Please help me assess the bioload of the following species I am considering:

Zionas · May 3, 2020

1. One-Spot Foxface (x1) 8”

2. Ocellaris Clownfish (x2) 3”x2=6”

3. Pajama Cardinalfish (x3, maybe 2 trios for a total of x6, if they don’t fight. I’ll be making two trips to LFS). 3.5”x3 / 6=10.5” or 21.0”

4. Marine Betta (x1) 8”

5. Flame Hawkfish (x2) 4”x2=8”

6. Pacific Peppermint Hogfish (x1) 5”

7. x1 Yellow (8”) / Yellow Eye Kole (7”) / Tomini (6”) / Squaretail Bristletooth (6.5”) / Blue Eye Bristletooth (8”) / White Tail Bristletooth (6.5”) Tang

Moderate / poor swimmers (8 or 11 fish)
-Ocellaris Clowns

-Flame Hawkfish

-Pajama Cardinalfish

-Marine Betta

Good swimmers (3 / 11 or 14 fish)

-One-Spot Foxface

-Any Tang

-Peppermint Hogfish

IMO the active swimmers will be the primary sources of bioload. The rest probably won’t exert much of a bioload, but I’d like to make sure so I can decide whether I will need to upgrade to a better skimmer later down the line.

Thanks.

What is the most important metric for a tank?

Is it..... 1. Total number of gallons 2. Length 3. Width 4. Height?

Peach02 · Jun 3, 2020

as you said the good swimmers are the biggest bioload contributors however you also need to have some bioload in the tank.
the most important measurements are dimensions, for example you could have a 180 gallon tank that is 1'x'1 and super tall which changes what fish you can have.

Zionas · Jun 3, 2020

Mine is more or less a standard 180 in terms of length, a 6’ tank. I am aware that some bioload is needed as corals need fish poop to thrive, they get a lot of their nutrients from fish waste.

I’m doing a few larger fish (7-8”) and the others will be smaller fish up to 5”. The Foxface, Tangs will probably be my largest sources of bioload but I love them for their looks and algae control. The rest will be smaller, less active fish for the most part.

Just had a look. A lot of my fish aren’t going to be that active at all:

Pajama Cardinals are slow as molasses and hover in the water.

Marine Betta (awesome must have for me) gets to 8” but slow fish and doesn’t eat a lot. I plan to feed mine 3-4 times a week.

Ocellaris Clowns aren’t good swimmers and stick to a small area.

Royal Gramma isn’t a good swimmer either and sticks to a small-ish area.

Yellow Watchman Gobies (I want a pair) are bottom dwellers.

Flame Hawk and LNH love to perch, like Gobies they lack a swim bladder.

As for my other smaller fish only the wrasse and Flame Angel can be considered “good swimmers.”

Looks like I won’t be overstocking after all.