how many fish in a 29 biocube
 

hi i currently have 3 clown fish in my biocube, 2 orange 1 black (same family) would it be too much if i added in a fire fish? its suppose to be 1 inch per gallon so i should be under........any input?

you should be fine with a firefish, they are all relitively small fish, i wouldnt be to worried. Depending on corals and such your bioload wont increase to much!

Don't rely on the 1 inch per gallon. There are way too many "rules of thumb" in this hobby and very few of them work. There are just too many variables to consider, Amount of live rock, flow, feeding habits, type of fish, skimmer efficiency... and the list goes on.

and if you go by the "rule of thumb" it is actually 1 inch per 2 gallons for marine fish.

The biggest thing you need to look at is how the fish interact. Too much fighting equals stress, stress equals illness, illness equals empty tank.

Ken - BWA

thanx guys, ill wait a couple week sofr the clowns to host my enemone then ill get a firefish, that way the clowns have a sanctuary which will reduice stress

Im thinkin that 3 clowns could get kinda ugly. Keep a close eye on them. I had trouble with 2 clowns in mine, 1 got pestered so bad he died.

Wouldn't they be even more territorial with a nem to call their own?

gotta love the inch per gallon rule... with that rule I can have a few tangs in my biocube 29 as well...

btw.. I thought inch per gallon is for fresh water and there's another rule for saltwater and reef....

I think you should be fine with another fire fish. Just Watch for your parameter and fish behaviour to tell if your system can have more or not

How big are your clowns? 3 of them will probably be trouble. Get rid of one of them and eventually you'll have a breeding pair. I had a firefish with my 2 clowns in a 20gal with no problems. The firefish was very shy and died due to stress after some tank maintenance.