How Many Fish Can You Put In A Saltwater Aquarium? 

That is super kind of you, and thanks for watching all the brands! :-) -Matthew

Well thanks for the help Darren! :-)

Ooh, I love to hear when something works out well. Wow, Marine Depot! That feels like a long time ago! Fond memories of where I got my first real gig in this hobby! And more content on the way! Thanks for watching and taking time to leave a comment! So glad your build is working out well! :-). -Matthew

That is a feat of science for sure!

that is perfect timing for sure! :-)

Great question, and there are so many factors and I will fully admit I'm not the best at this. The best people are ones with established systems who have tried various combos. But to simplify things a bit, here are a few things you would need to consider when building your stocklist. As you gain more experience in this hobby, a lot of this will just come intuitively to you. The size of the fish, how aggressive the fish is, where the fish lives, what the fish eats, how often the fish eats, special diet of fish, how the fish plays with other members of same species, how about other species, what about fish of similar body type? Habitat, what is the habitat, sandbed, rockwork, caves. Does your fish have a specialized habitat, are there enough caves? Size of tank, how long is the tank, is there enough space for your fish to spread out, can you put semi aggressive fish in because the tank is long enough? Where does your fish live? Free swimming, sandbed, rockwork? Just a few things to think about, and of course there are exceptions to every rule depending on your setup. -Matthew

Great question. Sounds like you are off to a great start. I always find 40-80 gallons to be a frustrating size tank when you get the itch to add some cool fish. There are just some amazing fish, like tangs, that are still too big. So what else could you add, it will depend on how much filtration you have and what the potential is for adding more. If you can avoid aggression and territorial issues, than really the only limit is filtration. Fish wise you could add a sand sifting goby, some other gobies like clown goby, maybe a small wrasse like a six line. Because you have coral and shrimp, certain fish are risky. Jawfish, hawkfish, and many wrasses just won't be a good fit because they may go after your shrimp and coral. Once your tank is teeming with copepods you could add a mandarin dragonet. Definitely a pistol shrimp and shrimp goby pair. An algae eating blenny, possible a small filefish, although they may nip at your coral. Maybe check out some options at LiveAquaria for some inspiration. I'm also a big fan of Seahorse Savvy for some more unusual picks. -Matthew

For sure, but you can bet it's going to be pretty close to a 48 gallon lagoon, with the ability to add a few less since the footprint isn't quite as big.

Glad you think so! :-)

:-)

Most likely you will be just fine. Blennies are certainly peaceful, and the only possible jerk you have inside the tank is the six line wrasse, but I doubt the wrasse will bother anybody else. Just watch your water parameters for any significant increases in po4 and no3, and then up filtration and water changes as needed.

@@HelloReef well its either the blenny or a baby bristletooth tang. Also having some hair algae issues

That's a great question.. Basically yo could just add more. Once you reach that 200 gallon threshhold, there are some larger fish you can add that you just couldn't add in a smaller system. I will admit that most of my fish stocking list are reef safe and largely invertebrate safe (except for the hawkfish), but if you really want your fish stocklist to shine, then doing a FOWLR tank is the way to go. That would open up so many more great options in the Angelfish and Butterflyfish categories. And if you don't need to have fancy shrimp, then you can add a lot of wrasses, jawfish, and who knows what else. The Trick with big tanks is to not only add the right fish, but to add them in the right order. A tang added early may stake out it's claim and be over aggressive, but if added later might interact with the others just fine. Also, with large systems, mistakes with stocking will be made, so watching your fish, knowing what you have inside, and being willing to set a trap and remove and rehome are crucial.

Haha, that is so true! I work for Aperture, the parent company of HelloReef, BRS, Neptune, Ecotech, AI, and a few more, so you'll see me jump around a bit as need be! Regardless, I appreciate you hunting me down and watching! -Matthew

Also do you think this is a good stock list for a 80 gallon custom tank (130x68x35cm) with a 20 gallon sump that has a carbon reactor and a skimmer and maybe a filter roller? 1 Yellow Coris Wrasse 1 Halichoeres cosmetus 1 bangaii cardinal 1 Spotted Mandarin Goby 3 Chinese Zebra Dartfish 1 Linear or Gulf Blenny 1 Randall's Shrimp Goby Thanks

Definitely a good list. You could probably add quite a few more fish given some time. Definitely a pair of clowns, maybe a sand-sifting goby, some smaller schooling fish like the masked goby, but this is a great start

:-)

That’s exactly right! 😀

That sounds like a perfect stock list. How do you feel about it? Room for more? Too much so you have to do larger water changes?

@@HelloReef I want to add some Nassarius Snails but other then that I will probably just add coral as the tank matures. It seems to be a good balance and a 2-3 gallon water change each week keeps it in check.

:-)

Yeah, I think reef safe wrasses are definitely not strong point in my stock lists. Any favorites you would add?

@@HelloReef mixing some of the genus Cirrhilabrus would be a good start as they are for the most part are a peaceful genus of wrasse and some have some beautiful coloration.

One of many! I actually work for Aperture which is the parent company of HelloReef and BRS, so I move around wherever I can be helpful!

@@HelloReef when I started in this hobby two years ago. Your beginner videos really helped me get started. Last couple of months I was thinking damn what happened to Mathew? Good to see u still making videos

I'm so happy that my videos helped. that's the whole reason I started making videos almost a decade ago, because I wish they existed! And I'm definitely still making videos... In fact I've been making so many it's almost time for a vacation! :-)

Yeah that could definitely work. With the goby, blenny, and dragonet you have a lot of fish that like the sandbed, so maybe consider something more free swimming. The dottyback will dart in and out of the rockwork, and the clowns will choose an area of the tank and then largely stay there. So take a peek at some free swimmers like cardinalfish. maybe a small wrasse, or a hawkfish. There are drawbacks to all of them, for example, hawkfish may or may not go after shrimp. The best advice I could give is to just add a few fish at a time, water test, and make adjustments to your feeding and filtration as needed until you have a stable system.-Matthew

@@HelloReef I plan to add the clowns and dotyback last for agression too. I like the geometric hawk fish and the Pink-Streaked Wrasse, so you think the system could handle them too?

Probably, but you might be pushing things a bit. I mean you can always up the filtration and water change schedule, but I worry about the lack of real estate, possible aggression, and lack of areas for the wrasse and dottyback to hide. 30 gallons isn't a lot of square footage, so in order to be successful with a lot of fish you need to build distinct areas of the tank where fish can feel safe.

@@HelloReef thank you very much for your help. I might replace the dotyback with a purple firefish just to be sure to have a peaceful tank.

Hey Dave. I actually work for Aperture, the parent company of BRS and HelloReef, so you’ll see me jumping around chanel’s a bit!

Great question. I really like them, they school, and they are super small so you can use a ton of them.

@@HelloReef Thanks!

You are welcome! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

Matthew here, and I actually work for Aperture, the parent company of BRS and HelloReef. So you will see me jump between various brands such as AquaReady, Ecotech, BRS, Neptune, and AI. I love working for Aperture, and I have the absolute best job in the entire world! I'm going nowhere until they force me out at retirement! :-) Thanks for finding me on this new channel and taking time to leave a comment! -Matthew

@@HelloReef Matthew, you're enthousiasm is very contagious and I really appreciate you're style of presenting. While I'm a little bit ahead of the target audience of the videos you produce I always watch a couple and go clean my tank.

😀