1 fishy, 2 fishy, 3 fishy, more...???

[xxaquanutxx]

Hey guys...

I have a sister who is getting married in Dec and my family wants to get her and her soon to be husband a reeftank for their wedding gift. We are having a hard time choosing between tank sizes... 65, 75, or 90 Gallon. Which ever one we choose, we want to have atleast 1 schoal of chromises or anthias, along with a few other misc. fish and corals.

Can you all tell me what a safe amount of fish for each of the tank sizes are??

65G

75G

90G

Thanks!

PS: there will be LS, LR, and corals... plus we are thinking of putting in a sump and fuge total equaling atleast 50 gallons.

[speccialj922]

whichever you go with, chromis' are a much better idea. anthias' are extremely hard to keep and require constant feeding. they are also very expensive. chromis' dont need nearly the tank size as some anthias' and they are hardier and cheaper. a better candidate in my opinion. any of those tank sizes would be ok imo. good luck. just make sure to do your research on whatever you buy before you buy it.

[SoKaL ReeFiN]

Looks like space might not be that much of an issue (if you're going to have at least 50 gallons of sump/fuge..) I'd go with the 90 or better yet.. a 125.

[rjwilson37]

You can go with 1 inch of fish per 2 gallons of water. That is the limit and you should have a good filter/skimmer system setup to do the maximum allowed their.

Good Luck!

[xxaquanutxx]

Does any one here have experience with schools of chromises>?

[gofor100]

The whole 1 inch of fish for every 2 gallons of water thing works more for freshwater fish and salt fish only tanks, but from what I have heard on this website, it is better to go with 1 inch of fish for every 3, 4 or even 5 gallons of water in a reef tank, particularly because of the coral and its sensitivity to waste and water quality.
Never have had a school of chromis though, have thought about it...just make sure you get enough chromis that if one or two die, the chromis will still be able to be a school (about 7 or so fish).

[SoKaL ReeFiN]

1 inch per 2 gallon seems to be too much..

And for chromis.. I remember somone saying you need to buy them in odd numbers.. 5, 7, 9.. I don't remember why though.

[nanocat]

Originally posted by SoKaL ReeFiN
1 inch per 2 gallon seems to be too much..

Way too much. Does anyone really think I should have 15" of fish in a 29g. tank? :D

[baeksu]

I've always heard the "1 inch per 5 gallons" rule.

[baeksu]

My only problem with that rule, though, is my Engineer Goby. He's about the thickness of a pencil but almost a foot long. Does that mean that he'd be the only fish I could have in a 50g?

[xxaquanutxx]

Originally posted by SoKaL ReeFiN
1 inch per 2 gallon seems to be too much..

And for chromis.. I remember somone saying you need to buy them in odd numbers.. 5, 7, 9.. I don't remember why though.

mostly because when there are odd numbers of fish the ratio is 2 :1.. meaning 2 females to 1 male or vise versa'. That way the more aggresice sex wont pick on the same opposite the whole time.. causing stress and eventually death.

thats MHO

-Jackie