# of fish in tank to prevent stress

[nolucksalts]

I was also told by many of you that I have to many fish in aquarium let me list them again :1 blue tang ,2 blue damsels,1 clown maroon ,1 spotted grouper,1 spotted puffer,1bennie ,2 starfish,1 banded shrimp ,snails and crabs ,live rock and feather dusters .THis is a 55 gallon tank all I would like is one descent size fish to go with blue tang ,Why whenyou go to pet stores do they have alot of fish in saltwater tanks and dont have a problem and sometimes for a month or so depending on how outrageuos they price them ,thats where I'm puzzled they dont lose fish but I add one more and I'm over crowding and than stress sets in and they die in 3 days ,I just have a hard time believing that when ever I add a larger fish its to much -I believe it because you people all know what your talking about but please explain???

 

[bigbonedee]

Rule of thumb is 1.5 inches of fish for every 5 gallons of tank.
The rule goes out the window if the fish arent compatible and stress each other however.
The LFS buy in bulk and dont expect the particular fish to be in the store too long before someone picks it up. Also most places run copper in there systems to prevent disease. Thats why most of these places dont have quarantine tanks either.

 

[nolucksalts]

Thank you for your information I did not realize that ,I finally set up a quarantine tank I hope it helps any tricks or things you can tell me on having one ???