how many fish are okay?

[stevefromga2000]

i have a 47 gallon tank, currently i have...

8 blue/green chromis
1 chocolate chip star fish
1 coral banded shrimp
about 4 or 5 different snails


i know that's a lot of chromis, but they're all small. i only have 4 large live rocks right now, they're expensive here and i can't buy them by the pound, i have to purchase each rock seperate. in the end, i would like to add an anemone, 1 type of clown fish for the anemone, and maybe something bright colored like a tang or something. all this is a goal to happen after i get my new lighting set up, which will be a while. i was just curious if i will have room for some other fish, or should i give back some of the chromis to the pet store? i used to have quite a few freshwater tanks, and i remember hearing a saying that 1 inch of fish per gallon is pretty standard. does the same apply here?

and also, how many snails should i try to have overall?

[vsnsofadrgn]

i would get as much lr as you can. anemones have high lighting requirments and also need an established tank. there is no tang that will fit comfortably in a 47 gal. no, the rule for fw does not apply to salt. the "general" rule of thumb is 1 per 5 gal. i htink the general rule of thumb for hermits and snails is 1 per gal... so i would look into upping your cleanupcrew. if you are planning on goin reef, the cc star will eat any corals you put in there.

WELCOME TO AA!!

[melosu58]

How many pounds do you think you have with those 5 rocks?

[lando]

First off, keep in mind that "overstocking" is a bit differrent then putting the appropriate fish in the appropriate sized tank. If you are concerned with overstocking, simply turn o your water parameters. If all is well, it means that your tank's biological filtration can manage the waste the tank produces. If you are sonstantly fighting to keep NH3, NO2 and NO3 down and are having to do frequent PWC, you are overstocked. If not, you should be fine. I do agree that there is no tang sutible for a 47gal tank. You may want to consider thinning the chomis out a bit before you add a clown. Other colorful options include a coral beauty, flame angel, royal gramma, sixline wrasse or purple firefish.

[FishFrik]

wow I like chromis but not as much as u do XD u basically have a chromis tank

[stevefromga2000]

i appreciate all the ideas. i'm not sure if i am going to make it a reef tank, mostly because i like my starfish. he was one of the main reasons that i went saltwater. i have thought about just getting a smaller tank, something about 10 or so gallons, and putting my star in there. that way i can keep him, add more water to my set up, and also possibly make a reef tank. overall with the LR, i would guess that i have less than 10 pounds right now. i am slowly adding more, but mostly just one rock per pay check. everything has been going good so far, so i haven't been in a huge rush to get more rock. that sucks about not being able to get a tang, but i will look into those other fish. hopefully, they will arrive at the pet store here around base so that i can get them. i will also keep adding snails and get some hermets. i just got a big snail when i got the new chromis, but the store was all out of crabs at the time. i will keep my eyes peeled though.