How Many Fish Can I Keep

[scarab]

my tank is 3 and half feet by 2 by 2. how many fish can i keep? am planning a reef tank.

[junyong84]

IMO, depends on the size of the fishes.... how much corals u haf..

i would go for the max 7-10 fishes... small sizes...

[Mellow]

I think it's an inverse relationship between no. of fishes and corals..If u wanna keep more corals, then less fish is preferable. and more fish = less corals. But if your tank has a good filtration method and provided that u dun overload your tank, i think can keep abit more fishes... it's a fine balance between all the elements....

[Dispar_Anthias]

hey if you say its a reef tank, Imo go for as little fish as possible or maybe smaller kind of fish such as gramms, fire goby and maybe i or 2 small species of tang...........

[scarab]

how will i know how to balance between corals and fish? would like to keep damsels and clownfishes as well if possible

[Dispar_Anthias]

how will i know how to balance between corals and fish? would like to keep damsels and clownfishes as well if possible

hey dmasel and clown(some species) are very fierce and territorial suggest you leave them out especially the damsel

[junyong84]

do a search about fishes in the internet fish...b4 buyin any...

[scarab]

ok so i guess damsels are out and i gues maroon clown is also out huh? still for fishes these sizes like grammas, dottybacks and dartfish how many you reckon is optimum?

[Dispar_Anthias]

ok so i guess damsels are out and i gues maroon clown is also out huh? still for fishes these sizes like grammas, dottybacks and dartfish how many you reckon is optimum?

hey grammas are very terrtorial..... IMo it is not how many fish you want but it is the compatbility between each fishes

[bwilly]

abt 9 small fishes.. is good enough.

if u plan to go for reef tank + some fishes.

why not try green chromsis..

they swim in school.. so nice to see..

I got 5 in my fowlr tank..

[scarab]

anyway my original intention is as follows

a pair of maroon clown

1 damsel (the yellow belly kind)

1 moorish idol

1 royal gramma

1 copperband butterfly

1 flame angel

1 blue tang

1 six line wrasse

and maybe 1 orchid dottyback or long nosed butterfly

can help with compatability?

[scarab]

oh yeah and 1 cleaner wrasse definitely

[FuEl]

IMO you can skip the moorish idol, cleaner wrasse and the copperband.

Waste of $$ only.

[SharkBait]

anyway my original intention is as follows

a pair of maroon clown

1 damsel (the yellow belly kind)

1 moorish idol

1 royal gramma

1 copperband butterfly

1 flame angel

1 blue tang

1 six line wrasse

and maybe 1 orchid dottyback or long nosed butterfly

can help with compatability?

A maroon clown might sometimes host in some corals,this action might be detrimental to the coral.Butterflies and angels and prone to nipping at corals so they are quite a risk to have.As for moorish idol and cleaner wrasse,they have an extremely high mortality rate in captivity due to their eating habits.You might want to refrain from this two.IMO,tangs are a rather good choice in reef tanks.However,do read up before you buy any livestocks lest you regret later on.

[Dispar_Anthias]

anyway my original intention is as follows

a pair of maroon clown

1 damsel (the yellow belly kind)

1 moorish idol

1 royal gramma

1 copperband butterfly

1 flame angel

1 blue tang

1 six line wrasse

and maybe 1 orchid dottyback or long nosed butterfly

can help with compatability?

hey take out the moorish idol from your list......... They are very hard to keep and require superb water condition and most important or all they are not easy to feed, in fact they are pain in the ar** to feed

[scarab]

A maroon clown might sometimes host in some corals,this action might be detrimental to the coral.Butterflies and angels and prone to nipping at corals so they are quite a risk to have.As for moorish idol and cleaner wrasse,they have an extremely high mortality rate in captivity due to their eating habits.You might want to refrain from this two.IMO,tangs are a rather good choice in reef tanks.However,do read up before you buy any livestocks lest you regret later on.

but i thought you can't keep more than 1 tang in a tank. they fight right?

[scarab]

looks like moorish idol seems like a scary prospect but they are such beautiful fish.

[Dispar_Anthias]

but i thought you can't keep more than 1 tang in a tank. they fight right?

yeah they do fight and most tangs are not really suitable for your tank... IMo go for smaller species kind such as yellow, purple or scopas tang

[SharkBait]

quite a number of people here has succeeded in keeping a few tangs together.I think the trick is the order is you introduce them into the tank.Fishes have their own personalities too,dun be surprise if you find 1 with behaviour different from what is stated on the book.You should consult deepblue on this,he has lotsa tangs in his tank without any serious aggression problem.

[scarab]

quite a number of people here has succeeded in keeping a few tangs together.I think the trick is the order is you introduce them into the tank.Fishes have their own personalities too,dun be surprise if you find 1 with behaviour different from what is stated on the book.You should consult deepblue on this,he has lotsa tangs in his tank without any serious aggression problem.

i think if you have like a lot of tangs like a whole school they'll be ok though. no comments on flame angel in a reef tank? heard they are peckish on corals but again what a beautiful fish

[SharkBait]

i think if you have like a lot of tangs like a whole school they'll be ok though. no comments on flame angel in a reef tank? heard they are peckish on corals but again what a beautiful fish

you will need a big tank to school tangs.Flame angels really quite risky,although they are said to be reef safe but more often than not,they will nip on your corals.Plus once they go into the tank,its very hard to catch them out without removing every rock.

[Dispar_Anthias]

quite a number of people here has succeeded in keeping a few tangs together.I think the trick is the order is you introduce them into the tank.Fishes have their own personalities too,dun be surprise if you find 1 with behaviour different from what is stated on the book.You should consult deepblue on this,he has lotsa tangs in his tank without any serious aggression problem.

Hey if deepbluw were too add his sohal first his tank would be in serious trouble.... The trick is go for more docile one first then slowly add the fiercer one last........ hey IMo don't add two tang of different species but same shape together such as yellow and purple or fighting wil defiantely occur..........

Hey sharkbait, IMo try not to encourage him to add so much tangs as tangs are big fish and need space to swim and 3 feet is only enough for smaller species........

[scarab]

ya boy. tank looks small after the LR is in. gues i really have to control myself when time come to stock fish. my tank is only cycling on the 2nd week.