How many fish are too many?

S

SaltyScotty

Member
So I think I'm about done restocking my tank...and now I am wondering if anymore can be squeezed in...(220 gallon)

My little buddy list:

Fowleri
Achilles
Dussumier
Hippo
Sailfin
Yellow Tang
Bluechin female (trigger)
Gold spotted rabbit fish
Two barred rabbit fish
pair of clowns
pair of yellow tail damsels

Thanks all!
 
Hyperlitexr50

Hyperlitexr50

Member
I don't think 14 is to much it all depends how big some of those tangs are and your filtration. I have 26(lots of little to medium) in my 125 with a big skimmer 80 gallon sump and a 40 gallon fuge.
 
MMreef

MMreef

Active member
You're opening a can of worms with this one. There will be as many different opinions as posts. But I have seen more fish in tank your size , so as long as there is no aggression between and filtration is adequate it might work.
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
As long as you have lots of live rock, you can pretty much keep adding. The only limit will be agression between fishes. I'd be careful with the achilles, as they get agressive and always/almost the first to get ich and die with overcrowded tank
 
gig

gig

New member
it's gonna be tough to mix all those tangs in a 220G, right now in my 180G, I've got a red sea sailfin, orange shoulder (adult), Chevron and a Hepatus and I would not dare try fitting another in there. At one point I had just the sailfin and orange shoulder and tried an achilles and the sailfin was merciless to him and stressed him out and he got ick and died.
 
S

SaltyScotty

Member
I appreciate it, I know it is a very opinionated question...but that is what I am looking for is everyone's opinion. Thanks again though guys!
 
gig

gig

New member
also, on the achilles, I'd rather put him in first to reduce stress, but an established achilles (if you get lucky) will be a beast to new additions, especially tangs
 
Gary

Gary

Active member
My opinion is pretty simple.

Take the max size all these fish get, and consider the swimming room provided for each of them, and then decide. Sure you can fit a bunch of small fish, but you must remember they will grow. :)

Over crowding leads to aggression and stress. Your fish don't want that, you you don't want to have to deal with finding a solution. I personally thing that's a big stock list. But to each their own. I have and do plenty of things others would advise against or not see a need in. ;)
 
FishBeard

FishBeard

New member
Just buy the biggest skimmer you can afford and stock the tank until the skimmer can't keep up, then pull 1-2 fish out and call it a day.
 
sarahwoods

sarahwoods

New member
In our 210 we have
3 clowns
6 blue/green chromis
1 green spotted puffer
1 royal gramma
1 dartfish
2 squareback anthias
1 naso tang
1 yellow tang
1 hippo tang
1 blue jaw trigger
1 flame hawk

So that's what? 19 total...

Our LFS guy told us the other day we are pretty capped out at this point (or at least we will be once the fish all grow to full size). We also do have slight problems keeping the nitrates down. Not sure if that helps at all.

I think a lot can be said from a good skimmer too. I want to upgrade ours to a bigger one when we get the money!
 
sarahwoods

sarahwoods

New member
I second what gig said. Our Achilles was doing great for about 6 months, and as we added more fish he got stressed, stopped eating, got ick and died as well. He got picked on really badly by the other fish. He was my favorite! I was SO sad when he died!
 
EricTheRed

EricTheRed

No, I'm not a communist..
Yep, some of the fish more sensitive to copper are lionfish, pufferfish, mandarins, blennies, and other scaleless fish, like eels.
 
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