Questions for all large reef tank keepers

[teambutterfield]

Hi, since I upgraded my tank to 225gal. I can finally start a better or I should say bigger fish collection. So far this is what I have in my tank.

4 flame wrasses
1 pylei wrasse
1 mystery wrasse old tank
1 pink margin wrasse
1 orange back wrasse
1 flasher wrasse
1 coris yellow wrasse
1 labouti wrasse
1 leopard wrasse
2 pairs of ora clowns old tank
3 blue eyes cardinals
3 pajama cardinals
1 copper cardinal
4 gobies old tank
3 pyramid butterflies
1 sohol tang old tank
1 tomoni tang old tank
1 yellow tang old tank
1 blue tang old tank
1 flame angel old tank
1 pygmy hawk old tank
1 flame hawk old tank
1 longnose hawk old tank

Most of them are small or very peaceful, only the tang are the larger fish.

Here is my tank's fps

Now, my question is: Why some of your large tank have very few fish?

Why so little fish? Is it bio-load problem? afraid of fish eating the coral? Equipment?

I am very curious on everyone's philosophy and way of reefing. I believe this will help me and others to understand the limit better.

Thank you for reading and answering.

 

[bullitr]

i have a lot of fish but my biggest problem i have is my small angel ( lemonpeel and flame) both eat my acropora despite of heavy feeding.now i have to drain my tank just to get them. i wish i have a smaller tank.
fish list
8 large tang
24 smaller fish
on my 300 gallon
2 horrible small angel

 

[teambutterfield]

i have a lot of fish but my biggest problem i have is my small angel ( lemonpeel and flame) both eat my acropora despite of heavy feeding.now i have to drain my tank just to get them. i wish i have a smaller tank.
fish list
8 large tang
24 smaller fish
on my 300 gallon
2 horrible small angel

Hi, so how are your corals? Are they healthy? Do you have water quality issues?
Why do you have lots of fish in the system?

 

[khaosinc]

I have so few fish because I spent all my money on a big tank... not much left to stock it.

LOL....

 

[wildman6809]

i think your fish list has to coincide with what kind of tank you want to keep. if you have the equipment and the time to keep a tank with a lot of large fish then so be it. i think some people want to keep it simple less water changes and less maintenance. plus i know for me that when i started my 280 i just kept putting fish and coral in and it took for ever for the tank to not look empty. all the fish and coral start adding up to get pretty expensive

 

[FishTruck]

I think many people who invest in large tanks do so to avoid a "crowded" look.

I commonly hear from LFS employees that people with really big reef tanks often hold out for the smallest specimens (fish-wise).

The best way to make a big tank look small is to put an 18 inch fish in it.

My biggest regret for my current 300 is putting in a big old Naso tang... (which my kids now love)... but makes the tank look a lot smaller to me than I wanted.

Now... the only feasible solution is going to a 600 gallon system.

 

[Nanook]

There are a lot of factors that go into this equation and it is not black and white. Some good things to consider with fishload are:

Is there enough territory for each type of fish?

Will other fish compete with a particular fish leading to fighting and eventual death of the weaker fish?

Will the fish have enough room to swim and exhibit natural behavior due to the aquascaping and quantity of fish? Or will they be too cramped?

Will the fish eat certain corals?

Will your feeding habits keep them all alive, or will they slowly succomb to starvation as you try to keep your water clean for coral growth??

If you do feed adequately, both in quantity and in quality of appropriate foods for each species, will your system and husbandry be able to handle the bioload?


Ultimately, each system will strive to achieve homeostasis. As the corals grow and fight for territory, the swimming room and hiding spots for fish will diminish, this will inevitably lead to competition for the remaining territory between the fish. Usually, only the strong survive.

While your tank may hold all of those fish for now, what will it be like in 5 years, 10 years?? Will they have died off due to aggression, starvation, jumping, etc? A well thought out system will have enough fish that compliment each other and the corals....ideally, the fish will have plenty of room to swim and hide so they can exhibit somewhat natural behaviors as they grow into full adult size.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[teambutterfield]

There are a lot of factors that go into this equation and it is not black and white. Some good things to consider with fishload are:

Is there enough territory for each type of fish?

Will other fish compete with a particular fish leading to fighting and eventual death of the weaker fish?

Will the fish have enough room to swim and exhibit natural behavior due to the aquascaping and quantity of fish? Or will they be too cramped?

Will the fish eat certain corals?

Will your feeding habits keep them all alive, or will they slowly succomb to starvation as you try to keep your water clean for coral growth??

If you do feed adequately, both in quantity and in quality of appropriate foods for each species, will your system and husbandry be able to handle the bioload?


Ultimately, each system will strive to achieve homeostasis. As the corals grow and fight for territory, the swimming room and hiding spots for fish will diminish, this will inevitably lead to competition for the remaining territory between the fish. Usually, only the strong survive.

While your tank may hold all of those fish for now, what will it be like in 5 years, 10 years?? Will they have died off due to aggression, starvation, jumping, etc? A well thought out system will have enough fish that compliment each other and the corals....ideally, the fish will have plenty of room to swim and hide so they can exhibit somewhat natural behaviors as they grow into full adult size.

Just a few thoughts.

This is a great input.
My philosophy is to have a low line of rock work with several valley in the tank. There are only 2 tall structures in my tank. One is the reef shaft and the other one is the center structure. That way, one I can see the sps from the top (I think they look the best from the top). Second, the fish will have plenty of swimming space, so less fighting?

I picked my fish for the following:

1. School Group: The cardinals and butterflies (Now I regret, since they are not "reef" safe)
2. Larger fish: The Tangs, rabbit fish (all of them are from the old tank and I am not planning to add more)
3. Wrasses: They are bit more peaceful, less aggressive. I know I have a mystery, but he is from the old tank and I don't have the heart to give him away for sell it.
4. Gobies: They are just fun to find and watch.
5. Hawks: They are the only one that might be aggressive, however, so far so good. I have them because they will stay on top of the SPS and add more movement to them.
6. Angel: Dwarf ones only and I am only planning to keep my flame. Maybe a pair of Bellus.

So basically, I want to have a school ground, semi large fish so the tank do not look empty, peaceful fish.

 

[carnut]

very well put Dave.

I put in the big tank just for the big fish. I aquascped just for her.

Just to add at your balance point you may have to decide fish or coral.