How Many Fish???

[md fishes]

I have a 180 and I am starting with some SPS frags (Started with 12 and lost 6). I see so much talk about heavy import and export. I do water changes every two weeks and my parameters are really clean. Right now I have an Achilles, Yellow, Blue and Tomini tang, a couple little clowns and a fire fish. I would like to increase my bioload to assist my sps color. How many fish is a heavy bioload without going overboard? What are your experiences in your tanks?

Thanks a lot for any and all input!

 

[slavetonet]

You don't need to increase in your fish to help your corals to colour up.
There are products of amino acids type that can help promote sps growth.
Your parameters should be stable, pay close attention to alk and have some kind of detectable nitrate and phosphate.
It doesn't have to be fancy or hard to keep sps corals.

 

[vinhle00]

I think your bio load is good. If you feel your corals are starving instead of adding more fish just increase feeding a little.

Btw what do you mean clean parameters? where are your alk at and how much does it swing in a day? what type of lighting do you have?

 

[ReefBum]

I like to keep a lot of fish and have a "slightly dirty tank", with some traces of nitrate and phosphate. Feeding the fish a lot, skimming heavily and fairly large weekly water changes work for me. Fish poop = happy SPS. At this point I have nearly 20 fish in my 187 gallon tank and I will eventually push that to 30. The beauty of reefkeeping is that there are many ways to have success so my way is not the end all, be all.....just sharing it since it has brought me success.

 

[md fishes]

Thanks for all the posts. My clean means alk 7.5 to 8, Calc 420 to 440, po and no 0.0. Religious about water changes every two weeks.

I definitely plan on adding some more fish. I love the movent and colors. I also have increased my feedings.

Thanks for the thoughts. If anyone else would share their livestock list or count that'd be great. The more opinions the better.
Thanks

 

[nemodan]

Thanks for all the posts. My clean means alk 7.5 to 8, Calc 420 to 440, po and no 0.0. Religious about water changes every two weeks.

I definitely plan on adding some more fish. I love the movent and colors. I also have increased my feedings.

Thanks for the thoughts. If anyone else would share their livestock list or count that'd be great. The more opinions the better.
Thanks

In 70 G total I have 13 fish medium size.

 

[Usernam Invalid]

I have 19 small to medium size fish
P .08
N .25

What happened to the the 6 frags you lost was it rtn or did they bleach out. How did you acclimate the frags?

 

[BeanMachine]

Thanks for all the posts. My clean means alk 7.5 to 8, Calc 420 to 440, po and no 0.0. Religious about water changes every two weeks.

I definitely plan on adding some more fish. I love the movent and colors. I also have increased my feedings.

Thanks for the thoughts. If anyone else would share their livestock list or count that'd be great. The more opinions the better.
Thanks

Like the other person said, your corals will benefit from a little nitrate and phosphate. In my opinion adding another fish or two, or increasing your feeding will help. As well as aminos and other trace supplements.

 

[Bill Nye]

Maybe I missed it but how long has your tank been set up? I find that the first year of a tanks life can have many ups and downs which sometimes makes for angry sps.

 

[fredro]

If you're saying that your Nitrates test at 0 then from my experience, your water is TOO clean. Some people need to do 30% water changes weekly to keep Nitrates below 30ppm. Other people don't do water changes more than once a month and still can't get Nitrates to register at all. I was in the second group. Again, if you're doing larger water changes every week and your Nitrates are at 0, I would recommend cutting back on the frequency and size of your water changes. Don't be afraid of a little Nitrate. Your Ca and Alk are both good, as long as hey stay stable. It took me forever to grow the b@lls to feed heavily enough and let my water get dirty enough to register 1ppm in my test kit. But once I did, my growth and colors FINALLY got to where I had been trying to get them. Every tank is different and it's not possible to get a definite answer of what to do and how many fish and how much food, but if you test daily and watch for trends, you'll find out what YOUR tank needs. Again, Nitrates ARE NOT the enemy, as long as they're in moderation. Don't be afraid to let them register. I found 1-2ppm Nitrates as the best place for them in my tank. Nice colorful corals, good growth, but not enough to grow algae. Good luck!

 

[nemodan]

In 70 G total I have 13 fish medium size.

Agree with Fredro on the comments.

Yesterday I measured after a couple of months and I have phos 0.04 ppm (Hanna) and Nitrates 0 ppm (API... I know i was lazy to use the Red Sea Kit) . Yesterday too, I added another fish (Wrasse) of 2-3 " , and will increase feeding.

Cheers

BTW , there is nothing better than a tank picture to understand the posted experience of someone.

 

[BeanMachine]

Agree with Fredro on the comments.

Yesterday I measured after a couple of months and I have phos 0.04 ppm (Hanna) and Nitrates 0 ppm (API... I know i was lazy to use the Red Sea Kit) . Yesterday too, I added another fish (Wrasse) of 2-3 " , and will increase feeding.

Cheers

BTW , there is nothing better than a tank picture to understand the posted experience of someone.

Nice tank. I want to play.

 

[fredro]

Nice tank. I want to play.

I LOVE the Naked a clown!!!!

 

[fredro]

Here's a pic of my tank, to go with my comment. Registering between about 1-2ppm Nitrate with RedSea Test Kit.

 

[BeanMachine]

I LOVE the Naked a clown!!!!

Thanks I've had her about 6 years.

 

[bradleyj]

I like to keep a lot of fish and have a "slightly dirty tank", with some traces of nitrate and phosphate. Feeding the fish a lot, skimming heavily and fairly large weekly water changes work for me. Fish poop = happy SPS. At this point I have nearly 20 fish in my 187 gallon tank and I will eventually push that to 30. The beauty of reefkeeping is that there are many ways to have success so my way is not the end all, be all.....just sharing it since it has brought me success.

I couldn't agree more. My tank is 335g and now have close to 40 fish in mine.
Big skimmer, weekly waterchanges and big cal reactor.