Overcrowding problems need some info

[ctdragonpr]

i have 3 salt water tanks 30, 10, 5, gal. can some one tell me the max amount of fish per tank

the 5 tanks has only a blue devil damsel and is fine if i dont put any more in it since the damsel has a very large problem hes not very sociable

the 10 gallon has another biggert blue devil and a medium tomato clown fish and the share half and half of the tanks if one crosse over they take duel fights until one gets tired is kind of funny but they very agressive

and here finally my problem the 30 gal tanks has live rock and sand and two anemones one carpet and one purple tip long tentacles and i have the following fish 1 green chromis damsel, 2 yellow and black damsel, had 3 clown fish one true percula and two oscelaris but recently the true and one ocelaris die, 1 hawk fisk grey and black with orange dots, 1 coral beuty recently added, 1 royal gramma
everything was fine until i added the coral beuty the small ocelaris started rapid brething and upward swiming and he was on the sand all the time he disapered probably the carpet anemone ate him and now the true percula started doing the same thing
can some one help me out the tanks have like more than 7 months i checkem regularly weekly to be exact and the 5 and 10 dont give me problems but the 30g is always making trouble
it has a 350 penguing double waterfall filter and and internal 2000 someting filter amonia chips since amonia tends to rise

 

[1979camaro]

5: even one damsel is too much fsh for a 5gal, the damsel needs more swimming room

10: the tomato is too big for a 10 gallon but the damsel would be ok...eventually the fighting will escalate until one or the other dies

30: also overstocked...very overstocked at that. your filtration is not really ideal for a SW tank. Live Rock is good but the filter with the media in it will tend to create a lot of nitrate. Also, if you are seeing a rise in ammonia that is a big problem. Honestly, I am surprised your anemones are surviving given the elevated ammonia and high bio-load...also, in looking at the picture you have a standard flourescent striplight which in the long term will not keep either of those anemones alive.

I see you are looking into a 72g bowfront. I would strongly reccomend you get that tank ASAP because your fish really do need bigger homes.

Your tank setups, as I mentioned above, are not really ideal for SW. You would be better off with a ton of Live Rock, a bunch of pumps to move water around, and a good protein skimmer.

I will reccomend a book to you which is quite good: Mike Paletta's New Marine Aquarium. I am not sure if it is available in Puerto Rico but it is worth a shot. It goes over a lot of the basics of setting up a stable SW tank.

hope that helps some

 

[megskee333]

Just a rule of thumb I have heard....

Just like the 1" of fish/gallon in freshwater, I believe it's 1/2" of fish/gallon in a salt water tank.

 

[Cichlidroobs]

Sweet entertainment center on the left there, I have the same one. The tanks look great, but use live rock, and I would be careful about that blinding ray of sunlight getting into those tanks as well, could cause problematic algae. You should fashion those three tanks together with some transparent acrylic pipe.

 

[1979camaro]

rules like the "this many inches of fish per gallon" work even worse in SW than in FW

 

[ctdragonpr]

like u see i am new at this been up and down for like 6 months but every time i get more than 7 fish something start happening and the start to die so i was wondering the fish ratio 1/2 and inch per gallon in sw so for a 30 gallon there should no more than 15 inches of fish how much is that on a regular number 4,5,6,7 how many can i put with what i have now i am on a short wallet here and cant ivest too much on these tanks ill get the bigh 72 gal bow front and do it all by the book but what can i do for now?? get more rock and make the water circulate or add another penguin 100 filter i got there for spare
and for the light i got the standard set but with GEs saltwater bulb its kinda nice purple blue color

 

[wayne]

Inches per gallon rules are just rubbish, what makes it acceptable? Fish survives, fish thrives.... or inches per gallon so you do or don't get runaway algae despite the health of the fish being good in both cases.
Also as a note the stuff about sunlight causing algae problems is also rot. Otherwise I wouldn't spend multiple hundreds of $ reproducing sunlight ....

Anyway the five will be ok till the damsel gets a bit bigger, at which point you'll start getting ammonia, nitrate problems in that too.

The ten has two potentially very aggressive fish in a pretty small space. The tomato will jsut get two big too. I would try for a single aggressive fish like a dottyback inthere, or a pair of clowns or something equally docile.

The 30 is overloaded with potentially aggressive fish. If every time you put somehing new in there you get ammonia problems surely that tells you you've reached the tanks capacity better than any test kit or rule can tell you. If you have ammonia you have a proble, have hit your limits.

If I was you, I'd do two things. I'd stop buying damsels, and try to find some fish that were less aggressive, problematic long term. I'd buy less fish, and I'd try and research around some more variety. I have 6 fish in a 65, and I think that I am going to lose one.
Also I'd really think about going to a filtration system built around a GOOD protein skimmer and live rock. I'd especially consider the protein skimmer - a used CPR bakpak will hit you 40 or 50 dollars and save you no end of hassle.

 

[FishGeek]

Wayne said it all but I do want to add that SW fish require hiding places just like FW fish. You have very little rock in your tanks and what you do have is piled up in one corner. Therefore one fish will claim the rock and when another fish wants to hide he cant cause when he tries to the fish that claimed the rock attacks him. You really need to do some ready on SW tanks ASAP. Good Luck and I hope that you figure things out for your fish. If not feel free to ask more questions.

 

[shwnicus]

just my two cents here: from experience, other than green chromis, damsels are not a good fit for small tanks. they are just too aggressive. even the smallest of damsels will establish 30+ gallons as its territory, and attack anything in it, regardless of size. even if it looks like your tomato and blue are staying apart, its still stressing both fish, andone will eventually succum to the other. this is the other reason I dont agree with the idea of inches of fish per gallon. its a complex mix of aggression, appetite, and bio-load. the best soultion is read, read, read. a tomato clown should probably have 30+ gallons of room as it grows large and eats like a horse. and the coral beauty needs swimming space. it doesnt seem like it since its small, but angels are free swimmers, it will stress out if it can't.

 

[ctdragonpr]

i really apreiciate it guy for the info so it seems the right size tank for starter should be a big and nice 55 gallons tanks gonna try to get one cheap so i can transfer the fish i have until i get the big mama i want for my living room
it should be a 72 gal bowlfront or bigger is the a site that i can see the tanks and their sizes and specs?

 

[aresgod]

http://www.all-glass.com/