons for marine fish.

The biggest thing you need to look at is how the fish interact. Too much fighting equals stress, stress equals illness, illness equals empty tank.

Ken - BWA

[Polscot]

thanx guys, ill wait a couple week sofr the clowns to host my enemone then ill get a firefish, that way the clowns have a sanctuary which will reduice stress

[PoonTang]

Im thinkin that 3 clowns could get kinda ugly. Keep a close eye on them. I had trouble with 2 clowns in mine, 1 got pestered so bad he died.

[lastlight]

Wouldn't they be even more territorial with a nem to call their own?

[apexifd]

gotta love the inch per gallon rule... with that rule I can have a few tangs in my biocube 29 as well...

btw.. I thought inch per gallon is for fresh water and there's another rule for saltwater and reef....

[Bochoy]

I think you should be fine with another fire fish. Just Watch for your parameter and fish behaviour to tell if your system can have more or not

[MMAX]

How big are your clowns? 3 of them will probably be trouble. Get rid of one of them and eventually you'll have a breeding pair. I had a firefish with my 2 clowns in a 20gal with no problems. The firefish was very shy and died due to stress after some tank maintenance.

[Sean]

Strange, when I read this I thought peoples concern would be the mixing of types of Clowns. I heard they are little buggers when you mix and match them. :)

[kevNnic]

i had 4 clowns to start in my 65gal, crap hit the fan quite quickly, they both paired off, the strong pair maintained control of the tank for quite some time,until 3 of them decided to pick on the lone clown, he was first to be given away, and have just recently found out passed on.. :(

I kept 3 in the tank for another month until the one pair visciously chased and beat on the 3rd clown, to the point where he had little to no tail left, also gave him away and i imagine is doing well. Keep them in pairs as that is the best bet by far! Otherwise you will have a real headache.

They are all *******s, my pair is doing great! 3 in that small tank is 100% trouble waiting to happen

[Wayne]

gotta love the inch per gallon rule... with that rule I can have a few tangs in my biocube 29 as well...

btw.. I thought inch per gallon is for fresh water and there's another rule for saltwater and reef....

Yeah 1 ince per gallon is a freshwater rule. Marine is completly different, its all about bio load. Personally I would say 4-5, 1-2" fish would be pretty much max in a 29gallon. But that isn't set in stone. If you get fish that hug the rock work vrs. open swimmers... Agressive vrs docile...

[pirate]

I got 2 clowns and a bengaii cardnal and a watchmen gobi paired with a pistol shrimp. So 4 fish, I've added otheres but they never seem to live so I quite adding them. This is a 29 biocube as well.

[edikpok]

In my 29 biocube, I have a mated pair of black clowns, bangaii cardinal, midas blenny and a 6 line wrasse. They occasionally fight but are overall happpy together. Most fights start when others are getting underneath the open brain under which the clowns live....weekly 5gal water changes

As others said-3 clowns might be problematic. As 2 of them decide to mate, the 3rd one will have to go. Hard to keep more than 2 in a system smaller than 50-60gal

If you get a firefish, make sure you close the opening between tank and filter compartments. I cut out a piece of plexiglass for that...these fish are darn good jumpers and in a company of clowns, they might try to bjump out.