Tank stocking level

[razzpatazzz]

I was wondering what everyone thought of my current stocking level and if I could add some more fish or not. Usually I ask the LFS but I was wondering what other hobbyists thought. Tank has been up since end of January I believe and I have a skimmer, bio pellet reactor, chaeto (not setup yet), and carbon. Tank is 75 gallons and sump is about 25? gallons and I do 15 to 20 gallon water changes weekly. Currently I have:

 

- Pair of ocellaris

- Allen's Damsel

- Starry blenny

- Diamond goby

- 5 Chromis

- One spot foxface

 

- 2 BTA

- some coral, mostly acro frags, some softies on sand and a few euphyllia corals

- peppermint shrimp

- skunk cleaner shrimp

- emerald crab

 

Thanks

[GOSKN5]

I would say you are pretty well stocked for a 75... 11 fish and one being a large fish..

 

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[razzpatazzz]

I would say you are pretty well stocked for a 75... 11 fish and one being a large fish..

 

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You think so? I thought I would be fine since the chromis were on the smaller side. Do you think it's overstocked? Or still on the safe side

[GOSKN5]

I think it's safe... but appropriately stocked... if you want to add a small fish or two i think you could get away with it...

 

I wouldn't add another large fish tho... that said i am usually on the conservative side with fish sizes and stocks etc... i prefer smaller fish to keep the tank in scale...

 

I do have a yellow tang in my 120 but the rest are all clownfish sized...

 

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[razzpatazzz]

I think it's safe... but appropriately stocked... if you want to add a small fish or two i think you could get away with it...

 

I wouldn't add another large fish tho... that said i am usually on the conservative side with fish sizes and stocks etc... i prefer smaller fish to keep the tank in scale...

 

I do have a yellow tang in my 120 but the rest are all clownfish sized...

 

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I was considering a wrasse or a mandarin. Probably good right? Thank you for the help by the way

[GOSKN5]

Mandarin is a very hard fish to keep.. with your stock of aggressive fish and eaters..i wouldn't.. a wrasse should be fine depending on what kind

 

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[razzpatazzz]

Mandarin is a very hard fish to keep.. with your stock of aggressive fish and eaters..i wouldn't.. a wrasse should be fine depending on what kind

 

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Either a mccoskers flasher wrasse or a leopard wrasse. I have a 2 to 2.5 inch sand bed and I am willing to buy more for the leopard. On another note, would the above apply to anthias as well? I was considering anthias instead of chromis at some point so I was wondering

[GOSKN5]

Make sure you get the leopard from a reliable source.. another hard fish to keep... i wouldn't add anthias as they need to be fed multiple times and do better in groups... although there are a couple varieties that can get by on single feeding.. mckoskers would be a good choice

 

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[razzpatazzz]

Make sure you get the leopard from a reliable source.. another hard fish to keep... i wouldn't add anthias as they need to be fed multiple times and do better in groups... although there are a couple varieties that can get by on single feeding.. mckoskers would be a good choice

 

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Yeah the anthias thing was if I had gone with them instead of chromis or something, not something I want to try now. I do feed 2 times a day in smaller portions tho. And I usually get my fish from reef eScape and they have good fish most of the time. I'll have to do some more research on leopards though, I heard they're very very hard to keep

[Mattb1612]

So with everyone's throwing there opinion in the ring I will to. If your tank is stable and your water parameters seem good go for it. With that said you want your fish to be happy and having ample room for them is key. I really don't count the diamond Gobby or the chromis as huge impact to your stock load. Honestly one or two more fish would max it out. I would do a wrasse and dwarf angle and call it a day. Good luck and honestly everyone in here can tell you this hobby is very subjective and there is million ways to do a tank.

 

 

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[razzpatazzz]

So with everyone's throwing there opinion in the ring I will to. If your tank is stable and your water parameters seem good go for it. With that said you want your fish to be happy and having ample room for them is key. I really don't count the diamond Gobby or the chromis as huge impact to your stock load. Honestly one or two more fish would max it out. I would do a wrasse and dwarf angle and call it a day. Good luck and honestly everyone in here can tell you this hobby is very subjective and there is million ways to do a tank.

 

 

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Thanks for the tip! I always wanted an angel but was worried about them nipping at coral. Do you have any tips on what might deter it from doing so?

[Mattb1612]

So I have had two dwarf angels in my aquarium. I have never had an issue. I recommend putting them in last cause honestly once they get established there very aggressive. I have had a flame angle and I have had potter angle. None of them ever gave me problem but there is evidence out there that they sometimes can nip. A lot of us have dwarf angle is are aquariums with no issues you just have to wait and see and watch. Good luck

 

 

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[razzpatazzz]

So I have had two dwarf angels in my aquarium. I have never had an issue. I recommend putting them in last cause honestly once they get established there very aggressive. I have had a flame angle and I have had potter angle. None of them ever gave me problem but there is evidence out there that they sometimes can nip. A lot of us have dwarf angle is are aquariums with no issues you just have to wait and see and watch. Good luck

 

 

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Hmm okay. At this rate they would definitely be one of the last fish added unless something died. Did you have them together at one point?

[WishNewFish]

You didn't tell how much liverock and bio filtration you have and if your rockwork includes lots of hiding place for fish.

 

Like someone already suggested - everyone has their opinion and it's very subjective.

 

You already have two BTAs, and 5 chromis.

Any new fish you add shouldn't be requiring live food like pods (mandarin) because chromis already hunt out pods and if you add mandarin it will surely starve. Unless mandarin is trained to eat frozen mysis or pellets, even if it does eat, it's difficult for it to get to food with all the active feeders like chromis/clownfish.

 

I don't know much about Wrasse except that most of them will bully any fish in the tank if it's already well stocked.

 

Flame angelfish could be a good candidate, royalgramma or aquaculture orchid (fridmani) dottyback could be a good candidate.

Chromis do add bioload to the tank since they are active feeders and make sure you feed multiple times a day so everyone gets food.

 

How long have you had 5 chromis for? As you add any other fish I mentioned, there is a good chance the chromis will start die.

Not necessarily due to new tank syndrome but chromis keep fighting among themselves and as you add another semi aggressive fish like flame angel/gramma/orchid - this takes toll on the weakest chromis.

[razzpatazzz]

You didn't tell how much liverock and bio filtration you have and if your rockwork includes lots of hiding place for fish.

 

Like someone already suggested - everyone has their opinion and it's very subjective.

 

You already have two BTAs, and 5 chromis.

Any new fish you add shouldn't be requiring live food like pods (mandarin) because chromis already hunt out pods and if you add mandarin it will surely starve. Unless mandarin is trained to eat frozen mysis or pellets, even if it does eat, it's difficult for it to get to food with all the active feeders like chromis/clownfish.

 

I don't know much about Wrasse except that most of them will bully any fish in the tank if it's already well stocked.

 

Flame angelfish could be a good candidate, royalgramma or aquaculture orchid (fridmani) dottyback could be a good candidate.

Chromis do add bioload to the tank since they are active feeders and make sure you feed multiple times a day so everyone gets food.

 

How long have you had 5 chromis for? As you add any other fish I mentioned, there is a good chance the chromis will start die.

Not necessarily due to new tank syndrome but chromis keep fighting among themselves and as you add another semi aggressive fish like flame angel/gramma/orchid - this takes toll on the weakest chromis.

 

 

I have about 80 pounds of live rock, I don't know what other form of bio filtration you mean, but I don't have any other forms of filtration besides what I have listed. I had the chromis for about 2 months now I think. I started with 7 chromis with 2 feedings daily, was told that I am feeding too often by my LFS and changed my schedule to once a day and lost 1 chromis per day until I switched back to 2 feedings a day. Then I've had the same 5 for at least 3 weeks at this point. But yeah I was actually worried about getting chromis at first because of the whole infighting thing but it didn't happen much so it's been good so far. I got 7 expecting a few deaths and got less than I was expecting honestly. 

[madweazl]

I've had multiple dwarf angels in smaller tanks before without issue but much like nipping at corals, you're playing with fire as you never know. The coral beauty we have has been well behaved in regard to nipping things and leaves the other fish alone with the exception of the yellow tang (these two posture frequently). I wouldn't add fish until more of the chromis die off personally; as for your stocking levels, I too have a 75g and had 11 fish until a couple days ago (one of my gobies died). I do have a McCosker's wrasse in the tank and he doesn't like the firefish; it got bad for a while and I thought the firefish was going to die but they're getting along a bit better (firefish can come out without being attacked now). On the biological side, I feed quite heavy two times a day with occasional algae strips on a clip as well (few times a week). The advice regarding feeding the fish too often is just terrible; I dont know why anyone still perpetuates this nonsense (I dose nitrates to keep levels measurable). 

[razzpatazzz]

I've had multiple dwarf angels in smaller tanks before without issue but much like nipping at corals, you're playing with fire as you never know. The coral beauty we have has been well behaved in regard to nipping things and leaves the other fish alone with the exception of the yellow tang (these two posture frequently). I wouldn't add fish until more of the chromis die off personally; as for your stocking levels, I too have a 75g and had 11 fish until a couple days ago (one of my gobies died). I do have a McCosker's wrasse in the tank and he doesn't like the firefish; it got bad for a while and I thought the firefish was going to die but they're getting along a bit better (firefish can come out without being attacked now). On the biological side, I feed quite heavy two times a day with occasional algae strips on a clip as well (few times a week). The advice regarding feeding the fish too often is just terrible; I dont know why anyone still perpetuates this nonsense (I dose nitrates to keep levels measurable).

How often did you clean out your filter socks?

[madweazl]

How often did you clean out your filter socks?

I don't use them.