bad advice...

[sweetpea11]

i'm very new at this and i've been finding out that i've had a lot of bad advice...i have a tall 100 litre bow front tank, with a combination of aquarium rock and live rock. i am wondering about the number of fish i can put in. a friend tells me i am absolutely maxed out. while another friend tells me i'm ok. that i can have 1 fish for every 2 gallons and that things like turbos and crabs don't count because they are part of my clean up crew. so far my tank is very harmonious and i would like to add 2 more fish, a puffer and a long nose butterfly. i know fish like my panther grouper won't be with me forever because he will get way too big...who knows maybe we will have another, larger tank by then. i also have a long-nosed hawk, 3 green cromis, strawberry dotty, green mandarin gobie, clownfish, 2 anenome, various turbos, 2 blue crabs, choclate chip starfish, and a baby starfish on a piece of live coral that was a tank warming gift. be easy on me...the person who originally got me started thinks i can go way more than this... but i'm not sure they know what they are talking about anymore.

 

[yimmy]

How many gallons is 100 litres, more people could help you then

 

[sweetpea11]

approximately 27 gallons

 

[pallan]

Originally Posted by sweetpea11
approximately 27 gallons

im pretty sure you are waaaay over stocked as is. do some research on the fish you already have. some you might want to get into a larger tank before getting anymore to add in there. JMO

 

[sterling]

that is alot of fish for that size tank. I believe the way to calculate is 1 inch of fish for every 2 to 3 gallons of water...

 

[tome]

I think you are overstocked. The panther grouer will get big really fast. The puffer is a big no-no in a tank that small. Also I believe that it is 1 fish for every 5 gallons,(1 fish for every 2 gallons is fresh water). Also what kind of filter do you have on it, and how often do you do water changes and at what amount? Hope this helps

 

[sterling]

I believe Tome is correct, 1 inch per 5 gallons....you're already way overstocked

 

[sweetpea11]

thanks for the help, i think i'll move the chromis to a friends tank. and i'll get going on a larger tank that should hopefully be ready by the time the grouper gets bigger. thanks for not being harsh...i guess my local fish store has been happy to sell me anything i thought looked nice!

 

[sweetpea11]

i'm so bad i'm not sure what kind of filter i have - it came with the tank, built into the canopy, but i do have a protien skimmer and i have changed the lighting to a 50/50 combo blue and white

 

[fallnhorse]

puffers are messy eaters and are a heck of alot more bioload to an aquaruim then those clowns. However he'll more than likely eat the chormis and clowns...So if that's how you want to weigh your load out. I suppose you could, up to you. i wouldn't

 

[lion_crazz]

The panther grouper will absolutely max out that tank very soon. A puffer would also not be a good idea, unless you were considering a toby and you were going to get rid of at least half of the fish you currently have. A longnose butterfly also needs a much larger tank.
The mandarin you have is not a great fish either because they need a calm tank with alot of pods. In such a populated tank, I cannot imagine that you can have much pods in there. If you are going to keep the mandarin, at least email me and I will give you the website to buy pods online (online is the only place you can buy them). The website that I know of sells them VERY cheap. My email is Ry84@MSN.com.
Though crabs and snails do not count towards bioload much, the 1 inch per 2 gallons is a little off. Right now, you are definitely maxed in that size tank.

 

[phixer]

Concur, consider a larger tank or reduction in inhabitants.

 

[promisetbg]

As everyone has addressed the issue of the amount and type of fish you have, I am concerned what type of anemones you have in there. Anemones get big, need very stable tank conditions with no fluctuations. They also need metal halide lighting to thrive, and definately need to be fed often if under improper lighting since they cannot get the energy they need for the zooxanthellae inside of them. They will bleach under the wrong lighting... and if they die, can wipe out the whole tank.

 

[sweetpea11]

thanks for all of your responses. spent the day looking for new tanks - narrowing it down to a couple - leaning towards the 125 gallon. i did check with someone more knowledgable about my lighting and he told me it was about the only thing i did do right. i am finding a new home for my chromis to reduce the over-crowding a bit. and with a bit of luck i will have a new tank up and running very soon - a more spacious home for my panther grouper. as for my anenomes they seem to being doing well. i use a combination of phytoplankton and liquid rotifers to feed them. as far as my water goes i test 2x a week and more when i've added a fish and i've had no real fluctuations at all, everything has been well in the safe range - i guess that's why i thought i was doing ok. thanks again for everyone's help - i'll get there!