How many fish for 120gallon with 40gallon sump

pkstylez · 02/26/2018, 12:00 AM

Hey guys current stock:
1 two spot goby
1 baby engineer goby
1 Mandarin goby
1 lawnmower Blenny
1 Tomini Tang
2 clowns

How many fish (I know it's debatable) but just kinda looking for a guideline since I adopted.this reef tank and all my other tanks are freshwater and cichlids
Thanks guys

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frey · 02/26/2018, 12:31 AM

Do you have a skimmer? If you have a good skimmer and do regular water changes you should be able to get a few more. I do not believe there is a magic number of how many fish someone should have in a tank because there are many factors relating to husbandry and the size of each fish at maturity. If you have been keeping freshwater you know all about Alkalinity, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. Now you just add Calcium, Magnesium, salinity and some trace elements to the list, but stocking is similar. Do not over crowed and make sure whatever you are wanting to add will get along with what you already have.

pkstylez · 02/26/2018, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frey

Do you have a skimmer? If you have a good skimmer and do regular water changes you should be able to get a few more. I do not believe there is a magic number of how many fish someone should have in a tank because there are many factors relating to husbandry and the size of each fish at maturity. If you have been keeping freshwater you know all about Alkalinity, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. Now you just add Calcium, Magnesium, salinity and some trace elements to the list, but stocking is similar. Do not over crowed and make sure whatever you are wanting to add will get along with what you already have.

Ya kinda what I figured. I'm a detail nut and I research and cross reference the **** out of everything and make myself a Google expert before I buy fish. I try to make sure I'm being responsible about my reef animals and my fish having a quality of life. Yes I have a skimmer and in process of finishing my refugium.

Also how many snails, hermits, should be in a 120 reef. I've gotten some seriously different answers.

Appreciate the responses guys.

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frey · 02/26/2018, 12:50 AM

i used to use both but have gotten away from hermits. they just eat the snails eventually. start with about 5-6 of a few different kinds snails because some do different things. i use cerith, nerite, and Mexican turbo's but some people do not like the turbo's because they get large and nock things over but i glue everything pretty good.

frey · 02/26/2018, 12:52 AM

you can always add more but if you add too many and they run out of algae then you end up with dead clean up crew.

ramseynb · 02/26/2018, 03:23 AM

I would hold off on the Mandarin. A 120G tank should be big enough to house one, but you’ll want to make sure you have a healthy population of copepods before adding it.

thegrun · 02/26/2018, 03:41 PM

I have 14 assorted fish in my 120, but the number is dependent on the fish species you keep.

Indymann99 · 02/26/2018, 05:45 PM

My 120g with 45g sump.

I am at my max bioload. Nitrates are at 0.25 (Red Sea Pro) with monthly WC

Video below

******** async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8">

HBtank · 02/26/2018, 06:06 PM

Depends on lots of factors; with the right equipment you can be pretty aggressive with stocking if you know how to pick fish that are not competitive.

The “rules of thumb” that people use are loose assumptions of standard tank sizes, equipment, and probably a small amount of aggression.

I have 8 in my 80, all good sized fish (smallest is a blue reef chromis). I am going for a high bioload and would have stayed at 6 without planned export beyond skimming.. and eventually coral soaking it up.

pkstylez · 02/26/2018, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HBtank

Depends on lots of factors; with the right equipment you can be pretty aggressive with stocking if you know how to pick fish that are not competitive.

The “rules of thumb” that people use are loose assumptions of standard tank sizes, equipment, and probably a small amount of aggression.

I have 8 in my 80, all good sized fish (smallest is a blue reef chromis). I am going for a high bioload and would have stayed at 6 without planned export beyond skimming.. and eventually coral soaking it up.

That helps I got 120 gallon with 2 20 gallon sump 1 is refugium 1 is live rock and a skimmer on 1 of the sump.

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02/26/2018, 12:00 AM	#1
pkstylez Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 142	How many fish for 120gallon with 40gallon sump Hey guys current stock: 1 two spot goby 1 baby engineer goby 1 Mandarin goby 1 lawnmower Blenny 1 Tomini Tang 2 clowns How many fish (I know it's debatable) but just kinda looking for a guideline since I adopted.this reef tank and all my other tanks are freshwater and cichlids Thanks guys Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

02/26/2018, 03:23 AM	#6
ramseynb Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Braunfels, TX Posts: 630	I would hold off on the Mandarin. A 120G tank should be big enough to house one, but you’ll want to make sure you have a healthy population of copepods before adding it. __________________ How do you make an octopus laugh? Ten tickles!

02/26/2018, 05:45 PM	#8
Indymann99 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,447	My 120g with 45g sump. I am at my max bioload. Nitrates are at 0.25 (Red Sea Pro) with monthly WC Video below ******** async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"> __________________ 120g DT 100lbs LR / 200 lbs LS, 45g fuge, VectraM1 Return, Herbie drain, 4x RW-8, 2x AI Hydra 26 w AWM, ASM G2, Apex controller, Apex BoB w floats ATO Last edited by Indymann99; 02/26/2018 at 05:45 PM. Reason: add video tag

02/26/2018, 06:06 PM	#9
HBtank Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 2,957	Depends on lots of factors; with the right equipment you can be pretty aggressive with stocking if you know how to pick fish that are not competitive. The “rules of thumb” that people use are loose assumptions of standard tank sizes, equipment, and probably a small amount of aggression. I have 8 in my 80, all good sized fish (smallest is a blue reef chromis). I am going for a high bioload and would have stayed at 6 without planned export beyond skimming.. and eventually coral soaking it up. __________________ 80g Aiptasia dominated reef tank.. with fish and now a bunch of berghia! Current Tank Info: 80g tank, re-starting a reef after a zoanthid nudibranch plauge, followed by months of steady and unstoppable STN/RTN, crashed; stayed FOWLR for a couple years, currently an aiptasia dominated reef tank with fishies and BERGHIA

02/26/2018, 12:31 AM	#2
frey Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Jersey Shore, Pa Posts: 92	Do you have a skimmer? If you have a good skimmer and do regular water changes you should be able to get a few more. I do not believe there is a magic number of how many fish someone should have in a tank because there are many factors relating to husbandry and the size of each fish at maturity. If you have been keeping freshwater you know all about Alkalinity, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. Now you just add Calcium, Magnesium, salinity and some trace elements to the list, but stocking is similar. Do not over crowed and make sure whatever you are wanting to add will get along with what you already have.

02/26/2018, 12:50 AM	#4
frey Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Jersey Shore, Pa Posts: 92	i used to use both but have gotten away from hermits. they just eat the snails eventually. start with about 5-6 of a few different kinds snails because some do different things. i use cerith, nerite, and Mexican turbo's but some people do not like the turbo's because they get large and nock things over but i glue everything pretty good.

02/26/2018, 12:52 AM	#5
frey Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Jersey Shore, Pa Posts: 92	you can always add more but if you add too many and they run out of algae then you end up with dead clean up crew.

02/26/2018, 03:41 PM	#7
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I have 14 assorted fish in my 120, but the number is dependent on the fish species you keep.