How many fish for 65G reef tank

A

af707

New member
How many fish max would be recommended to 65G reef LPS/softie coral tank w/ 20 gal sump?

I already have:
(1) small yellow tang
(1) golden maroon clown
(1) bullet goby ( I want to trade in b/c he is too big and a bully)
(1) Yashi Haze Goby (always hiding but stunning when he comes out)
(3) Green Chromis ( I want to trade in and get (1) male and (2) female pink square anthias)

I also want:
(1) mandarin goby
(1) flame back pigmy
(1) Hawkfish (either flame or longnose)

Too many?
 
That is too many for a 65g, particularly with some of the choices. Square back anthias are difficult to keep in small tanks (and big ones come to that). They are also a big fish which require regular feedings.
Yellow tangs are messy fish. They put a strain on bio loads and it will get too big for a 65g.
A mandarin maybe able to survive in a 65g if there are no other pod eaters though you are on the cusp of it being ok IMO.
HTH
 
65 gallon

65 gallon

Also, many anthias are haremic and the ratio of males to females is usually higher than that. Such as on the scale of one male to every 6 to 8 females. Your tank will not be big enough for that many anthias.
A Bartlett's anthias or a Lyretail anthias is a smaller fish so maybe one of those will work. They are also hardier fish.

James
 
All I have in my 65 is 1 yellow tang, 1 Clown, 1 Basslet, and 1 Chromis. I am not adding anything else. I am sure Ill hear about the Tang, but I have a 135 in the works.
 
Lots of people have upgrades in the works. Some of them even happen. It would be nicer for the fish if they were purchased AFTER the upgrade rather than before.
 
I have a 65 with a blue hippo, a 2-barred rabbit, 2 lyretail anthias, a small tomato clown, a bi-color blenny, a green watchman goby, a very small blonde naso, a copperband, and a spotted mandarin. I do not recommend having this many fish in a 65. The naso and copperband were given to me by a friend, and I have a new tank coming in a week, its a 183 cube. I think you could add 3 lyretail anthias if you get rid of the chromis, if you have a good amount of LR I would say a mandarin would be fine also. Just have a really good protein skimmer and do water changes as necessary.
 
I just made the comment that I have very few fish in my tank. Except on of those was a Tang and I knew someone would say something about it. It was the very next post.
 
So why have you got a tang in there when the common consensus says your tank is too small.
Its just that the upgrade comment is widely used on this forum ie I've got a Vlamimgi in my 50g but its ok because I'm upgrading to a 500g in 6 months.
 
I have had the blue hippo since it was the size of a quarter and it was in a 20g for like 4 months before I upgraded to my 65 and now its starting to get a little big in my opinion for the 65 so I am upgrading again. If I wasn't upgrading I would find a new more suitable home for my tangs. The naso was given to me by someone who didn't know what they had bought. When it starts to become to large for the 183g I will either upgrade again or find it a new home. I think as long as you know what you are getting into and are willing to make decisions in the best interest of the fish keeping your tank as it is now shouldn't be a problem.
 
My final comment in this thread, but I know several people that have kept Tangs in a 65. The general consensus is to tell everyone what they are doing wrong, without knowing any details about that person, their experience, their tank, or their plans. I never said what the OP should or should not do. I posted my situation as it relates to his post.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12496501#post12496501 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rydr119
I have had the blue hippo since it was the size of a quarter and it was in a 20g for like 4 months before I upgraded to my 65 and now its starting to get a little big in my opinion for the 65 so I am upgrading again. If I wasn't upgrading I would find a new more suitable home for my tangs. The naso was given to me by someone who didn't know what they had bought. When it starts to become to large for the 183g I will either upgrade again or find it a new home. I think as long as you know what you are getting into and are willing to make decisions in the best interest of the fish keeping your tank as it is now shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...

I hope you plan on getting at least a 5 foot tank, if the tank is still four feet, reardless of gallonage, you would hae done the fish no benefit. He really should have a 6 footer at the very least.

I'm not a member of the tang police, I keep a scopas in my 4 foot 72 bow, but in my expeience and from what I've gathered here on Reefcentral (which is a tremendous amount of knowledge, thank you all), blue tangs are open water swimmers much more so than say a yellow tang or member of that genre of tangs. I've observed this in the wild myself.

Blues in my opinion, should be kept in large tanks only, and maybe even in most cases, just left in the wild.

Sorry, my friend, just my opinion, just sharing it.....
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12497037#post12497037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
My final comment in this thread, but I know several people that have kept Tangs in a 65. The general consensus is to tell everyone what they are doing wrong, without knowing any details about that person, their experience, their tank, or their plans. I never said what the OP should or should not do. I posted my situation as it relates to his post.
Click to expand...

i agree
 
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