Maximum number of fish in 225 mixed reef?

[airtime23]

Does the old adage 1 inch of fish per 10 gallons still apply?

Or how many "large" fish (like tangs or wrasses) can one have, along with how many "smallish" fish (like damsels or chromis)?

Any advice would be appreciated.

BTW, this is all supposing I have a great skimmer and a lot of live rock/live sand.

 

[jesterisdead]

Depends on fish and thier sizes. If you are filling it with eraser, damsels, etc then who cares. Fish that can get up to 1' is where you need to watch it. I currently have 14 in my 225 and they are tangs and others but only two will get to a foot and I am ok with that and I have 30" deep and 6' long so I can't add anything else of size. Two others will get to 5-6" most, and the rest are 3-4.

 

[airtime23]

So what is the max. # of tangs I would want in that size tank?

2 or 3?

 

[drej424]

It depends on the type of tang you want. Many grow too big for a 225. You also have to be careful with aggression when you have more than one tang. Did you have anything specific in mind?

 

[airtime23]

Yellow, purple, hippo, and kole. Those are the 4 that I really like. I would add them at the same time, as the very last fish in the tank.

How many of those 4 could I have in a 225?

 

[davocean]

Yellow, purple, hippo, and kole. Those are the 4 that I really like. I would add them at the same time, as the very last fish in the tank.

How many of those 4 could I have in a 225?

I see no problem adding all 4 of those to that size tank

 

[ca1ore]

Assuming you mean a 6 foot tank, Yellow, Purple and Kole will be fine, though the first two may mix it up a bit - my two certainly do in my 7 foot 265! Prevailing wisdom is that a Hippo needs an 8 foot tank, so you will be OK for a while but eventually a bigger home will be needed. Also consider not filling the tank excessively with live rock. Swimmers like Tangs need swimming room, so a nice open aquascape is really helpful.

In terms of total number of fish, I'm perhaps on the high side of things. Assuming you have adequate nutrient export mechanisms, I'd see nothing wrong with the four tangs you propose (the Hippo caveat noted), and another 15-20 small to medium-sized fish.

 

[ali1]

You will be fine with the 4 u chose.

 

[airtime23]

Thanks for the info, guys.

 

[Dmorty217]

Yellow, purple, hippo, and kole. Those are the 4 that I really like. I would add them at the same time, as the very last fish in the tank.

How many of those 4 could I have in a 225?

All but the hippo. If you have a lot of rock work for hiding while providing plenty of swimming area it would be fine. Number of fish really only depend on husbandry and skimmer size

 

[leveldrummer]

This is like asking how many people can fit in a car. Well it depends! What type of car? Are they the size of Shaquille? Or are they babies? There is so much to consider, one thing is for sure, a 225 is a big tank! And you should have fun putting a lot of fish in there.

 

[regent2010]

I have Blonde Naso (6"), Kole (4"), Purple (4.5") , yellow (5.5") Sohal (4") 10 wrasse, 5 jumbo Pajama cardinal, long nose hawkfish, flame hawkfish, Anthius, copperbanded, all doing fine in my 180g 6'. feed 2 time a day, running rowaphos & Nitra Guard. once a month 20% watechange seems enough. I do have a lots of liverocks tho.

 

[davocean]

I have Blonde Naso (6"), Kole (4"), Purple (4.5") , yellow (5.5") Sohal (4") 10 wrasse, 5 jumbo Pajama cardinal, long nose hawkfish, flame hawkfish, Anthius, copperbanded, all doing fine in my 180g 6'. feed 2 time a day, running rowaphos & Nitra Guard. once a month 20% watechange seems enough. I do have a lots of liverocks tho.

I would expect that sohal to become very aggressive pretty soon in that size tank, and the blond naso will definitely outgrow it in not much time.

 

[davocean]

This is like asking how many people can fit in a car. Well it depends! What type of car? Are they the size of Shaquille? Or are they babies? There is so much to consider, one thing is for sure, a 225 is a big tank! And you should have fun putting a lot of fish in there.

Not really, because we know what size these fish will become and the basic nature of each species, and it's pretty predictable w/ these guys, and we also know the size of the car!