How many fish in my 55?

[Hondachico]

Have a 55gal with overflow and a 10 gal refugium, how many fish can I have in there also included inverts?

 

[carey]

There is no set amount of fish, it will all depend on the fish you choose. you could have 3 fish and be stocked or have 10 fish and be stocked.

Are there any fish that are must haves for you? Then you can work with that as a beginning

 

[Hondachico]

Not really what I have at the moment is 3 chromis,a cleaner shrimp, watchmen goby,Pygmy angel,firefish, yellow tang, emerald crab, peppermint shrimp, blue star,sifting star, Halloween hermit 5 red legs 5 blue legs 3 turbo snails and a conch and that's it I think, Is that too much or no

 

[crister13]

Well, you'll need to get rid of your yellow tang eventually. Hell definitely outgrow that size tank and will need a 6' tank. It really depends on what your parameters are at and if there is any aggression.

 

[Animal-Chin]

I'd say you're maxed out with fish for sure. They're gonna start feeling cramped if you add more. My 55 likes 5 fish. I've had 6 a couple of times but 5 seems to be the magic number.

 

[Hondachico]

Well my parameters are perfect and there isn't any aggression at all, I know about the tang but I will either sell it or get a bigger tank by then

 

[Hondachico]

Even with a skimmer and refugium it's maxed??

 

[carey]

That tang puts you at the max unfortunately. :-( i would not add any more fish, not even a clown goby. LOL

Once the tang grows big you can look forward to rethinking your stocklist after you rehome him or even better if you upgrade a whole new world of stocking can begin!

 

[Hondachico]

And as far as inverts does that matter?

 

[Sniperhank]

That depends really. The statement of "everything poops" is how max bioload is determined. Inverts for the most part recycle food, either eating waste, algae, or filter feed. This gives them a smaller impact on the bioload than say, a fish, but also keep in mind that their size also plays part in this.

I would see no reason that you couldn't add more snails and hermits. You already have a peppermint in there, I would either stick to another peppermint or maybe a cleaner shrimp. Getting too many more large things in this tank and everything will be bumping into each other, have no room to move, get stressed out, and lead to ich or even a system crash.

 

[crister13]

Ya like a big lobster eats a lot. I have to feed mine and he would eat a whole shrimp if I gave it to him.

 

[claidheamdanns]

I had heard that 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons was a good rule of thumb, rather than going by number of fish (which goes back to the "everything poops" and bigger fish poop more idea).

I have a 26 gal front and a 18 refugium, and I'm pretty sure mine is maxed, too. It's a pretty stable, established tank, but just before vacation last week, I added a school of 3 chromis, and I wish I hadn't. I think that pushed the limits of the tank. Seems crowded.

But worse, my nature-lover son brought home 3 hermits: 1 in a shell the size of my hand, and 2 about half that size. I put them in the tank, so they won't die overnight, but I think I'll take them to my local fish store ASAP.

Right now, I'm not sure what they'll do to the local inhabitants, or whether they will "drown" as I have read elsewhere. They appear to be okay, and very active, so maybe they're slow drowners.