herring_fish
Crazy Designer
I have a 180 gallon tank that I am restarting in an upgrade. I have been reefing for 25 plus years and have always known about the old inches of fish at maturity, per gallon rules.
Now I am building a system that will have more water outside the Display Tank than inside. I have never had a problem keeping N and P at zero, no matter what I do to the tank. And that is without a sump and all. Now with so much external water cycling through the tank I don't think that I will have a problem with nutrients. In addition to powdered and flake food, I plan to produce an abundance of live food in the DT. One concern that I have is a lack of available hiding places in a display tank of limited size. I have built some fish motels but I don't think there will be enough.
Now I am wondering about those old rules as they would apply to this situation.
In the wild, I see extremely high concentrations of fish where food is plentiful. I am sure that is for comparatively short periods of time but there are mix species mingling in very close proximity.
Now if I had that in my tank, it would look like chaos to say nothing of the bio-load. On the other hand, if I have a few schools of various fish, things could quickly get out of hand and exceed any of those rules of thumb.
For that reason, I would like to look at the limiting factors that go beyond nutrients in the water column and available food.
What other factors do I need to consider and what warning signs would I look for as I slowly add fish?
Now I am building a system that will have more water outside the Display Tank than inside. I have never had a problem keeping N and P at zero, no matter what I do to the tank. And that is without a sump and all. Now with so much external water cycling through the tank I don't think that I will have a problem with nutrients. In addition to powdered and flake food, I plan to produce an abundance of live food in the DT. One concern that I have is a lack of available hiding places in a display tank of limited size. I have built some fish motels but I don't think there will be enough.
Now I am wondering about those old rules as they would apply to this situation.
In the wild, I see extremely high concentrations of fish where food is plentiful. I am sure that is for comparatively short periods of time but there are mix species mingling in very close proximity.
Now if I had that in my tank, it would look like chaos to say nothing of the bio-load. On the other hand, if I have a few schools of various fish, things could quickly get out of hand and exceed any of those rules of thumb.
For that reason, I would like to look at the limiting factors that go beyond nutrients in the water column and available food.
What other factors do I need to consider and what warning signs would I look for as I slowly add fish?
