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678 views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  TomToro 
#1 ·
Here's a subjective question for you: How many 3to4" fish can I safely keep in my 240g with the equipment I have(bioload only. Compatibility question is for another thread)? When I reach the limit, what can I do to increase the capacity with the same size tank?

240g
etss 800 aetech skimmer/ Iwaki 55rlt
Aqua 57w UV
340lbs of LR
105gallon sump
2400g overlfow w/mag 24 and mag 7 returns
2x#4 Korolia powerhead
1,#3 Korolia powerhead
Carbon reactor
3 week water change routine of 50gal per change
Reef Crystals (relevant/not relevent?)

I have additional room for an in sump skimmer with a 12x13" footprint.

Thanks,
Tom
 
#2 ·
Well a general rule would be 1 inch per gallon. But, thats not always true either. If you don't always keep on water changes and skimming you could have problems there. If i had 1inch of fishes for 240 gallons, I would do a bigger water change and do it per week.
 
#6 ·
Onlycrimson said:
Who knows. I've seen tanks smaller than that stocked with A LOT of fish. It depends on how well your filtration can handle it. And of course the ethics of keeping many fish in such a small volume.
Yeah I 'm one of those I currently have the following fish in a 55gal.

3 silver scats
5 tangs
2 maroon clowns
2 wrasses
2 blennies
1 goby

they have been together few months now and all are happy and healthy but this is merely temporary while the new tank (210 gal) cycles I have in fact started to move some of the fish to the new tank, I think having to proper filtration to accomodate the bio load is most important
 
#7 ·
I've seen this first hand and they sure look healthy and happy. I'm hoping my setup can handle a load like that.
Good luck on the 210!

Tropical Buff said:
Yeah I 'm one of those I currently have the following fish in a 55gal.

3 silver scats
5 tangs
2 maroon clowns
2 wrasses
2 blennies
1 goby

they have been together few months now and all are happy and healthy but this is merely temporary while the new tank (210 gal) cycles I have in fact started to move some of the fish to the new tank, I think having to proper filtration to accomodate the bio load is most important
 
#8 ·
I have a 46 gal deep corner setup.

The fish i have are

two occelaris
one domino
one yellowtail damsel
one goby
one falco hawk
two banggai cardinals
and one fairy wrasse

the biggest they will get is a nice 4-5 inches a piece. filtration + cleaning crew is imperitive.

cleaning i have 50 pds live rock
5 peppermints
4 emeralds
about 30 blue leg hermits (going to get about 15-18 more)
one cleaner shrimp
and 3 snails (need some more smaller ones, dont want large ones)

filtration:
a wet dry converted to refugium slowly, made for up to 75 gallons and a return pump of 1500 gph
and a protein skimmer that is made for a 100 gal

water changes once every two weeks, 5 gals each time.

this has no amonia readings, and nitrates are always at 10 or below.
hope that helps ^.^

the more fish, the better filtration (atleast 2-3 times more then required to make up for waste volume) and a huge cleaning crew to fit the left overs from feeding.

and everyone is happy together with safe water parameters. hope this helps?
 
#9 ·
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.
 
#10 ·
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.
 
#11 ·
O.k. here's what I have so far and most everybody is schooling and getting along:

2" Powder Brown Tang
2" Yellow Tang
1.5" Sailfin Tang
1.5" bi color psudo
1.5" Clarkii
2.5" Foxface

I'd like to include the following:
Hippo
Flame Angel
Coral Beauty
Powder Blue Tang
Niger Trigger
Yellow Coris wrasse
Six Line Wrasse
3 Liretail Anthias
 
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