How much is too much? Are there really any rules?

[mta_morrow]

Like mentioned you have a lot of smaller fish. I say if you can keep them happy and the tank stable only you know how much your tank can handle. In the end you need to enjoy what you see.

Hope my reefer looks half as good in a year.

Thanks for the compliment and you are well are your way to an awesome reef!

 

[mta_morrow]

Awesome looking tank! Quick question, is it true that different species of anemones in the same tank can harm each other or did I read that wrong somewhere?

There is a sticky in the clownfish and anemone forum that touches on this subject.

I have some serious separation between my nems and so far none have moved at all.

I researched a lot to understand what these nems prefer as far as location, lighting, flow, and feeding.

 

[mta_morrow]

I guess species and sizes have a lot to do with it too, right?

Absolutely! I did have 3 fish over the past year that ended up being tank stressors.

Yellow tang, flame angel, and a solon fairy wrasse.

I’m highly focused on peace in the tank and unfortunately those 3 created problems. They were beautiful!

One wrong fish can change the entire dynamics of a tank.

I tend to lean towards watching my royal gramma and purple firefish. If they are out and cruising the tank, all is well.

 

[mta_morrow]

I’ve always skewed to the overstocked tank. I think as long as you have the right nutrient export mechanisms and adequate swimming space, you’ll be fine. Heck, I have 120 fish in my 400.

NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKIN’ ABOUT!

 

[mta_morrow]

Backu

I sometimes wonder the same thing. I'm building a 280 right now. I like having lots of fish too. I know there comes a point where there are too many. If you are able to provide ample hiding places and room to swim in the open you can probably be successful. The way I see it is, if the tank mates are all happy and everyone is getting their proper diets and not looking stressed. Why not have a nicely stocked tank? Obviously having a large load in the tank requires great filtration and a little more diligence with water changes but i think it can be done. Especially with the technology we have available to us in the form of auto water changing, dosing, auto top off, skimming, bio filtration, etc. I think it is possible to achieve more than before. I mean, I'm no expert and still consider taking advice from knowledgeable people that know what they're doing. I wont willy nilly dive into trying make my tank crash that's for sure.

You are spot on. I got to this point over time. Adding bioload gradually. A full year.

I don’t think I do all that much for what kind of load I put in the tank.

Like I said, filter socks, an average skimmer, 6 liters of Seachem denitrate in the sump in low flow.

Very basic. And I dose 9 ml NoPox daily.

I’m going to bring my macro algae reactor online soon in hopes of replacing or reducing the use of nopox.

Even so, it’s the equivalent of 2 hand fulls of chaeto, not much at all and little space used in the sump.

 

[Oshengems]

Go for it !!
You mostly have small fish...so IMO you could add more

This is how I feel of my 75g I have a “heave stock” but my biggest fish is a Multibar Angel which is still small, 4xchromis, Royal G, purple dart, leopard wrasse, P dottyback, mandarin, 2 clowns a six line and a fuzzy dwarf... been considering 4 more chromis I like how they swim and hide in between my sps but I hear bad stories although the 4 I have been together over a year. From then “rule of thumb” I think at 14 fishes I’m “heavy” stocked but I have small fish how does that rule apply to that rule

 

[mta_morrow]

I love the small fish size selection. I bet it makes watching the tank in person a lot of fun.

Not to highjack your thread but how do the azure damsels behave? I've been thinking about adding a couple or 3

Thanks Man! I truly enjoy all the small fish. The activity level is awesome to sit and watch.

As for the Azure damsels, I wish I had added more! They are members of the chrysiptera species and are relatively mild mannered.

They defend a very small territory and even then their bark is worse than their bite.

My purple firefish chases them right back sometimes!

They tend to stay around the rock work and are always visible and highly active and colorful.

I would recommend 3 or more because as a group they focus their attention on each other vs other fish.

And no, you are not hijacking the thread!

This is exactly why I started it!

Thanks for participating in it!

 

[mta_morrow]

This is how I feel of my 75g I have a “heave stock” but my biggest fish is a Multibar Angel which is still small, 4xchromis, Royal G, purple dart, leopard wrasse, P dottyback, mandarin, 2 clowns a six line and a fuzzy dwarf... been considering 4 more chromis I like how they swim and hide in between my sps but I hear bad stories although the 4 I have been together over a year. From then “rule of thumb” I think at 14 fishes I’m “heavy” stocked but I have small fish how does that rule apply to that rule

Exactly! IMO if you’re able to maintain a healthy environment for your fish and your corals etc are thriving with your nutrient levels, then YOUR system is doing great!

I think at the rate we are learning and the amount of knowledge here on R2R,

IF, you research and actually have patience, and make corrections when needed regarding livestock coral choices, then you can develop rules for YOUR tank.

The biggest issue IMO is folks starting out want it all now!

I call those “millennial tanks”

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

This is making me rethink my stocking list. These are the conversations you look forward to on here.

 

[mta_morrow]

This is making me rethink my stocking list. These are the conversations you look forward to on here.

Awesome!

I would be happy to share anything I have learned!

As well as bringing in some of the folks who shared their experiences to help me develop mine.

 

[Oshengems]

at one point I had a total of 21 fishes but my clowns are no joke now pair of maroons once they are out the tank might bump it up to 17 I really like chromis they givev my tank life

 

[SPR1968]

The tank is looking great Mike, very nice indeed!

Well you’ve seen my system, I also have a lot of fish, and I had even more at one point.

But I got to a stage when I was adding more fish, and eventually they started to die off, one by one, and I’m left with all of my long term fish, and only a few of the relatively new additions. And I now haven’t added any new fish for some time, which by my standards is a miracle!

And the reason is I read this very interesting article which you have probably seen on my thread, and it made a great deal of sense to me

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/6/fish

If your nutrient removal systems are in place, that’s not necessarily an issue, it’s maybe the social behaviour of the existing fish.

In my mind I could sum it up by saying what would you do or think if a complete stranger came to your home, sat down in your chair, ate your prime steak planned for dinner and proceeded to drink your beer! Lol

 

[mta_morrow]

Thanks for visiting the thread Shaun!

I have definitely spent a lot of time on your thread and have read that article before thanks to you.

I have really focused on getting the right “mix” of fish.

I’m a bit leery to add any more. Not because of bioload, but the harmony is really good right now.

BUT......I love the fish!

I like the thought of another flasher wrasse or 2 and a yellow coris wrasse.

There is space in the upper water column for daily activity of the flashers and still plenty of rock work for sleeping spots.

The yellow coris would have the rockwork and pods to itself.

What do you think?

And Thanks for stopping by!

 

[SPR1968]

Thanks for visiting the thread Shaun!

I have definitely spent a lot of time on your thread and have read that article before thanks to you.

I have really focused on getting the right “mix” of fish.

I’m a bit leery to add any more. Not because of bioload, but the harmony is really good right now.

BUT......I love the fish!

I like the thought of another flasher wrasse or 2 and a yellow coris wrasse.

There is space in the upper water column for daily activity of the flashers and still plenty of rock work for sleeping spots.

The yellow coris would have the rockwork and pods to itself.

What do you think?

And Thanks for stopping by!

Your welcome Mike

I agree it’s the harmony thing, but it’s also the ‘I really ‘need’ to buy that pretty fish in the LFS because it will look much better in my tank thing’! I know exactly we’re your coming from! Lol

All you can do is try it. I actually purchased a fish trap so that I could use it to introduce new fish to my system, so they could have some piece for a few days so the other inhabitants got used to them. But I haven’t used it yet, because well, I’m retrained and have great will power........

I’m feeling a little like you to be honest, all my fishy friends get along fine, and again I think back to the article which I read again.

But just watch out for some new pictures at any random point!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

@o2manyfish would know something about this. Here's a link to his build thread and one of his pics from his last update. :-)

 

[mta_morrow]

@o2manyfish would know something about this. Here's a link to his build thread and one of his pics from his last update. :-)

Heading to that thread now!

Thanks!

 

[MattJS]

Great tank. As much as I love corals, there’s something really neat about having a tank full of fish. Makes it look brighter and all the movement is just fun to watch.

 

[mta_morrow]

Great tank. As much as I love corals, there’s something really neat about having a tank full of fish. Makes it look brighter and all the movement is just fun to watch.

Man, I love every type of coral. But I love the fish more! Especially a lot of them.

This is one of the reasons why I’ve not added SPS yet. I want my fish and need to understand what I can reasonably maintain for a nutrient level.

Not necessarily chasing numbers, but what is stability and balance in my tank.

I feel good that I am stable now and my routine is working and solid.

So I’m gonna give some of the typical sps a try, no acros......yet;)

 

[Mariette]

Just throwing this out there for some general discussion as this topic is discussed and debated a lot it seems.

I have a Red Sea Reefer 525 XL, 108 gallon display. It’s been running for a little over a year.

I currently have 23 fish and am considering a few more open water swimmers and a coris wrasse.

While there are certainly do’s and don’ts I planned it all and made a few changes as needed.

Here is my current fish list:

Purple firefish
Tailspot Blenny
Flametail blenny
Blue chromis
One spot foxface
Coral beauty
Pink spot goby
2 wheeler gobies w a candy cane pistol shrimp
Carpenter flasher wrasse
3 zebra dart fish
3 red lined cardinal fish
Royal gramma
Tomini tang
3 azure damsels
2 ocellaris clowns

I feed them very well.

There is no fighting or issues. Only an occasional flash between the coral beauty and tomini tang.

My daily feeding routine is 2 rounds of a pellet mix, a serious amount of my own homemade live foods (oysters, mussels, clams, mysis), and a 1/4 sheet of nori.

I also have 7 anemones.

3 rock flowers
2 bubble
1 long tentacle
1 Magnifica
Plan on getting a couple mini maxi nems soon.

Lots of snails, 130-150, a tiger conch, porcelain crabs, pair of skunk cleaner shrimp

Will be adding anemone shrimp and sexy shrimp too.

And a 6” deresa.

All of this obviously generates a lot of waste.

To handle that I use 2 filter socks, and aqua max cone skimmer, 6 liters of Seachem matrix in the sump, and dose 9-10 ml of homemade NoPox daily. I also run UV 24/7.

I do a 28 gallon water change once a month and use Brightwell NeoMarine salt.

Here are my parameters which are steady as a rock:

Salinity 1.026
Temp 77-78
Alk 8
PO4 .06
NO3 10

This is my second tank and I have applied the patience and research rules to the max.

I plan on adding some SPS soon as I wanted a more mature and stable tank to help ensure success.

So, what are you thoughts on loading up a tank, or, is this even loaded?

Just a thread created for some friendly conversation and sharing views. Nothing is right or wrong here.

I’ll wrap this up with my latest video.

Wow. Just. WOW.

 

[mta_morrow]

Wow. Just. WOW.

Thanks Mariette and please ask any questions ......saw you in the other fish thread.