How many clownfish can I keep in a 90g?

[bues0022]

Yikes. Little harsh its only until they grow another 1/2" or so then I'll split the batch in half. The breeder told me with my sump/fuge/heavy skimming that I will be fine. I am hoping a breeder or someone who may have done something similar to chime in.

Not really. You asked a question, didn't like he answers and are trying to talk others into it. Of course a breeder would like you to try this. It's a good paycheck for him, and you will go back to him for replacements when they start dying off.

 

[Clowntastic]

Ok so I see the general consensus if that 100 baby clowns 1" and smaller would not be appropriate for a 90g tank. What would the appropriate size tank be to keep these baby's healthy?

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I would never even attempt to keep 100 fish, let alone 50 fish in a 90g tank(freshwater or saltwater) Thats just being ignorant and selfish on your part. Sorry if this comes off harsh...

Why do you want 100 clowns?

 

[Jamie1210]

Ok so I see the general consensus if that 100 baby clowns 1" and smaller would not be appropriate for a 90g tank. What would the appropriate size tank be to keep these baby's healthy?

are you asking out of curiosity? or are you seriously considering a tank upgrade?

assuming the latter, i would say 1000 gallons at least... each clown gets 10 gallons of water, minimum.

 

[hvacman250]

100 clowns? At least a 10', preferably 12' tank. 48"-60" wide should be enough. 24" high is plenty. 800-900 gallons.

But seriously, if you want to recreate the 27/27 thread and have nothing but clowns from the same hatch and BTAs in a 90 gallon, I'd do 10-12, 15 MAX. Expect to have half that within a year.

Ive spent 15 minutes trying to save a stupid 3 day old fry that got sucked into the water change bucket. Could have just flushed him, but I sorted thru the algae, waited for water to clear, and found him. You want to kill (or lead to their death) 85-90 clowns. Understand why some of us are getting upset. Sure theyre tank bred and dont come from the ocean, but dont senselessly kill them.

 

[zeeter]

I wouldn't put the 100 clowns in there, either. However, there are only a couple of clowns that would become fully grown out of this batch. The rest would likely stay around and inch and a half or so. There would likely be more die-off from dominance fighting, assuming that the OP managed to keep the parameters somewhat in tune. Clowns are pretty hardy so it wouldn't be entirely out of the realm of possibility to manage the tank chemistry.

I know this breeder and have talked with him before. Unless you are planning to use the tank as a holding tank to sell from I would take a pass on it.

 

[Clowntastic]

After reading some post by Reefstew and seeing that he has over 500 clowns in 60g tank, I think I can keep 100 of them in a 90g. Wish me luck!

 

[davocean]

Ah, 9 people say you shouldn't, but one person gives the answer you WANT to hear, and you chose to go w/ that person?
That's some sound decision making there.
You will need more than luck on this one, but hey, it's the fish that will suffer, not you.

 

[Clowntastic]

Like I just said, Reefstew has 500 in a 60g tank so I will have no problem keeping 100 in a 90g. I think he has a lot more experience than the 8 negative responders put together.

 

[jdhuyvetter]

Sounds like you are looking to pick a fight, not learn from others on this site.

 

[davocean]

Breeding clowns is not that difficult, (no offense to REPUTABLE breeders)just most of us are smart enough to know the work usually exceeds the pay unless it's a rare or very desireable breed.
I don't think many come on here giving advice do so just to bum someone out, but quite otherwise.
Most of us actually care for the animals more than we would care to make a buck off them.

 

[Clowntastic]

Sounds like you are looking to pick a fight, not learn from others on this site.

I think you are mistaken sir. Sounds like the opposite to me. Like I said Reefstew is doing it with a lot more fish so I know the fish will be fine.

 

[jdhuyvetter]

He is doing it as a breeder. Bare bottom tanks and production oriented. No anemones or liverock. Probably doing massive water changes.

When I used to breed cichlids, I would have grow out up to 100 fish in a 40 breeder. But, I was also doing 50% water changes every couple days.

The key term here is "grow out".

Based on your OP, you are looking to set up a display tank.

It's never going to work with 100 fish! That would be like having 30 or 40 people living in a 3 bedroom house.

 

[davocean]

There are many puppymills using this very same method.

 

[Clowntastic]

I appreciate the concern but am moving forward. All 100 will only be in the 90g for around 6-9mths pthen I will split them in half and start another 90g. I think after that the 50ea per 90g tank will be fine.

 

[reefstew]

I am a clownfish breeder with almost 5,000 clownfish in a system with 18 - 20 gal tanks. I loose less than 5% of my fish. I try to sell them when they reach the 1" size. If they are around much longer they start to fight & beat up the smaller ones. As far as the fish load on the system, it can be done with BIG water changes the first month or so. You can also use ClorAm-x to reduce the ammonia.
I'm not telling you to do this but it can be done. Do you really thing breeders are raising a few fish per tank? Their is not much money to be made in this business. Most of us small breeders are doing it for the challange & hope to make more money than we put into it.

 

[davocean]

Well, there is a big difference between being a back yard breeder w/ puppymill mentality, and being a reputable breeder.
Too bad there many new to reefing that will take this sort of advice due to their ignorance.

 

[Clowntastic]

Thanks Reefstew for the comment. I knew there had to be others that are doing this successfully. That's an impressive amount of clownfish. I saw the video of your fish room. Very nice!

 

[reefstew]

Well, there is a big difference between being a back yard breeder w/ puppymill mentality, and being a reputable breeder.
Too bad there many new to reefing that will take this sort of advice due to their ignorance.

What do you consider to be a reputable breeder? I would thing good healthy & good color fish & very few losses.

 

[hvacman250]

I appreciate the concern but am moving forward. All 100 will only be in the 90g for around 6-9mths pthen I will split them in half and start another 90g. I think after that the 50ea per 90g tank will be fine.

If you put 100 clowns in a 90 gallon tank, in a REEF environment, you wont have 50 clowns in 6-9 months.

If you grew them out in a bare bottom with NO decor, and do massive water changes, you may have 90-95 in 6-9 months.

See the difference?

Let us know how many clowns you kill in 6-9 months.