stocking question?

[jubbers]

i have a 55 gallon aquarium i haven't got any equipment yet, but i am planning everything out including the fish. my question is in a 55 gallon would this be too many fish;
regal tang
threadfin butterflyfish
heniochus or wimplefish(butterflyfish)
pair of true percula clownfish
and maybe two black and white clownfish. is that too many?
i beleive the rule of thumb is 2 inches of fish per 5 gallons.

 

[reefman420]

its one inch of adult fish.it sounds fine if their small and u run a refuge.i keep 1 koran angel
1sailfin tang
1 porcupine puffer
1six lined wrasse
1maroon clown full grown
1 three striped damsel
mushroom colonie
zoa colanie in my 75 gallon with refuge.

keep lots of snails for clean up.the more fish you have,the more they poop.lol
plus a refuge means more watervolume wich means more room for bio load

 

[jubbers]

i might just get 1 back clown instead of 2 to help the bio-load also where did you get your refugium for your 55 gallon?

 

[Melanie]

I would add a total of 11" of fish in your tank. 11 inches total fish at full-grown. So even if you buy a 3" tang, he will grow much larger. LiveAquaria has a description of almost every species of fish and how large the grow and what size tank they require. That's how I planned my stocking list. It's great that you are making a plan and instead of just plopping fish in there willy nilly. You are doing a great job jubbers.

 

[jubbers]

thank-you melanie i wanted to walk before i run. so unfortunately i will have two eliminate somefish, wait melanie, i added a sump would that add some inches of fish i could add?

 

[Melanie]

Yes, whatever the total water volume is divided by 5. Don't forget to subtract for water displacement from your rocks and sand. That's just a rule of tumb. Not set in stone.

 

[Kazzy]

You should probably lose the tang. Unless you are willing to not get 1-2 of the butterflies.

 

[leebca]

Actual stocking limit is a matter of the kind of marine system is being setup; the equipment; the filtration; etc.; and the needs of the fish (like the need for certain swimming space, rather than just the ability of the system to handle the biological wastes). It is also relative to the age of the system and how much maintenance the owner is willing to perform. You may load a system up quite a bit, but require a daily 75% water change, for example.

There are many factors and the range of 'inches of fish' to gallonage is based upon those factors. For a more thorough review of these guidelines, you should look at: Fish Stocking Limit and apply that to your target marine system.

Good luck!

 

[prow]

regal tang-tanks way to small for this guy.
threadfin butterflyfish-tanks to small for this guy too.
heniochus or wimplefish(butterflyfish)-tank too small aswell.
just pick one set of clowns.
pair of true percula clownfish
and maybe two black and white clownfish. is that too many?

i beleive the rule of thumb is 2 inches of fish per 5 gallons. none of those rules really work. 10 1" fish dont need the room one 10" fish needs and those 10 1" fish bio wise will not come close to 1 10" fish.

 

[jubbers]

thank-you all!

 

[Dentoid]

Jubbers, think proportion. You don't want fish that are out of proportion for your tank size. This is why I won't have a carpet anemone, because they just get too big and just look out of proportions and unaesthetic. Even the Tangs I have in my 90 will have to go when they start to get "out of proportion" for my 90.

Prow your answer blows the 1"/gallon rule of thumb out of the water! Makes perfect sense.

 

[prow]

thanks scott, i always hated those rules. i like the proportion thinking, a much better rule of thumb to go by.

 

[BEELZEBOB]

you got a sump huh?

ever thought about a mantis shrimp??

huh, huh? nudge nudge

 

[jubbers]

no i am going to get a sump to help the bio-load.so i will ahve to find some more fish instead of the ones i like. what about the threadfin and heniochus could they be fine?i might get a mantis shrimp beezlebob.

 

[BEELZEBOB]

hey its like an added benefit to uour sump. it makes it like a mini display all in its self! i mean hell, you might get one as a HH in yer LR!

 

[prow]

mantis and fish dont go good togather. unless you like seeing your fish get sliced in half. they will wipe out your cleaning crew too.

the treadfin will work but that limits you to what else you can put in. for your tank i would look into fish that stay 5" or smaller. the threadfin gets 8".

 

[jubbers]

whay's an HH?

 

[lcstorc]

HH is Hitchiker.

 

[tbittner]

Hitch hiker. When you buy good live rock, a lot of times it has life in it that survives the trip to your tank and even lives through the cycle. Mantis shrimp can be one of those HH's. You don't want it in a tank with anyother livestock though, it is vicious and will eat just about anything.

 

[jubbers]

where can i find a sump and skimmer?