too many fish for a 130g tank?

[nitr8]

.....way too many fish. Patients and take your time. You need to add something and see how it goes, let the tank mini cycle, then ad something else

I don't understand why this is "way to many fish". I agree it is a lot of fish but most of them won't even reach 3'' in length and don't spend a lot of time in the water column (if any). I'm not trying to say your wrong I would just like a little background information instead of just saying I'm wrong and polluting my thread with that picture. By all means voice your opinion good or bad but I don't see how posting a picture and comment with no explanation is constructive. After all I'm here to learn and a simple yes or no doesn't teach anyone.

 

[lisa foster]

Just adding copepods to a new system
Will not provide enough food a mandarin that does not teat frozen needs a mature systm to survive in the long term. They are eating 24/7 mine is always searching for food.I have to buy live copepods to keep up. This week is the first time I have seen him eat frozen mysis

 

[JohnK]

The way tangs swim even a 4' cube would be tight IMO. They need their straight away space.

 

[Cjtabares]

If you set up the rock work right the tang would have over 4' of straight space to swim from corner to corner. I was taking and observing some tangs with another reefer in his 300 gal tank and none of the tangs were swing up and down the glass, they all were darting in and out of the rock work. Like I said that's what I saw in my yellow tang. With a tank that is not as deep the fish only has the room to go back and forth the long way there is no room to go to the back glass and te front glass. I have only been in he hobby for 1.5 years or so and these others talking have been in for a while. Just stating my observations thus far in this hobby, so take my statements with that in mind.

 

[beckbrass]

Part of the problem with a lot of fish is the swimming but another part is the pooping. It can be difficult to get the water quality good with a high bio load. I once heard some one say one inch of fish per gallon on the max side of things. Don't know if this is a totally true statement but seems to make some sence.

 

[JBarry471]

A few things...

If you have a good skimmer, you shouldnt have a problem keeping all of these fish.

Secondly, Keeping multiple tangs in a tank is not always a terrible thing. You just need to be smart about it. I have 3 in my 90. I have a Blue Hippo, a Koles and a Desjardini. The 3 tangs are from different families so they are not as likely to quarrel. They only flexed their muscles the first couple days and they've been great since. I would however reconsider the Dejardini and the yellow/black tang.though. They WILL fight considering they share near identical body shape and fins. If you're not sure what goes well together, ask your local fish guru for help.

Thirdly, I have a number of small fish (Gobies, chromis, firefish, anthias, etc). Keep in mind that the smaller fish WILL hide when the Dejardini/larger fish are near. It's not that the larger fish are violent or a threat, the smaller fish are simply scared of the size and speed of the larger fish (Dejardini in my case). So really think twice about what you are looking to do. What I mean is, if you like lots of fish in the open, you may want to avoid the larger and potentially more aggressive fish. Trust me...they WILL hide.

Lastly, I have heard from multiple sources that firefish kept in groups will quarrel if there's more than one. If you plan on adding the Helfricks, I would be extremely careful considering how much they cost.

Beyond that good luck!

 

[dcforester1]

I don't understand why this is "way to many fish". I agree it is a lot of fish but most of them won't even reach 3'' in length and don't spend a lot of time in the water column (if any). I'm not trying to say your wrong I would just like a little background information instead of just saying I'm wrong and polluting my thread with that picture. By all means voice your opinion good or bad but I don't see how posting a picture and comment with no explanation is constructive. After all I'm here to learn and a simple yes or no doesn't teach anyone.

The "Tang Police" is kind of a running joke here, and I think Greg knows about every comment pro/con has been said already in this thread. Greg has alot of good/accurate information so I would always value his opinion. I think alot of people get turned off because it is alot of fish, and some people dive in to quick and the fish are the ones who suffer. Maybe a better way is to post a wish list of what you would like to have, and add the fish over time and see what happens. I think most people have good intentions here and just dont want to see you head in a wrong direction. Just my .02


Good Luck

 

[Kman2010]

I would not recommend two types of firefish... i would go with 3 or 4 of one or the other...

 

[nitr8]

Also with the lawnmower blenny they can aggravate clams. Mine willpick the algae off the shell and be nipping the mantle at the same time. If you want clams you might want to stay away. They do have very comical behavior and are always out in the open. The gobies tend to stay in their borrow.

How unfortunate. I always enjoyed watching my Blenny in past but I plan on keeping a few clams in this tank so I appreciate the very helpful heads up.

 

[SteveDola]

My father has a big healthy fat purple in his 90 and has for 3 years. Hes not a bully at all. Good fish to watch but make a lot of 'waste'. So a 3*3*27" tank would be fine for a Purple tang. I dont know if Id get multiple tangs that have the same shape/coloring. Maybe a chevron or a powder brown (very under rated fish) would be a better partner.

As for the the fish load, if you take your time and add the fish slowly to the tank then the tank will tell you when its full. The main thing is allowing the miniecosystem to adjust to the additional waste so you just dont add 15 fish and shock the system. I think a major problem people have is overstocking too quick. Leads to algea problems among others. IMO, 130g tank with a 40-50g sump would be enough water volume given a good skimmer and u did water changes. People get too caught up on telling people not to keep tangs in minimum 4' of tank length and how many inches people should keep per inch of tank....ive seen too many beautiful healthy tanks with "too many" fish to believe those old rules of thumb.

Personally I always like the anthias groups and cardinal fish groups with a then 1 or 2 larger fish and a few smaller goby/blenny type fish. Gives some contrast and a variety to watch. You have the fast active anthias and the slow lingering cards with a tang to keep the tank moving around. Just me. No offense to anyone just trying to give my experience and advice.

 

[JohnK]

There are a lot of different takes on this topic, and I'll be the first to admit that my opinion generally falls on the cautious side.

That said, I do think it is safe to say; more fish equals more stress, and less fish means less stress. Extrapolate from there

 

[lisa foster]

In my 125 I enjoy watching my blennies, shrimp and crabs more than my yellow tang which is my only large fish. Don't overlook the little critters my 2 cleaner shrimps and cora lbanded are my favorite. Also my blue spotted goby whenever I look over at my tank he is watching me.

 

[Blueflu1]

Sunburst Anthias, while very striking fish, are difficult to keep in my experience. I learned the hard way at $80 a piece. I would find an easier to keep anthia.

 

[Takara]

Also with the lawnmower blenny they can aggravate clams. Mine willpick the algae off the shell and be nipping the mantle at the same time. If you want clams you might want to stay away. They do have very comical behavior and are always out in the open. The gobies tend to stay in their borrow.

i lost 3 clams to one