how many????

[bergamer]

what is a good amount of fish and corals that you can fit in a 75 gallon tank.
I have 50lbs of live rock and 80lbs of live sand
nope: I dont think my tang is going to make it. Im going to go for help at a fish shop, even though they never seem to know anything about fish (well except how to sell them).
and I am not going to wake up one morning to see my little tango floating.)
Without my tang, i figure that I can get a bunch of smaller fish.
atm i have 3 clowns
1 coral beauty
1 psuedo chromis
plus i have some frog spawn,another large soft coral in the polup family, and 2 feather dusters.
what is a good ratio of coral to fish for my tank?
any suggestions?

 

[effloresce]

you can have as many corals you want, as long as you have enough room.
if i were you i would add a school of green shromis, or a peir of gobies/blennys

 

[bergamer]

i understand that you can add as much coral as it can fit, but i assume there has to be a balance with fish. If you had too many fish (even below what a 75gallon tank could handle) it still maybe too many fish for the coral and may kill the coral.
As the more fish=more nitrates. unless i was always on top of keeping the tank perfect- which is not going to happen.
I also noticed that everytime I see a really nice reef tank, they usually only have a few fish in them.
I would like a good amount of fish and suppliment with coral
any suggestions on how many fish you think that would be?

 

[bustedup21]

The fish load needs to be calculated based on the expected size of the fish as they mature and the amount of filtration and types of filtration used. A rule of thumb that I have used is that 10 average sized coral 2-4 inches is equal to 1 average sized fish 3-4 inches. Now that does not answer your questio of how many fish and ratios. Your clean up crew also effects the way your tank is going to respond to your fish load. So here goes IMO your load should be no more that 25 % of the volume of water so long as your filtration system is at optimal performance. 75 Gallon tank would mean 20 inhabitants. Not counting snails crabs and other clean up critters.
Steve H
75 Gal currently (upgrading to a 140, 30 gal sump, 20 gal refugium, EX1 skimmer), Y tang, Foxface, bi-color angel, coral beauty angel, algae blenny, canary blenny, 2 pajama cardinals, 2 banzaii cardinals, 2 4 stripe damsel, 3 clarkii's, yellow tail damsel, devil damsel, large black damsel, emerald crab, black bristle star, sand shifting star, 30 red leg hermits, 25 blue legs hermits, 20 asst. snails, BAkPak2r Dual chamber skimmer, 2 gal frefuguim, TEKLIGHT 6 54 watt 48" :happyfish :happyfish

 

[effloresce]

Y tang, Foxface, bi-color angel, coral beauty angel, algae blenny, canary blenny, 2 pajama cardinals, 2 banzaii cardinals, 2 4 stripe damsel, 3 clarkii's, yellow tail damsel, devil damsel, large black damsel,
that is way to many fish, even for a 140g.
Reef tanks have few fish becasue of bioload factors, to much ammonia and nitrates are produced from from alot of fish for corals.
you can have as many corals as you want, again, if you had to many fish, and had little ammoutns of corals they would suffur, but adding more wouldnt make them suffur more, thye would both suffure the same.

 

[bustedup21]

Appreciate your concern with my fish load. My tank levels are like this. Nitri 0-.25, Nitra 0-.20, Amm 0, cal 420, PH 8.1, Phos 0-.02, alk 9-12. cop 0, sg 1.022-1.024. Change out 8 gal of water a week. Been doing the same for 10 months with great success. I also use additives as well. No lost fish or coral in that time. Before that I was not as fortunate because I had not studied and read. Not researching is bad for the hoby but worse for the animal. Research for the type of tank you want whether it will be a mix of fish and corals or one or the other. Your LFS can be of help as well but remember that they are trying to make a living. If you have an aquarium locally go an visit and watch what they do and ask them questions. They love to talk about their babies. Love what you do becasue once you have these wonderful animals they are your total responsibility. Every need you have to provide (almost).
Good Luck

 

[greatfullreefer]

Originally posted by bustedup21
Appreciate your concern with my fish load. My tank levels are like this. Nitri 0-.25, Nitra 0-.20,
Good Luck

Nitrite should always be 0.