Fish Load Question

[thor32766]

I am in the process of setting up my 220 gallon tank with a 75 gallon refugium. My center piece fish will be a emperor angel. I hope to get one in the 8-10 inches area. Other then him how many fish, i know size will matter. Just a general idea of what people do have in tanks about this size. Thanks and if i need to clarify just ask.

[downlimit]

your question, while a good one to ask, leaves a lot of questions unanswered, first you have to take into consideration, not only the fact that you will have a refugium, but also what types of filtration you are using, the total gallons in the system, etc...

in a tank that size with proper husbandry you could potentially have as many as 1 fish per 15 gallons of water, however you may want to reduce that number to 1 per 30, if you are not going to be able to provided it with the care necessary to keep all your readings in check. But again this number could be higher or lower depending on your equipment and filtration.

[jnc914]

I agree that hubandry is key, in addition to what the total water volume and turnover is in the tank. I am running a 180 gallon tank with a 100 gallon Sump and a 50 gallon fuge. Total water volume is roughly 280-300 gallons. I am running a pan-world which is pumping around 1100 GPH. Water movemet is done by the Tunze system which keeps waste in the water column. In regards to the emperor, I don't think they are a good fish to start a tank with, I would add him last to avoid aggression. I have been doing alot of research on the care of these beautiful fish, and I plan to let my tank age 1-2 years before trying one. You could probably get away with another two larger "show" fish in addition to a few medium size fish. I would go with the 1 fish to 30 gallon recommendation.

[Julio]

The weight of the fish is what really matters, a fish such as a Hippo tang and a grouper that are the same size will produce different ammounts of waste based on their weight.
I would not recomend you get a full adult emperor, but rather a juvenile that is in changing phase as it will adapt better to your evironment.

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7064445#post7064445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Julio
I would not recomend you get a full adult emperor, but rather a juvenile that is in changing phase as it will adapt better to your evironment.

I agree, you will end up paying less and be able to watch him change / grow... He will be around longer since you would be getting him at a younger age... I always like to get my fish as small as possible...

[thor32766]

thanks for the info! I want to get one that is in the process of changing. thanks again