Just curious: If you had a 230g tank, how many fish would you put in it?

fishoholic · #1 12-21-2009, 04:52 AM

I have always liked having lots of fish, I don't have as many as I used to, but I still have a fair amount. The difference is now I have a lot more smaller fish then larger fish.

I know many people talk about how "this is my last fish" but then end up adding just one or two more. So I got to thinking: I wonder how others would stock a 230g tank.

So for those willing to play along (simply out of curiosity) if you had a 230g tank what fish/how many would you stock it with. Would you go mostly large or small fish or a mix? Or if you already have a 230g (or similar sized tank) what is your current stocking list and do you plan to add any more?

Delphinus · #2 12-21-2009, 05:25 AM

Hard to say. Depending on what fish and how they were getting along, maybe as much as 20-30 for me. Or as few as 6 .. I really don't know.

IF and I do mean IF I get my 280g online, I'm not rushing out to put more fish in there beyond what I already have in my 110g. I have .. um, let's see. Eel, tang, rabbit, butterfly pair, chromis pair, dottyback, bellus pair, and potter's angel. So around 11 I guess.

Totally depends on the group dynamics and whatever hits my interest at any time. I'd love a lavender tang or a lieutenant tang or an achilles one day. Or a crosshatch trigger but they get so darned big and I don't think the 280g is enough tank for a pair (and I really prefer pairs of or small groups of fish over solitary individuals, whenever possible)..

untamed · #3 12-21-2009, 05:30 AM

I had not planned that it would end up this way for me, but I fell in love with Nasos...

I have 16 fish in my 400 gallon system...that's .04 fish/gallon...so by the same math you get to have 9. Ha..ha

Hmm..maybe total fish-inches/gallon is better math. Those 16 account for about 90" worth of fish, so by the same ratio you get about 51" worth in 230 gallons. At 1.5" each, that would be about 34 fish.

So there you go. If you get a larger tank it opens the door to keeping larger fish, in which case you end up with fewer.

I wonder what everybody else's inches/gallon is? Only display gallons count!

Delphinus · #4 12-21-2009, 05:43 AM

Interesting question. In my 110g cube, those 11 fish work out to about 42". Haha, I have a way higher ratio than you do in your 400.

I have an eel though which sort of skews the numbers. Well, actually, I guess it doesn't skew since he puts a pretty heavy load on the tank, at 8" he's probably way "heavier" than the 8" tang, for example.

Lance · #5 12-21-2009, 06:18 AM

I have 16 fish for a total of 63" in my 225g. or 3.6 inches of fish per gallon. And that is probably too many; it's a struggle to keep nitrates down.

lastlight · #6 12-21-2009, 06:45 AM

NONE.

Please see my old thread for ideas.

LMAO!

Eb0la11 · #7 12-21-2009, 08:12 AM

For my 165G so far I have:

Tomini Tang
Oscellaris Clowns x 2
Regal Tang
Fox Face
Blue/Green Chromis x 2
White Sleeper Goby
Lawnmower Blenny
Yellow Clown Goby
Green Clown Goby

I plan on getting at least 6-8 more fish on top of this list. Right now they are all small, I know they wont stay that way but I too like to have a nice amount of fish. Some of the ones above stay very small too though, at least 4 of them do. So thats my stocking list right now but I wanna get some mandarin(s), another tang or two, and likely a dwarf eel eventually, so we'll see where I end up. I like this thread though.

fishoholic · #8 12-21-2009, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by untamed

Hmm..maybe total fish-inches/gallon is better math. Those 16 account for about 90" worth of fish, so by the same ratio you get about 51" worth in 230 gallons. At 1.5" each, that would be about 34 fish.

I wonder what everybody else's inches/gallon is? Only display gallons count!

I suck at math so I'm not sure

When I get home later on I'll try to hold a measuring tape up tp the glass so I can get a better idea of how big my fish really are (I tend to guess bigger then they really are) and I'll try to figure it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

I like this thread though.

Thanks, I thought it would be interesting to see what people would or have stocked their tank with.

kien · #9 12-21-2009, 04:16 PM

If I had a larger tank, say the 230 of the topic here, I would definitely do more schooling fish. My 4 chromis whenever they feel like schooling look cool and I always wish that i could put more in. Perhaps other schooling fish like cardinals or anthias. A massive ball of schooling fish, that would be golden.

muck · #10 12-21-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien

If I had a larger tank, say the 230 of the topic here, I would definitely do more schooling fish. My 4 chromis whenever they feel like schooling look cool and I always wish that i could put more in. Perhaps other schooling fish like cardinals or anthias. A massive ball of schooling fish, that would be golden.

For sure... about 100 orange-stripe cardinals would be Fantastic!!