how to get more fish in your reef

[227]

I am in the process of setting up a 30g cube and I want the freedom to keep as many fish as I want to. So I was thinking of adding a 55g rubbermaid container as a refugium next to my tank. With the water volume I should be able to keep 20in of fish not considering fish aggression once the tank matures right? I want to stick alot of small fish that are non aggressive and ignore each other. Do you think this is possible?

[reefD]

well ..figurativly (sp. off) yes but for a fish to live to maturaty in a crowded tank with large volumes of water isnt the only thing he needs....he needs space also. think of it this way: yes the fish will not be exposed to any build up nutrients like ammonia or trates..but will be stress due to lack of terratory. basically the fish will die due to stress of being not happy. people forget that stress is the main factor of fishes death. yes over crowded tank is an obvious stress but does not alone kill the fish ..stress does. some fish can live in the worst senerios..like never changing water, salinity going way high or low, and even tiny tanks because they never get stress by the situation. this is not always a breed charecteristic as it can be just a particulair fish.
what im trying to say is that your avoiding one trigger for stress for another either way your fish will die from stress. some individuals may survive but its not a predictable breed thing but more of a fish to fish personality/tolerance.

this is done in lfs for short periods ...not ideal at all for saltwater fish or any fish for that matter.

if you have ever seen a fish that has survived this situation eventually be put into a large tank you would understand the happiness that the small tank takes away from a fish. even small gobies need room...what we dont see is them moving all over our tanks at night.

[meinkfr]

That was very wise!! And sooo true. My friend had a small tank and packed it full of peaceful fish, and we saw so many fish using aggression towards other "peaceful" fish, it wasnt even funny. They do need their space and it would be in-humane not to give it to them.

[areze]

you would not survive in a 5x5' sealed room with 5 other people for very long.

open it up so you have some air coming in and whatnot; youd live, but would you be happy?

how long can you ignore the other people when you cant get away from them.

plus all of that waste even with a 55g sump is not going to be great for your reef.

[227]

ReefD maybe you are right, fish do need their space. I think I will just stick with the average stocking level of a 30g and just add the 55g sump to help filter the water more. I want my fish to be happy, and thank you all for helping me realize that.

[Amphiprionocellaris]

What a larger water volume is going to do is make it easier to maintain water parameters. If you want more fish, you simply need more physical space. The limiting factor for fish, as I see it, isn't waste production, it's agression. As has pretty much been stated already, fish will die from stress (ie. from agression) long before they're killed by water parameters. The sump will, however, make your tank more friendly to corals.

[reefD]

as long as you understand that 99% of fish die from stress you will make the right choices. even in the case of parasites...stress kills the fish....if a fish can survive,and or,stay happy it ussually can survive any problem..the key is keeping them from getting stress and fish are a stressed out organism. they get stress easily and die from it! fish cannot manage stress. it is probably a physiology thing but it still comes down to a preceeding factor. in other word stress is like a cancer for fish. in a way it is a death sentence.

[reefD]

ahh yess corals dont care...they do not mind being confined as they do not need space for life rather space for room to prevent stinging thats it.

[Kent E]

Agree, I have noticed this in my reef, but only over the years as I came to understand the fish and their behavior.