20gal with schooling fish?

[almarktool]

i have a 20 gallon tank with 15lbs of live rock in it and was thinking of making it a tank for some green chromies how many would i be able to keep in their safely , it has cc 1 170gph power head and a aqua-clear 200 filter
thanks
Mark

 

[demosthenes]

Well, first of all, I'm thinking with the filtration you have now, that you should add a skimmer, but that's only IMO. Also, I would say that 3 is the max.

 

[jim27]

My lfs has 5 really small chromis that school in there 20 gallon, although i'd keep 4 at the most.

 

[sinner's girl]

Thanks, I guess the FAQ and archives died (as found on the second page when i searched for FAQ). I'll try to find what i'm looking for. Yes I did use the search button.

 

[fshhub]

2, maybe 3 IMO
unfortunately in a 20 gallon i would keep the number very small
5 to 8 inches is all i would do(chromis get 3 inches)

 

[almarktool]

thanks everyone for your input

 

[reeferdude]

Well I started out setting up 10 gallon FO tanks so I have a lot of Damsel exerence. At one point I had 2 green chromis, 1 blue reef chromis, 1 yellow tail, 1 three stripe, 1 domino and 1 clarkii clown with a penguin 125 in a ten gallon tank. The only thing about that was I had to change about a gallon a week. I guess what I am saying is that it is very possible to put a lot of damsels in a 20 gallon tank but it takes a lot of work.

 

[clarkiiboi]

You might want to check out the discussion on this bb by BlueMarlin, subject is Schooling fish are awsome....talks about the green chromis. HTH

 

[kris walker]

Assuming you mean 20 long, not high, I would say 3 or 5 is fine, providing they are only an inch or 2 each (usual size I see at lfs). You have plenty of time for them to grow, at which time you will probably upgrade.
kris

 

[peasly1]

you should have no problem keeping 5 small chromis for awhile,as long as you do regular water changes.I would also add stress zyme and coat every other change,dont know how much that helps but thats what I do on all my tanks and everyone is happy and looking great