What's Your Bioload

[Oceanic]

150 Gallons bare bottom, 140+lbs of rock with 30 Gallon Sump.

2 anthias
1 unidentified dark brown/black tang
1 six-line wrasse
1 foxface
1 harlequin tusk
4 chromis
1 majestic angel
3 clowns
1 pajama cardinal

tons of SPS lots of LPS, hermits, snails, urchin, etc

too much? maybe!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

So, I'm finding this very interesting indeed! This is what I was hoping would happen. I see some people have quite a few fish in their systems (relative to size), while others have very few. Some have oodles of snails and shrimp while others have very few (or none?).

What is the key to striking a healthy balance? Is it in determining what individual fish need, as far as territory, free space for swimming, etc? Is it in determining how many you can keep while still maintaining water quality?

Thoughts? Observations? Humorous anecdotes?

[Jason McK]

I love Tangs. But only wanted 1 from each family.
I have since thought it would be cool to have only small fish like Damsels in my tank.
So until my tangs live out their natural lives I will not buy any more fish. then I'll get 50 damsels LOL

J

[christyf5]

I think that in determining fish load you need to take all those things into account. Some fish require the whole tank to themselves because of their "personality" others are community fish and get along with everyone. Others start out great and get more aggressive as they get bigger. I think its a matter of knowing your tank and seeing how they all interact before you add another fish. For me I like to think I take those things into account but occasionally I make dumb moves that turn out okay...mostly.

Its unlikely that I'll be adding another fish anytime soon to my tank (although don't hold me to it ) but I take into account how much the fish eats (and how much comes out the other end), max size, whether its a swimmer or a sitter/hoverer, color (I know this sounds stilly but no more blue fish, my regal gets quite ticked) also what the increased bioload may do to the tank. I do 10% water changes every week to suck out all the detritus and get some fresh water in there which I think has helped a lot in making my tank successful....mostly. Sure I've got to put up with wafer algae and caulerpa gluing my rocks together but I just don't look at it as much

[fkshiu]

135 gallon display + 55 gallon sump (~150 gallons total volume) - mixed reef

-regal tang
-purple tang
-royal gramma
-yellow coris wrasse
-six line wrasse
-clown goby
-oc. clown x2
-pink spotted watchman goby
-signal goby (MIA for the last few days)

-cleaner/fire/pistol/peppermint/sexy shrimpx2 (enough for a cocktail)
-abalone
-blue tux urchin
-various snails
-10 scarlet hermits
-pom pom crab
-crocea/maxima/squamosa clams
-fighting conch x2

[marie]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

... Some have oodles of snails and shrimp while others have very few (or none?).

I guess I should of added "more snails then you can shake a stick at" they are breeding like rabbits in all 3 of my systems

[SeaShell]

I have a 140 gallon tank plus a 30 gallon sump with:
Yellow Watchman Goby
Fox Face
Yellow Tang
Dottyback
10 Blue Chromis (love, love, love these little guys!)
2 big evil Damsels

Oh, and some very large and scary blue leg crabs, a bunch of snails and a tuxedo urchin.

Rock..... um..... I dunno how many pounds are in there, 150 lbs sound about right?

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

What is the key to striking a healthy balance?

Is it in determining how many you can keep while still maintaining water quality?

Thoughts? Observations? Humorous anecdotes?

That works for me! LOL

I will admit I have a very strong addiction to the fish in this hobby, I have a hard time resisting "just one more"

[Pier Pressure]

My snails breed like crazy and so do my cleaner shrimp so lots of live food in the tank. I also find it hard to say no to "just one more" fish. This crazy little voice in my head is seductively whispering "upgrade" but so far I have managed to resist it!

[BC Mosaic]

80g with a 33g sump and a 30g refugium all looped together.
135 lbs. of LR between the 3 set ups.
100lbs of substrate between the 3 set ups
2 clowns
3 chromis
1 bi colour blenny
1 powder brown tang
2 bengaii (recent/todays addition )
1 cleaner shrimp
snails + crabs

I will upgrade - honest