1 fish per 10g

[miked78231]

i just read this in an article, hey look at that im doing research. is this correct though?

For these reasons, the fish population in marine aquariums is kept much lower than in freshwater. Usually one fish per ten gallons, sometimes even less, is the basic rule in saltwater.

so what i can only have 5 fish?

[carlinsa]

take everything you read believe half and still question a quarter of that.........................................


i would say with the RIGHT combonation of things and filtration you can get a few more than that.

[LoneStar]

It all depends on your maintnance routine, filtration, and size of fish. I have 6 green chromis in my 55, along with lots of others. I do have lots of live rock, a large skimmer, and a refugium with cheato algea. So if you are set up correctly, you will be ok....

If you don't skim, do routine water changes, or have small filtration devices, I would not over due it on the number of fish.

[GaryP]

Read this thread

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=16192

The biggest question is what fish? A 10 inch grouper or a 2 inch goby? What kind of filtration are you using? What else do you want to put in the tank with the fish? Cut and dried answers rarely work in this hobby. There are just to many variables. My answer is to slowly add fish and monitor water quality until you reach a point that your system will no longer support additional stocking. You might want to pick up Mike Paletta's book. It has a lot of information about stocking a fish only system. Yes, that means a doing more research. Get used to it, it comes with this hobby. :) We never stop learning.

[captexas]

Initially I would say NO. It all depends on the fish and how you have the tank set up. I take it you are setting up a 50g tank? You wouldn't put 5 Naso tangs in there just because this person says 1 fish per 10gallons. Naso tangs get up to 18inches long so they wouldn't have any room to swim. On the other hand, if you wanted 5 chromis, then sure, that would be doable. Again, it all depends on the livestock chosen, the tank setup/filtration, and of course the capability of the owner to take care of the system.

[miked78231]

so i finaly sit down to do some research and the "stuff" that im reading is wrong. lol. this is why i ask people who know what there doing instead of reading 15 pages from some one who kinda knows what there doing but knows how to make there kinda crap sound good.

[Reef69]

..Do you have the link to the 15 pages you "read"?...Id like to read it.

[C.Mydas]

It’s great that you are doing your research. The first step to research, however, is making sure your source is reliable. And never use just one source...you wont see the whole picture that way. Their is a lot of science in this hobby and you can’t expect to understand it all from our responses. We tell you 'don’t do this' or 'don’t do that' but that doesn't tell you the 'why' all the time.

What you'll find as you start taking some initiative and researching is that you will learn more in an hour of research then in 10 posts here. The research will also lead you to a better understanding of the hobby which in turn will lead you to more questions. There are going to be some things that no matter how much research you do, it still doesn't make sense. There is always someone on MAAST who can explain things in a way a person without a PHD in Marine Biology can understand.

Honestly, for me, reading posts where the author doesn't do at least a little research is a little frustrating. Mainly b/c if you can’t participate in an intelligent discussion and talk through it what are you really accomplishing? You might get an answer to your question, but what about the inevitable detailed questions that arise from the most basic ones?

For example, you read that you should put 1 fish per 10 gallons. Well, obviously you can’t have 10 tangs, but 10 damsels would be OK (minus the aggression issue). So right away warning bells should go off in your head that this is not a steadfast rule. This simple question then leads to more complex ones: Like "What dictates how many fish you can have?". BTW- There is already an active post on that exact topic. You get into an ensuing discussion of filtration, how much swimming room there is, what are the particular needs of certain species of fish etc. If you don’t understand the basics of filtration then you won’t understand why it is important to maintain it accordingly with your bio-load.

I for one congratulate you on your enthusiasm for this hobby, but I would love to see you be able to jump in on an existing discussion with some input and/or even more questions!