Number of fish in a 55 gl

[Coralgurl]

How many fish are acceptable in a 55 gl?
I have currently:
2 bangaii cardinals
1 blue green chromis
1 purple dotty back
1 yellow tang
1 flame angel
1 coral beauty
1 starry blenny
2 black clowns on order

The yellow tang I already know is an issue and if I can't find a home for him, Ive made other arrangements. The dotty back is picking at one of the cardinals, vie just learned they are a mean fish, so will have to find a home for it as well. The angels went in at the same time and do not appear to be an issue. Ive got a reef tank with 6 corals at the moment. I was told not to add a bunch of fish at one time but did not know there was a limit to the amount of fish.

Thoughts? Thanks

[Leah]

I would not add more if it were my tank. :biggrin:

[reefwars]

there is no set way to tell it depends on a whole bunch of factors like age,filtration,dimensions,type of fish etc etc etc but im with leah in saying your prob around your mark:):)cheers

[mike31154]

Fairly hefty bioload for a 55. I have fewer fish in my 77 and there's still plenty of gunk getting filtered out from their activities. You don't mention whether you have a sump & if so, what size? If it's not too late, I'd consider cancelling the clownfish order, or if you're set on having a pair of them, look to dispose of several of your existing fish. You can probably keep them all, but be prepared to spend a little more on a very good filtration system (skimmer etc.) & for some extra work keeping water parameters healthy.

[Coralgurl]

Thank you for the responses! We do not have a sump set up, I do have a fluval filter system running and a Tunze skimmer 9011. Tank is 6 months old (yes young).

I'm going to get rid of the tang and dottyback for sure and maybe the cardinals. I've been keeping an eye on everyone over the last few days, and other than the issue with the dottyback and cardinal, everyone else seems fine. That said, all the fish are juvies (except the coral beauty - she's bigger or close to the size of my tang) and I expect still have some growing to do.

The 55 is a narrow tank, 48 inches across. Most of my rock is along the back and touching in some areas. No dead spots, I have 3 pumps going (MP 10, MP40 and Koralia eco 750), so have good water flow. Fish all move in around the rocks fine.

Do people on this forum tend to sell/buy/trade fish from home aquariums? Sorry-I could probably go look this up myself...

Water parameters were tested last week and all were within range, will test tonight with the additional fish this weekend. I have a water change scheduled for the weekend. I fuss with the tank almost daily. Extra work - hmm, just the fact that I've neglected the rest of my house duties...lol

[christyf5]

Hey there, sounds like your tank has a pretty good sized community already. Removing the dottyback will definitely be less stressful for everyone (or alternatively you could remove the cardinals).

There is lots of activity in the buy and sell forums so you should find some good deals on what you need and yes people do buy and sell fish from home aquariums. Sometimes I find that is better as the fish are in good condition and are already eating prepared foods.

Keep an eye on your fluval filter, lots of detritus can build up there and cause problems with nitrate levels. Its fairly easy to clean and if there is a sponge in it, give it a rinse with some old tank water during a water change to get the buildup out of it while maintaining the beneficial bacteria :biggrin:

[Proteus]

Any new fish you add will be picked on for a bit. Regardless they will always defend territory. If you leave them for a bit the dottyback will calm down. Or you can change up there scenery. This will reset there pecking order. If you put clowns in you may find they become slightly aggressive. Just the way it is

[mike31154]

Sounds like you're on the right track, definitely plenty of flow with the MP pumps which will aid in removing detritus etc. My 77 gal is sumpless as well and I run a RENA XP series filter as a mini sump I guess. I don't keep any media in it except for a bag of carbon which I refresh every month or so. This is also when I give all the baskets etc a good rinse with old tank water as per christy's suggestion, to flush off the gunk. After several years, the media baskets are populated with plenty of sponges & tube worms which aid in natural filtration. Works well. Since you're 55 is long & there appears to be adequate swimming room with your rock layout, the tang should actually be fine.

[Coralgurl]

We changed out all the filter media, carbon and cleaned the sponge filters with the last water change (the weekend before last). This weekend is just water change. I was doing water changes every week for a bit and am now doing them every other week - 10 gallons (20%). When I put my first corals in, I was way overfeeding everything which led to a pretty good algae outbreak. Things are good now, just worried about what I've done with these fish.

Unfortunately, I am a horrible impulse shopper, only stopped at lfs to check to see if they had any clowns, and maybe a few frags....had the clowns, but they are not ready to go yet. So spend too much time chatting, forget about what I'm there for and next thing you know....new fish....my fault, not lfs.

Will post the tang and dottyback in the buy/trade section and see if anyone wants them. The clowns are for one of our boys and he is pretty excited about getting them.

I feel a bit better, thank you!!

[Coralgurl]

I've got a picture of the tank on my profile, I don't know how to get it from there to here.....

We've got a couple of those worms in our tank, they get really excited when I feed...lol.

I've been happy with how the tank has been running for the last little bit, everyone happy! I just noticed my bubble coral has new bubbles and is growing, this guy gave me huge heartache a month ago!!

Wondering - is it hard to go to a bigger tank using existing equipment, rock, sand, or would that tank have to cycle as well to start?

[spawn]

I have nine & have had ten, but # 10 kept taking sand up & dropping it on corals, so he got voted out... That being said I will eventually ad a mandarin. But I roughly know what my bi-load is in terms of nutrient reduction.

[mike31154]

Just checked out the photos of your tank on your profile, it looks great. Pretty sure there's a tutorial somewhere here on how to post photos in a thread. Essentially the photos you wish to post need to be hosted on a site such as photobucket or any other online provider that allows you to upload photos. You then bring the photo up on the hosting site, copy & paste the link into your post using the 'Insert Image' tool/icon.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/faq.php?faq=vb3_reading_posting#faq_vb3_attachment s

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/faq.php?faq=vb3_user_profile#faq_vb3_albums

Edit: Just learned something myself, photos from your Canreef album may also be inserted into a post.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=604&pictureid=4687

[Coralgurl]

@spawn - haha, that's funny! Mischievious fish!!
@Mike - thank you! Its getting there. Got frustrated trying to upload, so that's all I could on. Will find the tutorial - I'm a keep it simple girl...for the most part unless I complicate something...

We added the Tunze skimmer last month, have not had to empty it yet, is set between 1/3 - 1/2 (I think), not super high anyway. I think I lowered it to ensure it wasn't taking all the food out so the corals would catch some as well.

Anyway - I've posted the fish for sale or giveaway, will see what happens. Although the cardinals are boringish fish as far as activity, I do still like them and feel a bit apprehensive about getting rid of them.

[mike31154]

I did an edit or two on my previous post, it now shows your tank in all it's glory. Like I said, it looks great. The tang looks to have miles of swimming room. My 77 is also a 4 footer and my Yellow Tang is content.

[Coralgurl]

Well, I was a bit surprised to see that picture there!!! Thanks! Will look even better once that rock turns purple!!! Cut off the left side, there's still more space, unfortunately the skimmer is in the left corner. Trying to keep lots of room in the front of the tank. for the most part, the tang swims in around the rocks more than anything!

We will set up a sump and get the skimmer out of the tank eventually, will look much better.

I'm still at work....will see how things look tonight when I get home! Will also play around with the pictures and try to get a few more up!

[Gripenfelter]

I have a Lavender Tang, Powder Brown, and Blue Throat trigger in a 70 gallon quarantine right now with 125 lbs of rock. I won't be adding anymore fish without a big sump. But since this is a quarantine tank there won't be a sump going in. Just quarantining them before I add them to my 300 gallon.

[MKLKT]

I've got 12 fish currently in a 65 gallon ranging in size from a scooter blenny to foxface. There's a sump on it and I use a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 only 12hrs/day, but I've got a bunch of other parts to the system that keep the chemical levels in check.

There isn't any real set bio load limit for systems as you just have to know how to manage the ecosystem. It's kinda the same as how "watts per gallon" is a completely arbitrary and useless number.

[Coralgurl]

I am getting a bit of grief from the family for letting these fish go. My skimmer runs all the time. I'm going to retest my phosphates and ammonia levels, but I think everything is fine. We keep the lights off in the afternoon and turn back on early evening, so no algae issues other than what is coming in on the new rocks. The tang and dotty back are not playing nice so I will let them go. The smaller fish should be fine for loads. I like the angels, but they hide in the back behind the rocks. Am going to miss the tang, great personality fish!

[Coralgurl]

Tang and dotty back have gone to their new home! Lessoned learned about fish, had to pull almost every rock out to get the dotty back so have reaquascaped tank, looks better! Lesson learned - no more removing fish, thats alot of work, took over an hour! Good news, cardinals are now hanging out together:biggrin:

[mike31154]

Aww shucks, you really could have kept the Tang, he stood out so nice in your tank photo and as I mentioned looked to be happy with the swimming room in your 4 footer. I mean, in the grand scheme of things what's a foot or two when compared to the size of the ocean? We keep these critters selfishly for our own pleasure, somewhat akin to birds in a cage. I hardly consider the difference between a 4 foot tank & a 6 foot tank is really going to significantly change the behaviour of a fish evolved over thousands of years in the ocean.

Anyhow, it's a done deal and I'm sure your family will get over it once the clownfish pair is established in your little slice of the ocean. I guess of all the fish we keep, clowns are probably the least stressed out by confined spaces since they rarely venture more than a few feet from their anemone in the wild.

[Coralgurl]

I do miss the color already, but he really wasn't nice to the blenny, was still trying to smack him around tonight. The angels just hang out behind the rock, hope they start to come out they are really pretty fish. The blenny is now all over the tank, instead of sticking around one rock so I do think it was a good decision. Ya in the big scheme of things, whatever size tank the fish are in, nothing compared to the ocean! The tang still had some growing to do. This hobby is quite subjective at times it seems. My last clown was all over the tank and loved to jump in the pump flow and race across the tank with the chromis. Was quite funny! Sad he jumped....found him on the floor...:cry: will have another yellow tang when we get a bigger tank and can have more options! :wink: