what fish and how many?

[TATTON]

How many fish can i realistically keep without losing water quality? my tank is approximately

L-48"

H-18"

W-15"

so far i have

4 clownfish (biggest is approximately 2")
3 green chromis (2 babies 1adult)
1 file fish (2")
1 azure damselfish
1 diadema urchin
2 fire shrimp
5 hermits (red and blue legs)
3 turbo snails

I think it works out about 57gallons BUT realistically 51gallons US

thankyou

 

[krj-1168]

well - for salt water tanks - a good rule of thumb is 1" of fish for every gallon. Anything higher is overcrowding.

But to really keep you water quality at it peak - then add some live Rock & use live sand(helps in keeping good water quality). Also a protein skimmer & Wet/dry filtration system are Highly recommended. A wet/dry filter with skimmer that move about 200-250 gallons per hr should be fine for your tank.

 

[Justin_James]

Personally I don't agree with the 1" of fish per every gallon of water rule. My explanation for this is simple. what if you had a 12" grouper and also had 6 small species of gobies that maxed out at 2" each. There is no way the 6 gobies would put out as much polutants as the 12" grouper even though the length of fish is the same. When deciding on how many fish you can have and how big of fish you can have you really have to use your head. I used to have a 75 gallon reef tank that many people would consider way over stocked but I always had good water quality. In the tank you discribe you could have about 10 smaller sized fish ranging from 2" to 5" and still have good water quality if you have a good cleanup crew, do biweekly water changes, have lots of live rock, and have lots of flow. A skimmer would help emensly also.

 

[krj-1168]

Well - personally, I don't use the 1" of fish per 1 gallon rule - especially when you have larger fish.

For fish larger than 5" - I generally use a (1" of of fish per 5 gallons) ruling, as a maximum.