Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board  

Go Back   Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board > General > Marine Fish

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-04-2018, 08:44 PM
Tigweldpro's Avatar
Tigweldpro Tigweldpro is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Calgary
Posts: 121
Tigweldpro is on a distinguished road
Default How many fish is too many? Tank Stocking

How many fish can be put in a tank? There are sooo many variables that contribute to answering this question.

As long as you can keep nutrients at bay can you keep adding fish?

My current fish list for my 90g is....

1 yellow tang
4 percula clowns
1 yellow corris wrasse
2 bangaii cardinal
1 yellow watchman goby
1 tiger pistol shrimp
2 green spotted mandarin
2 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 lawnmower blenny
1 blue hippo tang(still in QT will be adding soon)
1 leopard wrasse(still in QT will be adding soon)

I still want to add

1 copperband butterfly
1 foxface rabbitfish
1 bluestreak cleaner wrasse
1 melanurus wrasse

I'm running a phosban 150 1/2 full of biopellets and it keeps nitrate between 5-10ppm doing 5g waterchange once a week. Phosphate stays around .03-.1ppm
feeding 2-3 cubes PE mysis small piece of nori & small pinch of NLS marine pellets daily.

Last edited by Tigweldpro; 01-04-2018 at 08:46 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-04-2018, 10:30 PM
BCOrchidGuy BCOrchidGuy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Coquitlam, BC
Posts: 2,172
BCOrchidGuy is on a distinguished road
Default

The upside of a tank that's populated extensively is that any aggressive fish rarely target a single other fish so the bruises are shared.
The downside is it can get dirty quick. As long as you're doing maintenance and your fish are healthy I don't see it being an issue.
Sounds like a great tank to sit and watch
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-05-2018, 12:23 AM
whatcaneyedo's Avatar
whatcaneyedo whatcaneyedo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Prince George, BC
Posts: 2,198
whatcaneyedo is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to whatcaneyedo
Default

My advice is to slow down. Your system is only a few months old and already very heavily stocked in my opinion. Consider what it will look like in 5 years when those frags have grown into colonies and your fish have matured from juveniles to adult sizes (12" for a hippo tang).
__________________
"We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever." - H.P. Lovecraft

Old 120gal Tank Journal
New 225gal Tank Journal
May 2010 TOTM
The 10th Annual Prince George Reef Tank Tour
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-05-2018, 12:32 AM
Dearth's Avatar
Dearth Dearth is offline
No Cookies
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Prince George
Posts: 1,296
Dearth is on a distinguished road
Default

I have stocked my 95 gallon tank with up to 20 fish but they were all small 5 inches and smaller I won’t put big fish in my tank due to possible stress, fighting over hiding spots or bullying.

I currently have 14 fish in my tank and they are always out and aside from my clownholes are peaceful with each other. Downside to this is that more fish create a heavier bioload and your tank gets dirtier that much faster and it is possible to have big swings in your tank parameters
__________________
My aquarium is nothing but a smorgasbord for my cats.....
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-05-2018, 01:38 PM
Myka's Avatar
Myka Myka is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Saskatoon, SK.
Posts: 11,268
Myka will become famous soon enough
Default

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.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
__________________
~ Mindy

SPS fanatic.

Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-05-2018, 05:29 PM
Tigweldpro's Avatar
Tigweldpro Tigweldpro is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Calgary
Posts: 121
Tigweldpro is on a distinguished road
Default bio load

Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka View Post
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
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-05-2018, 06:49 PM
kien's Avatar
kien kien is offline
¸.·´¯`·.´¯`·.´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.´¯`·.´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸. ><(((º>
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 7,665
kien will become famous soon enoughkien will become famous soon enough
Default

The reason why the answer varies is because there are so many variables that contribute to this answer. You can put as many fish in a tank as your tank can handle. What your tank can handle will depend on how proficient you are with maintenance which includes but is not limited to: cleaning, nutrient export, feeding, behavioral (stress, aggression, etc) control, and so on. You already know that all of these things need to be a balance for a healthy tank. The more fish you add the more challenging it will be to control/balance the other variables. This balancing act differs from tank to tank, even among tanks of the same size.

So, the answer to your question is: whatever number of fish you have that puts your tank out of balance is too many fish. Probably :-)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-05-2018, 07:43 PM
Tigweldpro's Avatar
Tigweldpro Tigweldpro is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Calgary
Posts: 121
Tigweldpro is on a distinguished road
Default

Well just like all the answers to this question yours sounds right..... maybe

Quote:
Originally Posted by kien View Post
The reason why the answer varies is because there are so many variables that contribute to this answer. You can put as many fish in a tank as your tank can handle. What your tank can handle will depend on how proficient you are with maintenance which includes but is not limited to: cleaning, nutrient export, feeding, behavioral (stress, aggression, etc) control, and so on. You already know that all of these things need to be a balance for a healthy tank. The more fish you add the more challenging it will be to control/balance the other variables. This balancing act differs from tank to tank, even among tanks of the same size.

So, the answer to your question is: whatever number of fish you have that puts your tank out of balance is too many fish. Probably :-)
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-05-2018, 10:02 PM
calo247 calo247 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Calgary
Posts: 22
calo247 is on a distinguished road
Default

adding the hippo tang will massively increase the bio load as they are big fish and a full grown one should not even be in a 90 gallon.

the foxface is a large fish with a big bio load as well
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-05-2018, 10:03 PM
calo247 calo247 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Calgary
Posts: 22
calo247 is on a distinguished road
Default

i also see you have 4 clownfish, are they mature? it is VERY rare to see them all get along, chances are you will end up with 2


and 2 mandarins in a 90 wont work, even one will destroy the pod population in your tank, a mature 90 can support one though

Last edited by calo247; 01-05-2018 at 10:07 PM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
overstocking, stocking

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.