How many fish?

keprdad

keprdad

New Member
Have a question for you more intelligent people. I have a 150 gallon tank and am wondering how many more fish I might be able to have before I bring my tank to capacity? I have:
1 small blue hippo tang (about 1 - 1 1/2 inches long)
2 small percula clowns (about 1 - 1 1/2 inches long)
1 pygmy angel
4 blue reef chromis
4 green chromis
1 mandarin Dragonet - green
I do not want to obviously overpopulate my tank but these are all small fish and it seems that I still have much more room to go. BUT ---- please advise.
thanks,
Keprdad
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
How much lr do you have? How much room do the fish how to swim?
 
jambi0n

jambi0n

Member
Also how long have you had the tank? I know those mandarin dragons are really hard to take care of and need an established tank of about a year.
 
sweetdawn

sweetdawn

Active Member
which means if your tank was cycled for a couple of months you have added all those fish in four months. I would wait awhile before adding anything else you have added alot in a short period of time. I hope your mandarin is eating something besides pods your tank is not going to have enough of those to sustain it for long. Your tank is big enough for the mandarin just not mature enough. remember your going by the full grown size of the fish not the current size the hippo gets big.
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
If you're going with fish only it's pretty easy to find out the max size of each of your fish and add them up. Keep in mind though that the "one inch per gallon" rule is ONLY a VERY crude rule of thumb!!!! If you get any fish that need more pristine water conditions/is more delicate than some, you stock less than that and you also have to take into consideration that some fish need more room than the rule allows for like your tang. I.e., using that rule alone you should be able to keep a tang healthy and happy in about 10-20 gallons but we know that that is no where near true!!!! If you only use the one inch per gallon rule you aren't taking into consideration the shape of the tang and the fact that they need quite a bit of room to swim.
If I remembered the max size of each of your fish correctly give or take a few inches on each I'd say you're at about 66, more or less, already. Maybe you could fit in one more largish fish or a small school of smaller fish IN TIME but I'd wait to see how the ones you have do first.
Then of course if you want to do inverts like corals and such down the line you're looking at a lot less and I'd say that you're already over what you should have in there.
 
dirkdaplr

dirkdaplr

Member
IN saltwater the rule of thumb is one inch per two gallons not one. And even with that like previously stated that is a crude representation as some fish like the hippo grows not just long but wide and tall taking up more inches than just its length.
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
It's really not, that's what I'm saying. I only use the one inch per gallon rule as a *starting point* but then there's a LOT to consider from that starting point onwards.
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
Opinions vary a lot on the issue :) I've always thought one inch per fish (that should say FIVE
) gallons was the starting point, crude rule of thumb if you plan to do inverts/corals. In saltwater for fish only I'd probably say that a better rule of thumb than one inch per gallon would definitely be closer to one inch per 2-3 gallons or therebouts. Still only a crude rule of thumb starting point though. It's best to take it that way then really research the fish you are considering checking what it's swimming habits are like, whether it is more susceptible (sp??? Sorry still finishing my coffee LOL) to problems stemming from less pristine water conditions, etc.
 
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