How Many

[martinc909]

How many fish can I put in a 55 gallon saltwater setup. I just have live rock and live sand in my tank with 2 damsels and a cinnamon clown. I'm going to buy a 440 watt vho light. Is that enough to keep any coral alive. HOW MANY FISH CAN I PUT IN MY TANK. I'm thinking on putting clown fish, a yellow tang, turbo snails, starfish, crabs, sand sifter, mandarin, cleaner shrimp, etc. Could it be a rule of about 1 fish per 1.5 gallons of water. which would be around 27 fish. IS 27 TOO MUCH. I might finish stocking up in about 3 months.
ANY HELP
THANK YOU

 

[lubeck]

First get the 2 damsels OUT OF YOUR TANK. I made the mistake of getting 2 domino and 2 blue reef damsels. The dominos are sooooooooooo bad and aggressive they just are MEAN, IMO. I finally got them out, just the two dominos and the other fishies seem to be much happier.
I have a 110 gallon and 8 fish
and i have
2 false percs
2 cinnamon clowns
1 mandrin
1 sailfin
2 blue reef damsels, if i can get them their gone.
among other inverts thats it, I don't plan on getting any other fish execpt for one MAYBE.
In any case its 1inch of fish, not including tail per 2 gallons of water to be safe. And that means you need to take into account when you give it a great home it will grow old and become a FULL GROWN ADULT. DONT FORGET TO MEASURE FOR THAT!!!!
The lighting your getting looks good, you should be able to keep some good corals, not all, but quite a few with that system.

 

[nofish4u!!]

I'm still fairly new at this but in MHO, it sounds like WAAAAY too many fish for a tank that size. What about getting some smaller fish like a Goby or some clowns? I wouldn't put a Tang in there either, they really need room to swim. No offense, but it sounds like you have been throwing fish and things in there without a lot of research (by viewing your past posts). Not only are you going to stress the fish out and probably kill them(if that isn't enough for you to slow down a bit) but you will be wasting a lot of money. Take a deep breath, do some research and take your time....patience is key. Best of luck with your tank.

 

[martinc909]

I'm in High School. and once I get out I look up stuff in the internet about saltwater. I'm no expert but I think I'll be doing fine. I know 27 is too much I'll probably have around 12 fish. I don't plan on stuffing them all in one day I'll probably be done with the tank in about 4 months. Probably one every 9 days. Is that better.

 

[lubeck]

Don't forget that fish grow and you will need 2gallons of water per 1 inch of fish. Sooo, thats only a total of 25inches TOPS. If you have a clown it will get about 3, each damsel 2, thats a total of 10 inches. you get a tang and they get 13-14inches So thats it. Only, tangs need a miniumum of 75gal or something. Just be carefull.

 

[lukeb321]

Are you crazy? I hope your joking - Tops you should have around 10-14 inches of fish and your already getting close. I agree get rid of the damsels, keep the clown and your left with around about 6-10 inches for fish. Not much I know. By the way - No on the tang - not nearly enough room in a 55. Lighting looks good, watch your temp though , might get to hot with all that light.

 

[fedukeford]

27 fish is WAYYY to much, i have a 55 gallon reef and i only have 6 fish:
2 false perc. clowns
Coral Beauty angle
scooter blenny
yellow watchmen goby
orchid dottyback
but if you want to liven the tank up you should get some shimrp im my tank i have:
camelback shrimp
cleanershrimp
fireblood shrimp
2 pepp. shrimp
so id say 8 small fish TOPS, and as many inverts as you want, and 3 monhts is WAYY to fast to add howeveer meny fish your gonna add, id say at the most 1 fish per 1.5 weeks

 

[sweetdawn]

in my 55 gallon i have 5 fish. in my 30 gallon i have 2 fish and three seahorses. basically same amount of fish difference is the size of the fish.