Kenbow19 said:
The Biggest problem i see with people saying i have a hundred fish in a 100 gal tank is the FACT that there will be problems that will arise from such a load over time, many do not stay in the hobby long enough to realize such things, they only give anecdotal evidence it is possible. The larger factors in determining your stocking level is water volume, skimmer, water change amount/frequency. I also believe a remote Refuge with a DSB and Chateo can help with the reduction of nitrates, that will be one of the challenges to keeping a well stocked tank.
thats a very good point in hand as well. even a tank wiht small amounts of pets in it can present problems when said things are not adheard to. whne i first fgot into saltwater back in 03ish, i had a 29 gallon and a trickle filter, running with a protein skimmer made for a 30 gallon tank. well, being undereducated, i stocked it small, with two damsels, and one snowflake eel, an a couple emeralds. the ponds were mostly bought in small amounts of live rock fragments i got here and there. luckily, it was no reef tank, just fowlr. well, not knowing how often to do water changes i did mine every three monthes or so in small amounts and jst topped off every month as needed.
let me tell you about the nitrate levels in there! lol. dont even need to, one can guess man those things were higher then cheech and chong on one of their road trips lol. (and i dont advocate the above actions to be done by anyone ever lol, jst sharing a story).........
the good thing is, with time and patience, one learns. before i got into this tank i saved and saved nd saved in preperation for the first few monthes as thats the crucial time frame for everything and setting up a proper tank.
filtration and water changes/skimming, like he said, is ALWAYS key to keep any amount of fish, but the higher volumes of fish mean more maintenance as well, almost to the point of it being treated like it is 5-10 gallons larger then the actual tank per extra fish.
it is not wise however, to have too many fish, that equals alot more water changes then per usual. it all boils down to if you dont have the time or money, just get a small/average livestock volume, and do mandatory maintenance like monthly water changes, and always keep track of those chem/water param. levels.
larger tanks are more work. and larger tanks with more fish are EVEN more work. i have yet to see a 100 gal wiht 100 fish in it lol, bt id really feel for those fish, as the amount and volume of water changes is overly demanding id assume. in a reef environment, the amount of fish stocked should inclde coral amounts in the livestock, as coral are alive and demand even more vital care.
anyhow, to say anymore on my part would be simple rambling, jst sharing an old story on how livestock amounts can effect maintenance amounts.