Marine Stocking Density

[MHunt]

What's the rule of thumb for stocking a marine tank, i.e. inches per US gal. I haven't got a consistent answer off any online calculators i have seen and am a bit confused. I haven't even seen this mentioned in the pinned topics at the top, one of the threads went into a long winded spiel about bio load of different fish etc. I get it that some fish are more messy than others, you get that with freshwater, take plecs or goldfish for example. But as a guide for a newbie to marines, how many fish should i squeeze in any given tank! (Ok not quite squeeze , but you get the idea!)

 

[leecara]

as i have been through this phase to ive found out from other tff members thats there is no rule really as diffrent sizes and space requirments for the fish but more experinced member will be able to say as you go along the adding stuff to your tank bit lol

-lee

 

[MHunt]

as i have been through this phase to ive found out from other tff members thats there is no rule really as diffrent sizes and space requirments for the fish but more experinced member will be able to say as you go along the adding stuff to your tank bit lol

-lee

Fair enough, but it would be nice to have an idea if it's feasible to stock the tank i am thinking of with the fish i am thinking of.

I already have the tank running as freshwater, but when it's current use is over, i would like to consider what other more interesting fish i could keep in it are. i could always do another trop setup, planted nano, breeder etc, but a marine nano is something i have thought about for a while, I have a fish in mind to keep in it (not that interesting maybe, but one of my favourite marines)

I guess i should just ask the question, what is the minimum size tank would you keep a pair of common clowns in?

 

[Ter]

with a question like that.. you gonna get a lot of people with lots of mixed feelings and answers... but ill say 30 gallons... are you looking at ocellaris? maroon? clarkii? they are the most common. maroon and clarkii will hit 6inches often
Ter

 

[Lynden]

Maroons will commonly hit 6'', but I would be very surprised indeed if I ever saw a clarkii that was much over 4''.

 

[MHunt]

I was thinking about ocellaris clowns personally, i think they're generally the smallest, one of my favourites, and probably the cheapest to get hold of. Looking on aquahobby, it reckons a max size of about 8 cm, 3 inches, so a pair would be about 6 inches max.

 

[rhysiboy]

dont even start to reason using the freshwater method. As said earlier inches dont mean squat tbh. Im sure that 2 ocelaris clowns would be fine in anything above a 20 gallon.

 

[MHunt]

Just read on another site that one rule of thumb is 1 inch for 5 gallons. In my 10 gal, i could get 2 inches, barely enough for a single ocellaris clown by that method.

My plans will have to wait!

 

[Ter]

lol.. dude.. give up on the inch rule.. everyone told u its useless... check for nano fish LINK
Ter

 

[black molly3]

i would say 20 gal but they could be ok in an 18 min.
however if you get one clown the minimum size is 7 gal i think
but dont take my word

 

[MHunt]

So if i set up a 20 gal with the intention of stocking with a pair of clowns, could i put any other fish in the same tank, perhaps a fire fish or blenny?

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Two clowns can live in lets say a 15g

In a 20g you can have two clowns and another small fish such as a fire fish or blenny

 

[Ter]

I donno.. really depends on what kind of clown.. maroon can become quite aggressive I and most here i'd believe wouldnt put a pair in that small of a tank.. let alone a small firefish with two maroons in a confined area...
but Ocellaris are very very passive but don't host very often
Ter

 

[Redstratplayer1]

I was talking about with Ocellaris or clarkii.

 

[MHunt]

I was talking about with Ocellaris or clarkii.

So was I, i have done enough research to know the fish i'm looking for, and the reasons why. I just want to know what kind of setup i need to aim for to achieve it.