bio load question

[dixonstanley50]

whats the general rule of thumb on how many fish a tank can support? I have a 30 gallon with 20 lbs of liverock a skimmer and a canister filter?

 

[fastrd400]

General rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons of water. So you are looking at three fish.

 

[Rufio808]

Also think of the bioload that comes with each fish. For example, a large lawn mower blenny will produce way more waste than a clown goby. You'll have a lot of fish to choose from!

 

[14 gallon nanocube]

hello you are gonna want 20 lbs more rock.how deep is sandbed.you would be better off doing regular water changes and not using the canister filter"nitrate factory".how long has the tank been set up

 

[little_fish]

+1 to 14 gal

Unless cleaned every 3 or 4 days, canister filters can trap particles which decay, and release nitrates back into the water column cause algae problems and damaging your corals and inverts.

 

[dixonstanley50]

thanks for all the replies, we are planning on getting more live rock but maybe one piece at a time with some cool stuff on it and i was using the filter as a home for bacteria before we got the live rock. So should i take the media out of the filter and fill it up with something else and just use it as a pump? or just get rid of it all together? One other thing, when i got the tank is has a crushed coral substrate, ive heard that could also be a nitrate trap, how would i go about changing over to sand? remove the course stuff or mix it up or add it on top maybe?

 

[Aquatic]

General rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons of water. So you are looking at three fish.

+1 fast.

With the general rule of thumb, 3 should be the limit as far as the stocking list goes.
You want a stable setup where your parameters stay at good levels. Besides, if you stock up your tank with corals, it's just as fun as having fish imo!

 

[BL1]

If you add finer sand on top it'll eventually just work it's way to the bottom.

 

[little_fish]

For the crushed coral: You are right, it will trap stuff and can lead to water quality issues, mainly nitrates. I would remove it by sucking up a small section every water changes, and so slowly remove it over the course of a month of two. Then you can just put in the new sand of your choice.

And with the filter i would remove the media and fill it with rubble pieces to increase your live rock or put a small light over and turn it into a fuge