Stocking 55 gal

I just heard the rule of stocking an aquarium, about 3 inches of fish for every square foot of surface area. That would mean 12 inches of fish for a 55 gallon. When I first began stocking my aquarium I was under the assumption of 1 inch of fish per gallon. My question is, since I run a constant airstone in my mai tank, would I have the ability to have more than 12 inches of fish in my tank?

Currently my 55 gallon has 5 green chromis and a yellow watchman goby. I would like to add 2 ocell clown fish at some point in the future. I do plan to upgrade my tank probably next summer when I move out of my apartment into a house, but until then would more than 12 inches be ok with a constant airstone running?

 

actually under the 3 inch rule you could have 18 inches. is your tank fish only? if so 1 to 3 is the general rule of thumb. if youre keepin corals, then its 1 - 5 generally speaking. the 1-1 is for frshwater. alot depends on your filtration, type of fish. if you have fish that are big poopers , you need good filtration. and also this can drop the rule of thumb down. but i would imagine you can add clowns to your tank

 

I think the 1 inch per gallon is generally freshwater, and 1 inch per 3 gallon saltwater. I'm not 100% as it depends on many factors. These are only general guidelines.

 

Divott beat me to it lol

 

I have a few very small frags (zoas, kenya tree, green button polyps). My filtration right now is 74lbs of live rock and a 5 gallon water change weekly. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all at 0 and have been steady for about 2 - 3 months now. I also got a cleanup crew from reefcleaners that has done an outstanding job. I appreciate the quick response though. I decided to do a 55 to see if I could really do this hobby and enjoy it. I have already told the gf that when we move into the house, I really want to upgrade to a 180.

 

what filtration are you running?

 

Are you planning to add a skimmer at all?

 

Divott get out of my head lol.

 

What else is in your tank and what is your setup? Are you running a protein skimmer and if so, which one? Part of whether you will be successful in adding more fish will be dependent upon that. I've seen plenty of people keep more fish than you are considering, but you have to be able to keep the water quality up to a certain point with the higher bioload. Your airstone comment makes me wonder what type of filtration you are running?

You need to worry about oxygen levels, but you also need to worry about water quality. The fish can survive but without proper nutrient export in a highly stocked aquarium, you'll likely end up with a serious algae issue at some point.

 

i am giving you a 5 min grace period from here on in coylee. answer quick tho. lol