How many fish can I keep in a 45 gallon reef tank??

[reefobsessed]

Let me say WOW!!! What a great site. I have had a reef for over 2 years and I could have saved myself hundreds in lost fish and corals if I would have found this site sooner. Anyway heres the question, I have a 45 gallon reef tank with at least 40 lbs of live rock which is completely covered with over 30 diff types of animals. I currently have a blue powder tang, coral beauty, fire fish, clown, pajama card, blue spotted jaw, and a blue damsel, black star & black sea slug.& Mics critters I want to add a two anthias but want to be sure I dont over do it and stress the current inhabitants. How many is to many??

 

[BBReef]

Well technically your only supposed to have 9 inches of fish minus the tail (go to the calculator section of the site, it tells you this) in a 45 gal tank, so you technically have too many fish in there as it is, especially with the powder blue tang wich needs a lot more swimming space than a 45 provides.

i would really recomend not getting any other fish for that tank.

 

[Biggen]

Yeah, you are maxed out right now. You will need to find a new home for that Tang once it begins to grow as you won't be providing it with enough room to move around.

 

[reefrunner69]

Ditto what the others said, I'd say your overstocked now...but what an excuse to upgreade to a 125g reef

 

[MACATUA]

If you moved the Powder Blue to a larger tank I think the current inhabitants would be a good mix, and you could put the anthias in the bigger tank with the Tang. I know that sounds like a large investment, but the guys are right, especially with all the other fish, the PBT will not be happy very long.

 

[reefobsessed]

Well I have to agree with Reefrunner I have been thinking about up grading to a 90 gallon tank. Can anyone direct me to any good articles on how to make the switch. How long do I need to let the new tank sit before I can more rocks from the old that kind of thing??

 

[reefrunner69]

If you get a new tank, you would want to cure the rock in the tank and once the levels have reached 0 you could do the switch over. I would acclimate all corals and fish to the new tank slowly.