How many "Fish per Gallon" do you have?

How many "Fish per Gallon" do you have?

  • 0.01 to 0.05

    Votes: 45 12.7%
  • 0.05 to 0.10

    Votes: 70 19.8%
  • 0.10 to 0.15

    Votes: 102 28.8%
  • 0.15 to 0.20

    Votes: 45 12.7%
  • 0.20 to 0.25

    Votes: 29 8.2%
  • 0.25 to 0.30

    Votes: 7 2.0%
  • 0.30 to 0.35

    Votes: 10 2.8%
  • 0.35 to 0.40

    Votes: 8 2.3%
  • 0.40 to 0.50

    Votes: 11 3.1%
  • More than 0.50

    Votes: 27 7.6%

  • Total voters
    354

mcarroll

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You missed some of these details regarding inches of fish per gallon on my first as well as in subsequent posts.

Missed or re-stated? Not sure what you mean. I'd be happy to address any specific points. Was just throwing my $0.02...as always welcome to throw it back. ;)

-Matt


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hectorevalero

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Even though I would like to add more fish, I've found 22 being the sweet spot that works out the best in my 200 Gallon system. Everyone has plenty of room to roam, no stress and reduced aggression.

.11 22 Fish in 200 Gallon System

1 Achilles tang
1 Yellow tang
1 Blue hippo tang
1 pair maroon gold clown fish
3 chromis
1 flame Angel (everyone's favorite)
1 long nose hawk fish
1 Twin Spot wrasse

1 blue damsel
1 African flame back Angel
2 Banggai cardinal fish
1 Two barred Rabbitfish
3 bicolor Anthias
1 Mono Argentus
1 green mandarin
1 marine Betta or comet

2013-05-24 17.30.13.jpg
 
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OP
OP
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-Logzor

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Missed or re-stated? Not sure what you mean. I'd be happy to address any specific points. Was just throwing my $0.02...as always welcome to throw it back. ;)

-Matt


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You know exactly what I mean. I clearly stated in my first post why I chose to ask people about the number of fish per gallon opposed to inches of fish per gallon. In this particular tread I'm not interested in hearing opinions on why one metric is better than the other but thanks for the feedback. I think it's a really good idea to discuss such as topic but please start your own thread for this discussion. I would definitely like to participate.
 

JumperAlex

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90 Gals. 11 fish= .1222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222..................................................you get the idea
2 O. Clowns
2 Bangaiis
1 Blue Spot Watchman
1 Melanarus Wrasse
1 Sixline Wrasse
1 Mandarin
1 Hippo Tang
1 Kole Tang
1 Yellow Tang

Have you run into any issues having 3 tangs in a 90?


90g FOWLR
Foxface lo x 1
Ocerllaris clown x2
Blue spotted Toby puffer x1
Tomini tang x1
Flame hawk x1
Red legged hermit crab x 5-10
Snails x 5
Short spine urchin (red) x 1
Conch x 1
Chocolate chip starfish x 2
 

944speeder

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Fish stocking

I have 5 fish in a 20long reef tank. Two ocellaris clowns, two ocellated dragonets, one clown goby. I am running a large skimmer to
 

chort55

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I have .2 fish/g. IMO it looks understocked and I am considering adding several more fish. My tank is SPS dominated and when I slack on feedings it lets me know. I have been watching a friends LPS while he gets his tank back in shape and trying to "dirty my water" a little more for their liking as they were in bad shape coming into my system and it has increased the color in my SPS frags (this system is ~4-5 months old) and growth has also increased..... so I figure if I toss a few more fish in for when the LPS come out and continue to feed more I will be happy and the tank will look fuller w/ more action and better colors.

Here is my seemingly empty tank despite having 10 or 11 fish (I forget lol):
IMAG0458_zpsc8531494.jpg


According to tank calculators it is what would be considered a 70g, but it held 52g (which is what I used for this) of actual water before spilling into the overflow & sump.


I got a super good deal so I added a pair of Hooded Fairy Wrasses and an Ornate Leopard Wrasse the other day. Total is 12 or 13 fish (7 wrasses) now.
 

mainereefer

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I think 99% of the ppl who replied here did there math wrong.

if you have a 120g tank and a 40g sump that dosnt mean you have 160g of water!

I know in my 120g 48"x24"x24" 1" of tank was like 5g of water so if there is a 4" sand bed you would have to subtract 20g then there is your rock equipment and the fact there would only be about 30g of water in the 40g sump.....

160g max total - 20g sand - 20g rock - 5g equipment - 10g extra sump space = 105g water left

that is the number you need to use
 
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chort55

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I think 99% of the ppl who replied here did there math wrong.

if you have a 120g tank and a 40g sump that dosnt mean you have 160g of water!

I know in my 120g 48"x24"x24" 1" of tank was like 5g of water so if there is a 4" sand bed you would have to subtract 20g then there is your rock equipment and the fact there would only be about 30g of water in the 40g sump.....

160g max total - 20g sand - 20g rock - 5g equipment - 10g extra sump space = 105g water left

that is the number you need to use

I fall in the 1%...... your still off ^ from what the OP was asking about tho as he stated tank, not system volume so forget about whats in the sump and any equipment loss down there ;)
 

mainereefer

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ok now im confused? how are you going to tell fish load if you dont account for the total volume of water?

so if I have a 400g tank with 200g of water I count it as 400g? how is any of this accurate?
 

chort55

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ok now im confused? how are you going to tell fish load if you dont account for the total volume of water?

so if I have a 400g tank with 200g of water I count it as 400g? how is any of this accurate?

There is no accuracy to any of it really (other then how many fish or inches or different colors per gallon of water). Notice how I threw colors/g in there..... none of this info really matters by itself. Every system is different, all filtration is not equal, everyone feeds differently, some people use pellets or carbon dosing, some dose bacteria systems.... etc. If I fed my fish the same amount of food (say 2 cubes of mysis for a fairly consistent example amount) per day and then added 20 fish and continued to feed the same 2 cubes is there really much of a difference in load on the system.... afterall 20 fish eating the same amount of food as 10 fish aren't going to magically produce waste that isn't being put into the system originally anyway. Some systems could handle 10 or even 20 fish with a high fish,",color to gallon of water ratio where some can barely manage a low ratio because of poor filtration or many other factors.


There are so many newbs that ask " I have a ___ gallon tank, how many fish can I have?" fairly regularly in this hobby, so maybe the OP is just trying to find the answer for them :) LOL
 

Sunfun

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I have about 30 fish in my 220g. Actual water volume is probably about 150g when you remove water volume displaced by sand and rock. My stock is mostly a mix of gobies and blennies with the average fish size being about 3" (with a few notable exceptions). I also have a 110g sump and a 30g remote skimmer that I am not including in your requested calculations, but it gives you a more accurate picture of my setup.

Fish per gallon:
Using actual DT water volume (DT volume - displacement by sand and rock = 30/150): .2
Using DT water volume (DT volume = 30/220): .136
Using total system volume ({DT volume - displacement by sand and rock} + remote skimmer area and fuge = 30/290): .103

Fish inches (~100 inches) per gallon:
Using actual DT water volume (DT volume - displacement by sand and rock = 100/150): .667
Using DT water volume (DT volume = 100/220): .455
Using total system volume ({DT volume - displacement by sand and rock} + remote skimmer area and fuge = 100/290): .344
 

SeymourDuncan

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I have 1 fish per 10 gallons, largest being a juvenile orange should tang (or my engineer goby..he's long and thin).
90 gallons of water for 9 fish. They love the space and they all swim together so it looks really full.


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."
 

jedimasterben

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I have eleventy billion per gallon.



But realistically, if the three mollies I just dripped survive, then that makes eleven in my 80g.
 

KZ1986

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I have 10 fish in my 75 gallon (22 gallon sump/Refuge) but I am getting rid of one fish soon. At my current level I am .12 at one less .10. The lists is: Pair of Carmel Ocellaris Clownfish (about 3.25 inches and 2.5 inches), Trio of Pajama Cardinalfish (about 2 inches each), Yellow Tang (about 4 inches), Yellow Watchman Goby (about 3.5 inches), Green Manderin (about 2 inches), Luddock Wrasse (about 3.5 inches) and a (baby) Blue Tang (about 2.75 inches and the one I am searching for a new home since I am fully aware a Blue Hippo cannot live in a 75). I have only soft corals (mostly Zoas, Palys, mushrooms, a toadstool, leathers, xenia, daisy polyps, and Kenya tree and Flower Pot Coral)
 

Diamond1

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From OP

"I'm working on this theory that fish and their moment around c
orals is critical in how SPS and other corals feed and remove waste. In our home systems powerheads play this role (flow) but I'm trying to figure out how large of a role fish play in the equation. If you watch the above video fish are totally packed around some of the SPS corals. The movement of the fish is creating "flow" for the corals(allowing them to feed/expel waste)."

IMHO the "flow" caused by the fish would have very little impact on how the corals would ingest nutrients from the water column or remove waste, in the ocean or in a tank. While the amount of fish and the waste they produce has a direct effect on how our systems operate, the amount of fish would have very little impact on how the corals feed and expel waste.

That being said I try to stick to 1 fish per ten gallons of tank volume.

 

Diamond1

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Quick edit....

The amount of fish "flow" would have very little impact on how the corals feed and expel waste.
 

When to mix up fish meal: When was the last time you tried a different brand of food for your reef?

  • I regularly change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 24 29.3%
  • I occasionally change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 30 36.6%
  • I rarely change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 22 26.8%
  • I never change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 5 6.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 1.2%

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