How do you know when enough is enough

[crackers]

O.K. I've seen tons of post here about bio load and over loading a tank. My ? is how will i know I have my max capacity or that I have messed up and overloaded? Could I go by my test, at the point my system could no longer keep levels at zero that would be my notification that it was maxed out or overloaded

??? I would think at that point it would be too late and I would risk of everything dieing.... Is there any simple non risky way to know?

 

[iiinadav]

How big is your tank? How much rock and sand do you you have? What equipment are you running on this system? How many fish and what kind of fish do you have? Those are questions that will need to be considered and answered for someone to help you. Let us know and we will do our best to assist you.

 

[am3gross]

i believe the rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water for every inch of a fish at the fishes max size. so if the max size of a fish is 8 inches then you would have to reserve 8 gallons of water for that fish. but some times this doesnt work out because you cant stick a tang in a 20 gallon tank and think that he would be ok. alot depends on your filtration. the better the filtration the more fish you can keep. i wouldnt trust the test thing because like you said if it gets to the point were your levels are out of control then you could run the risk of wiping out everything in your tank. what you might try doing is to post a list of what you have and what you would like and let some people on here let you know if it would be ok or not. this is just my opionion and wish you luck!
am3gross

 

[crackers]

I have 46 gallon tank w/ emiroir 400 bio wheel filter, 2 rio 300gph power heads, sea clear skimmer and 2 175 hiq MH and 4 65 CP lights. 60 lbs of live rock and 50 lbs of live sand.
Right now I have about 40 snails 25 hermits 2 brittle stars 1 coral banded shrimp 3 emeral crabs 1 bi color angle 3 clowns 2 anemone soos and shrooms
I AM trying to overdo it on the cleaning and filtration/water movment in order to keep a very full tank, am i on the right track?

 

[iiinadav]

You probably have room for a 1 or 2 more fish. I wouldn't add anything else if I were you. If you do add more make sure you are doing frequent water changes to avoid nitrate build up. Is your skimmer pretty productive?

 

[crackers]

not very productive at all, I have been wondering if it was even working properly, I have the air wide open and I only have to dump it once every 2 weeks. I do 10% changes of water every saturday.... I am looking at getting about 3-4 green chromis and a tang of some type, then load it up with corals. maybe even a bleeny
thanks for the help BTW

 

[poop_head]

I'll let you know now that a Tang wouldn't be a good idea in a 46. They need larger sized tanks so unless you plan on upgrading I would not advise on the tang.

 

[alyssia]

A Tang is definitely not a good idea in that size tank. I also think 3-4 chromis would be pushing it.

 

[crackers]

well that sucks..... for me anyway good to know in advance though, thanks

 

[iiinadav]

You can probably get away with 1-2 chromis, but you should really get a better skimmer or get the current skimmer working alittle better. If you intend on adding alot of coral you should keep your fish bio-load low.

 

[viper_930]

Originally Posted by am3gross
i believe the rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water for every inch of a fish at the fishes max size. so if the max size of a fish is 8 inches then you would have to reserve 8 gallons of water for that fish.
For saltwater the very general guideline is 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water. The one you know of is for freshwater.

 

[maxalmon]

I was wondering if anyone was going to catch that......................I would change the skimmer over to a Coralife Super Needle Wheel, mine pulls all kinda of gunk out.

 

[crackers]

thanks for all the help. Here is the proposed stocking list:
Current:
3 clowns
1 bi color angel
1 manderin golby
adding???:
2 blue chromis
1 lawn mower blenny
and I need some suggestions for one more fish, I want something that is active and pretty.. :notsure:

 

[poop_head]

I wouldn't put anymore fish on than your list right now. Thats full as it is for a 46 IMO and also I believe that the mandarins require larger tanks and a fuge to keep your pod levels up. In my 55 I only had a flame angle, bicolor diadema, PJ cardinal, and a GS Maroon Clown.

 

[crackers]

I've had the maderine for about 1 month now and he seems happy spends about 70% of his time in the rocks, occasionally ventures out for a look around

 

[jam1e]

I think that it should be fine to have a mandarin in that size but in the near future you might start to have to buy pods for him to eat and as you seem to have realized stay away from tangs for that size tank

 

[poop_head]

Ya the mandarin will be fine for a while but will slowly starve after he eats all the pods. I've heard of some people getting them to eat like mysis or something.

 

[crackers]

how ofter and how should i feed the pods?