How many fish??

[Pickles]

We have a 75 gallon tank with three power heads and a remora pro skimmer. Right now we have about 50 pounds of live rock. What is the rule of thumb for the number of fish. I am sure it depend on the size. We are also confused because some people have said that there are certain fish/things that dont count against our fish count. Any help or advise??

 

[Scooterman]

System design, ability to skim well, husbandry is all key factors, experience goes a long ways, Using larger species in that tank I wouldn't recommend. Make a wish list & post that & go from there. Good starters are clown fish, 6 line wrasse, Blinnie's to name a few, stay away from most all tangs & larger.

 

[Pickles]

wish list...

2 ocellaris
1 or 2 orange spotted goby
1 pistol shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 royal gramma
Maybe a bangii cardinal
1 flame angel fish
lawnmower blenny

 

[krisfal]

I do not know if you saw this sticky Fish Stocking It covers a lot of the points you need to consider.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Hey Pickels,

That list looks good, just be sure to only add one or two fish at a time, and save yourself the headache by quarantining them all. Fish are a LOT harder to get out of a display tank than a Quarantine tank.

Add the angel and the blenny last to keep any territory issues to a minimum.

 

[DonW]

If you stack them well you can get like 9000 chromis in there. From a bioload perspective its really only a question you can answer by going slow and watching parameters.

Don

 

[Sascha D]

Your list is okay. I would stay away from the blenny unless you are prepared to feed it correctly.

Add the gramma last.

 

[Pickles]

ok, good to know about the blenny. I was not set on it one bit. As far as adding the gramma last, its a bit too late. That was my started fish...he has ich I am pretty sure.

 

[small alien]

I think it comes down to bioload (test, test, test), swimming space/habitat and fish compatibility. Trying to gauge stocking by a strict number of fish does not acknowledge all the parameters at play. Good luck. And use a QT.