How many fish is too many?

[panayiote73]

When do I stop buying fish?

I'll post as many stats as I can think of below:

I have a 120gal tank with 20g sump, 140lbs of live rock. I have 2 Fluval 404's that run only carbon, Coralife protein skimmer, and 60w UV sterilizer. I have 6-65w coralife bulbs for lighting that consist of: 2-10K bulbs, 2-Actinic, and 2- 50/50.

For fish I have 4- Yellow Tail Damsels, Yellow Damsel, Pink Spot Goby, Scooter Blenny, Red Mandarin, 3- True Percula Clowns, Kole Tang, Engineer Goby, and a Bengii Cardinal.
I also have enumerable snails, and hermit crabs, Coral Banded Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, 2- Sand Sifting Star Fish, Serpent Starfish, Brittle Starfish, and LT Anemone.

The Kole Tang was my last purchase, I cannot control myself when I see a pretty fish at my LFS . I don't want to overstock or make maintainance a nightmare. Can anyone tell me if I've reached my limit? Reason I ask is after I put in the Kole Tang about a week ago I got a Red Slime outbreak, haven't had one of those is a long time.

I appreciate everyone's advice on this forum. It's been extremely helpful to me as I learn more and more about this hobby.

 

[tran]

i have just one tiny blue hippo tang in my 57g tank. (no other fish)
Beginner usually like to have a lot of fish in their tank.. Soon you get into corals, I do not think you like to have that many fish at that time

tran

 

[Bobbofin]

I have 11 fish in my 60 cube; two clowns, three cardinals, two green chromis, a fire fish and three differant gobies. They are small fish, all less than 1-1/2" each. I would want to put in anymore.

 

[jarrodsanborn]

This is just my opinion, take no offense. man i type alot!

This is a very loaded question. Many people worry about filtration first, but i think that filtration should be secondary to space issues.
With all the fancy skimmers, water changes and other equipment, water quality should never be a problem if "properly monitored".

Yes, in the ocean there can be high concentrations of fish in small areas, but they are not limited to a 4'x2' box either. If any "personality" issues between 2 or more fish erupt, there is no where to go in a tank, and there is always less hiding spots than desired. Lastly when fish are bumping into each other in the tank it can raise stress levels.

There are some situations where this would not totally apply: Anthias and chromis. they are schooling fish, but they also bicker and fight among themselves like fresh water Cichlids. In this scenario they feel safer in numbers, but the aggression is spread throughout the group. In a small box the small group of 3-8 chromis limited by tank size always ends up being 2 since there is too small a population to handle the aggression without deaths.


I will list some stereotypical traits of each of your fish so you can watch for issues in the future.
Yellow Tail Damsels Evil
Yellow Damsel Evil
Pink Spot Goby peacful, may be disturbed by other sand bed dwelling fish/critters
Scooter Blenny, Red Mandarin, Both require tons of live copepods. May starve to death over time. These 2 .....might be too much for a 120, and since your tank is young, with a small/no fuge, long term survival may be questioned.
3- True Percula Clowns, Once 1 becomes a female, it will pair up with the next largest perc. Once that happens they will murder the smallest clown......(90% chance??)
Kole Tang, smaller tang, needs plenty of nori, poops alot....not too mean compared to other tangs. Good choice.
Engineer Goby, If your rock is on the sand and not the glass bottom, it will eventually cause a rock avalanche with all its digging. Any corals on the sand bed will be moved or burried by it. They get up 18"-24" These do well in pairs or trios.
Bengii Cardinal Mouth brooder, may eat small shrimp etc.
Coral Banded Shrimp, may kill fish or other shrimps/crabs when it gets bigger
Sand Sifting Star Fish, Decimates All life in the sand bed in a relatively small tank. there goes all/some of the worms and copepods needed for the mandarin/scooter
Serpent Starfish, Brittle Starfish, May snag and eat fish. may need occasional spot feedings to keep happy.
LT Anemone, Occasional feedings of small meaty foods and high light/moderate flow are needed. With your lighting i would say feedings are needed. May eat fish "on accident" including possibly clowns.

You didnt mention flow for your tank other than your return pump and the 2x 404 canisters. if this is all you have, i would recomend upping the flow a bit. waste will be filtered easier, and your anemone/fish will thank you.

None of the statements above are the "rule", they are just observations i have made, or heard enough times to consider it at least partially true. All critters will behave in their own unique way.
Depending on your style of care, and personal beliefs, your tank might be able to handle more fish....or be considered way overstocked by others. If i was in your shoes i would get larger fish and/or 2-3 small to medium fish and call it a day.

Here is my list for consideration. I think i am way overstocked.....but no problems have arisen yet...
90g mixed reef tank with 6x t5. 40g all fuge no baffles/with skimmer
too much damn coral and rock to count...
flow=1x1200gph, 2x850gph ,2x600gph, 2x300gph, 500gph return pump.
fish= 2 clowns, yellow tang, tomini tang, yellow assessor, royal gramma, 2 clown gobies, 2 blue and 1 atlantic chromis, 1 pigmy angel, 1 starry blenny, 1 mandarin, 1 pink spot goby, 1 6line and 1 melanarus wrasse, 2x engineer gobys in the fuge .....there is probably more fish im forgetting....sorry for the long post....i hope this helps!

 

[Bobbofin]

Thanks Jarrod. I forgot to mention the canister filters, why would you have those nitrate factories on you tank if you havve a sump? Maybe a carbon and/or bio-pellet reactor along with a filter sock. Obiviously he is not going to be doing any hard corals with power compacts. I have had a salt water tank for 21 years. The amount of fish in my tank is at the limit but there is no aggression what so ever, everyone gets along. I don't want to add anymore. I've had this combo of fish for amount a year.
Here's a list of things I won't have in my tank from my experince:

• damsels (blue devils, dominos, 3 or 4 strip, yellow tail, etc.)
• blennies
• royal gramma
• hawk fish
• tang (tank too small)
• angel fish (could munch on my coral)
• green or purple mushrooms
• yellow colony polyps
• pumping xenia
• green star polyps
• fast growing zoas
  
  The corals that are listed are ones that you love when you first get them then 1-2 years later you hate because they have taken over the tank, growing where you don't want to.