How many fish is too many? Tank Stocking

[Tigweldpro]

Originally Posted by Myka

The fact that you have to use bio pellets to keep nitrate down, and it's still at 5 to 10 PPM, shows that your tank is already stocked more than it can handle. Maybe your skimmer isn't big enough or good enough, or your tank is too young, or you're not cleaning it good enough, the system can't handle it.

The biopellets have been online since the tank was filled. skimmer is BM7.
I do spend a lot of time with the tank and do keep it quite clean.

When googling around the advice and opinions vary greatly, just wondering what other reefers here think.

Thanks