How many fish for a 53g tank

[Tastee]

Hi all,

I have a new (first established Sep 17) 53 gallon (200 Litre) display tank with a 11 gallon (44 litre) sump that I am stocking up. I am aiming for a mixed reef tank and would appreciate some advice as to how many fish I should aim for.

Current inhabitants are 2x (pair) Clownfish, 2x Fire Gobys, 1x Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, 1x Yellow Tang, 1x Coral Banded Shrimp, 1x Hermit Crab, 1x Trochus Snail, 1x Nassarius Snail and 1 or 2 hitchhiker slugs. All fish currently juveniles. Currently 5 soft corals but I intend to increase that and also possibly introduce a SPS and/or LPS or two.

I use Aquaforest reef salt and Component 1+2+3+ dosing solution. Current parameters are Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate 0 ppm, Phospherous 0.25 ppm, Alkalinity 9.8, pH 8.4, Calcium 460 ppm, Magnesium 1440 ppm. The tank has about 25 Kg of live rock and is a Red Sea Reefer 250.

I am planning to introduce a few more fish, current Wishlist is 1x Orchid Dottyback, 1x Sand Sifter Goby, 1x Six Line Wrasse. Possibly also a Blennie. I also want 2-3 Emerald Crabs.

I know the Yellow Tang may eventually outgrow this tank so he (or she) may go back to the LFS at that point to be traded for a new juvenile. From what I can tell the others should not outgrow my setup.

What are your thoughts about target stocking levels?
Am I already overstocked?

Thanks, Brad.

 

[Tastee]

Here is a photo of the tank.

 

[Tastee]

Sorry, forgot to say salinity is kept at 1.024.

 

[McPuff]

You'll want no more than 1 emerald crab. This is your best bet to keep any of them alive.

As for fish, I feel that the list you provided is probably fine. They are small fish with low biomass. I agree the tang will likely have to go at some point and that will free up a little "space" for the other fish.

 

[HBtank]

The simplest answer is if nitrates are in check, and you have export methods ready to handle more waste/nutrients, yes. Honestly there is no maximum beyond stressing the fish due to competition, which leads to aggression and disease.

But that is a complex question and can simply come down to the individual fish, but I don't see many red flags other than the Tang. The bluestreak would be second as they can stress out fish doing their thing, but if it is fine now more fish should probably OK. Just always be prepared to trap and return fish as needed.

Don't worry about inverts as much for stocking, they are the clean up crew really, and the danger for them is typically starving them as you don't feed directly.. including corals for many nutrients. But for some there are specifics, like McPuff noted, emerald crabs need a lot of algae in the tank to live long term and I have heard one per tank unless 100g+.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Wait on the six line wrasse until you have looked through all the reef safe wrasse on LiveAquaria website. And then look at a few other websites as well.
Six line wrasse are great 'utility' fish but less than perfect tank mates.
Orchid dottyback should be a nice addition. Same with the sand sifter goby.

The coral banded shrimp is more evil than either the blood red fire shrimp for the skunk cleaner shrimp.
But they are cool to watch. [emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Jepprox]

We had a sand sifter goby, two clowns, and a yellow tang in a 56g. We added an orchid dotty back and it pestered the sifter goby constantly. After a few days the sifter goby jumped out of the tank to get away from the dotty back. For what it is worth.

 

[Tastee]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. It sounds like I am on a reasonable track which is good.

For better or worse the Sixline went into my QT today so I will see how it progresses as a tankmate and with the corals. It can always be returned in the worst case.

 

[Tastee]

I’ll start with one Emerald crab too based on this feedback.

 

[OrionN]

I would avoid Six line and get two Orchid dottyback instead

 

[Tastee]

Thanks for that OrionN. Too late for the Sixline now, so I will cross my fingers and hope he is a well behaved specimin!

 

[OrionN]

I feel so strongly about 6-line wrasse that if I am you, I would get him out and return him. Better now then after he kill one of your fish.
I am sure he will since he is one of the earliest fish in your tank which is in the medium-smaller reef tank.
Best of luck. I hope I won’t have to “told you so”