how many fish in a 75 gal.

[mvogel2]

i am trying to preplan out what i want in my 75 gallon reef. i have a wet/dry filtration setup and will soon have a dsb and i'm close to about 30lbs of live rock (will be getting more when i have the funds)
anyway i wanted to get some chromis so they will school. I was going to get three, then i thought maybe four would look cooler. but i don't want to overdo it.
I was planning on getting two tangs a coral beauty and maybe a mandarin later down the road.
would four chromis be too many fish?
thanks
matt

 

[oregonbud]

Hi Matt,
I am pretty new to this hobby but from what I have seen/heard I don't think 4 chromis would be too many for your tank.
I may be wrong but I heard/read somewhere that you want to try to stay at a one inch of livestock per one gallon of water - I'm sure others will disagree with this - but it may be a semi good way to estimate what your tank can really hold - so with that said, the schooling nature of that fish, and the size 4 chromis would definitely not be too many.
As far as the compatibility with other fish you may want to add in the future I am unsure of that, I think chromis are more passive then other damsels, but I would want to do more research before I put some of the "nicer" and more difficult fish (tangs) in my tank.

 

[noon]

I think your biggest problem would be two tangs, they like alot of room and very few that would be happy in a 75 gallon. I have a 75 and really wanted 2 tangs but i decided to just pick one i really liked and went with him, blue eyed kole tang was my choice. Two tangs might work just try to take it slow and pick a good order with the most aggressive last, especially if one is a yellow tang.

 

[will]

4 chromis is perfect for schoolin.. infact keepin 3 or more chromis would be happy for them and hav a better chance of survival.. 2 tangs in a 75 would most likely create a problem.. tangs can grow pretty big and 75 is too small, resulting in fighting. you could probably keep a yellow tang and a blue hippo in there.

 

[tlk]

I think you can have two tangs in 75 gal tank if you get them small and introduce them at the same time. If you get the larger ones to start with is where you run into problems IMO.

 

[lesleybird]

Hi, From the several marine fish books that I have read they all say about the same thing. In marine tanks about `1 inch of fish for every 2.5 gallons is the maximum, the poster who said one inch per gallon may be correct for fresh water populations, but not salt water. Salt water fish require stocking levels that are half or less that for fresh water. Lesley
You can check this info out at DrFosterSmith.com under their pet education site inside their website. It has a chart for stocking levels for fresh and salt water fish.

 

[lesleybird]

Sorry, The website is **************.com I had left out the s in Drs in the earlier post. Lesley

 

[newreefers]

the rule of inch of fish per gallon isn't the most accurate way to stock your tank. it really depends on bio load and compatability, and will they outgrow your tank.