# What fish and how many?



## Civilian (Aug 22, 2006)

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


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2006)

hmm sorry to say Civ. I have no clue, tell ya what when we get our 55 usgallon set up I will let you know :lol: But seriously I was told we could have 6-8 fish in ours without a sump, as we are planning on using a sump we will be able to put more fish in. It will depend on what kind of fish you want tho, we are going for the smaller species clowns, firefish, blennies or gobies.. Sorry I couldn't be of more help newbie to SW remember .


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

The rule of thumb for saltwater is 1" per every 2 gallons of water. If you look at my signature, you can see that I have more fish then I am supposed to, but I have 4-5 different filtration methods on my setup.


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

usmc121581 said:


> The rule of thumb for saltwater is 1" per every 2 gallons of water. If you look at my signature, you can see that I have more fish then I am supposed to, but I have 4-5 different filtration methods on my setup.


I was advised that for a reef setup the standard is 1" of fish per 5 gallons. Though i like the idea of 1"/2gal much better.

Bottom line dan, is that it greatly depends on the total gallonage of your system. As I mentioned prior, if you upgrade to a wet/dry filter with a sump, or a Refugium, you also increase the total gallonage of your system, thus allowing you to increase the total number of fish.

I shouldnt have to tell you, though I have this odd feeling that I do, RESEARCH THE FISH BEFORE YOU BUY THEM. Make sure you are choosing fish that will not feed on your other fishes, corals, or inverts, and will survive in the conditions you plan to afford them.


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## zeb_nz (Aug 30, 2006)

But in saying so you cannot keep a 13'' fish in your tank and say it take 26 gallons. I would go 1''-3 gallons. Ember most marine fish are WC so they a used to as much space as possible.


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