How Many Fish Have People Crammed in Small Tanks (Successfully)

[jonboyb]

I've been considering adding more to one of my 28 cubes and in my research across the internet I've found some really dumbfounding tanks with what I feel rediculous bio-load (some even without skimming) but the tanks have been running successfully for long periods. Out of curiousity, what have the small tank owners here been able to get away with?

For example, just flipping through nano-pics from another forum I found a 29 gallon Biocube with a pair of clowns, small school of chromis (at least 3), firefish, cardinal, clown goby, some type of bi-color blenny, and some type of pigmy angel. There could have been more but that's all I could see. I'm assuming it ran the stock air-stone skimmer. How the heck do you get away with that....daily PWC's. NEVER feeding???

And for the record I only have 4 fish max in any of my cube's and my smallest skimmer is rated for a 60+ gallon tank

 

[enderg60]

before I started moving my 58g had 14 fish, one of which was a 13" engineer goby and 5 tangs.

People always commented on how nice it looked when they saw it, but forum people always like to whine about it. But everyone was happy and healthy so I didnt care.

 

[weaglereefer]

For example, just flipping through nano-pics from another forum I found a 29 gallon Biocube with a pair of clowns, small school of chromis (at least 3), firefish, cardinal, clown goby, some type of bi-color blenny, and some type of pigmy angel.

I have roughly the same stocking in my 75!!!

 

[jonboyb]

dawgdude;361852 wrote: once you mix in a pygmy or pair of clowns, your upping your bioload alot more

True.....funny story comes to mind too. My Picassos actually leave their nem to poop. They swim over to one of my monti caps and let fly. I remove the evidence daily with a baster. Couldn't figure out why it got covered everyday till I caught them in the act. Silly clown behavior:confused2:

 

[radha]

When I bought my 20g tank, I had 6 fish in it!! Never try that!! Just, the person I bought it from had the fish already in there. I eventually gave away 3 and I have the original 3 from the beggining.

 

[ster]

My 14g biocube has 2 orange skunks, a sharknose goby, a yasha goby, and 2 pistol shrimps living in it and everything is doing fine. Do ~50% water change every month or so. May also add another goby or blenny or two in the future.

 

[jeff_mcphail]

My 3g w/20g sump has had quite a load for awhile now with no problems.

 

[texhorns98]

EnderG60;361843 wrote: before I started moving my 58g had 14 fish, one of which was a 13" engineer goby and 5 tangs.

People always commented on how nice it looked when they saw it, but forum people always like to whine about it. But everyone was happy and healthy so I didnt care.

I'm sorry, but that statement is just silly. How do you know they were happy and healthy? Because they weren't dead?? I'm glad you moved, but that was not good at all, IMO. Was it at least a 48 inch tank?:doh:

 

[theplantman]

I have 2 percs, 1 blue spotted jawfish, 1 mimic blenny and a sixline in my 34gal along with 2 serpent stars, 4 hermits, 1 peppermint shrimp, 2 coral banded shrimp, 1 derasa, 1 maxima along with an army of different snails.

Amazingly enough, I find my corals, lots of lps, polyps, ricordia and shrooms make more of a mess than the fish do.

I do weekly water changes of 15% and skim wet and would not think of adding another fish to this system. To make sure my water quality stays the way it needs to as everthing continue to grow like mad, I am going to add a 29gal biocube as a refugium to this tank in the next month or so.

 

[jonboyb]

theplantman;362359 wrote: I have 2 percs, 1 blue spotted jawfish, 1 mimic blenny and a sixline in my 34gal along with 2 serpent stars, 4 hermits, 1 peppermint shrimp, 2 coral banded shrimp, 1 derasa, 1 maxima along with an army of different snails.

That bio-load seems perfectly fine to me, especially with a decent CUC and good skimmer unless your clowns are monsters. The reason I posed this question is I currently have a pair of small Picasso clowns (which tranditionally stay small), a purple firefish, and a juvenile 6-line in one of my 28 gallon tanks and I recently aquired another tank with a phantom blenny (tiny) and small yellow coris. The coris is getting abused by a large perc and I've been toying with adding him (and possibly the blenny) to my upstairs cube. I know putting the 6-line and coris together could lead to trouble , but they are both small and at some point one will go in the other tank I'm finishing (however, my purple firefish seems to attack the 6-line and be the tank boss???). If the perc keeps it up on the coris.....I don't think he'll make it. My 28 runs a modded Remora skimmer and a custom phosphate/nitrate reactor.

On another note I feed HEAVY (too heavy probably) and have a 70+head suncoral that I feed a couple times a week. My nitrates stay fantastic now with the new skimmer (knock wood) but I did recently have a small HA issue from phosphates.

 

[acroholic]

jonboyb;361822 wrote: How Many Fish Have People Crammed in Small Tanks (Successfully)

I bet not very many fish have people crammed in small tanks, but I bet many people have many fish crammed into small tanks successfully!

That would make a great cartoon, a couple fish looking into a fish tank packed with people, asking: "do you think we overstocked?"
Dave

 

[jonboyb]

Good one Dave. I rite gud huh

I concur about it being a good cartoon idea. I bet there's already a "Far Side" in fact.

 

[weaglereefer]

My fish has 3 people crammed in a 30g. All he needed was a chain saw and a blender, along with the catch phrase "will it blend?"

 

[mvm]

I have 3 flame wrasse, 2 onyx clowns, a neon goby, a phantom goby, and a small yellow coris wrasse. Is my tank overstocked? Yes. That's why I have a BB and a deltec skimmer!

 

[donn3057]

WOW! It is nice when you are new to a hobby and asked questions when you are not sure to see you are referred to as a "newbie idiot". I am new to the club and fairly new to the hobby but I will never posed a question to the members of the club because of remarks like that.

Donna

 

[hellfire]

donn3057;362593 wrote: WOW! It is nice when you are new to a hobby and asked questions when you are not sure to see you are referred to as a "newbie idiot". I am new to the club and fairly new to the hobby but I will never posed a question to the members of the club because of remarks like that.

Donna

Eh, don't let that bother you. Who cares what other people say becuase you ask a question.. They are the one that needs to be reprimanded.

Tyler

 

[mvm]

donn3057;362593 wrote: WOW! It is nice when you are new to a hobby and asked questions when you are not sure to see you are referred to as a "newbie idiot". I am new to the club and fairly new to the hobby but I will never posed a question to the members of the club because of remarks like that.

Donna

Were you addressed in this thread? I'm confused. I think newbie idiot is kind of an oxy moron; an extreme one at that. If you're a "newbie," should you be called an "idiot." I don't think so. If you're new, please post and ask questions. That's how you lose the newbie title!!

 

[donn3057]

No I was not addressed in the thread but I was reading to see if my tank was overstocked when I saw the remark. It was my impression and correct me if I am wrong that anyone can participate in threads.

 

[mvm]

I just don't see why your reaction was necessary.

 

[donn3057]

Necessary? Are you questioning why I voiced my feelings or why I don't want to be considered an idiot?