60 gallon SW

[ekean45]

What are your thoughts of a good rule of thumb for the amount of fish you can keep in a 60 gallon? I have a Penguin 400 hang on filter, protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, and also added a plenum before adding the sand. I set up the tank about 3 weeks ago and I'm in the middle of cycling.

This is the 2nd go around for me having a SW tank but the last one I had was poorly rigged filtration and not much understanding of what I was doing. Now about 10 years later and learned that I have to be MUCH more patient.

I think I am going to plan on going with corals in about a year or so. I just want to make sure I can at least keep some fish alive before sinking more money into the tank - mainly for a good lighting system which I do not currently have.

 

[bighabeeb]

Definitely going to want good lighting before doing anything with corals.

As far as the fish goes, it depends on what size fish you're looking at. You can do 4 or so fish of somewhat substantial size, or you could do a bunch of nano fishes.

Hop on liveaquaria and find some stuff who's minimum tank size is about the size of your tank and pick out 2 or 3 fish that you like - that gives an easier baseline to go with.

 

[bunbury22]

And remember to have compatible fishes in there too not like my brother ( he had a bunch of small clownfishes and small fireshrimps and then he bought a lionfish!) He lost a lot of money lol

 

[crister13]

It depends. Compatibility, temperment, swimming patters, activity, size, bio load, and more. Just give us your list of fish you want and well help you out . GL!!!!!

 

[ekean45]

Since looking to eventually go to corals, I like clowns, foxface, heniachus. I also like crustaceans like arrow crabs, horseshoes. Maybe nudibranches. I know they are not all compatible, but these are the types of things I like.

 

[bighabeeb]

Black and white heni, ocellaris clown would both be great choices in terms of fish size - but if you're going coral, you're not going to want the heniochus: they tend to pick on stuff.

Foxfaces are nice - but require a bit more space than what you're going to have.

Horseshoe crabs are DEFINITELY out - their adult size is 12" +, they require a huge tank size.

Browse liveaquaria a bit - there's a wide variety of fis hthat are compatible, just need to do a little digging to find them. (I'm a big fan of the smaller wrasses, anthias, gobies, firefish etc)

 

[ekean45]

Thanks for the advice on the fish. I thought there were horseshoe crabs around that only got 3-4 inches? Ive looked around on live aquaria. Good site!

 

[bighabeeb]

Thanks for the advice on the fish. I thought there were horseshoe crabs around that only got 3-4 inches? Ive looked around on live aquaria. Good site!

There may well be - I'm by NO means an expert on horseshoe crabs

 

[crister13]

Im pretty positive there arent. They females get massive, and the males get huge. Nothing inder a 8x3 tank with open sand bed will work. I had one. They move ALOT. DO NOT GET ONE. They are also a coldwater species, and will starve in the home aquarium. IMO, a B+W heniochus is too big for a 60. Sorry. GL!!!!! A pair of clowns would work FANTASTIC. Great little fish. And, the foxace will also be too big.

 

[Greenturtle]

I would recommend you look at the Midas Blenny, Chalk Bass, and Yellow Watchman Gobies. All are very cool.

There are a bunch of different types of clownfish, and almost all of them will work in your tank. Look up "Goldstripe maroon" and "fire" clownfish. They get bigger than most clownfish though, and are usually more aggressive.

 

[ekean45]

Great advice. Thanks guys. Next time I'll have to get a much larger tank!

 

[crister13]

Fell free to ask anymore questions you have!!!!!