Reef vs. FW stocking

Not trying to start an argument or anything but just out of curiosity, how come you can put 7 fish in a 10g freshwater but you can't put 6 fish in a 30g reef? Is it a swim room or filtration issue? Because I can't see how a 3" SW fish can poop more than a 3" FW fish. Just curious..

 

A few thoughts on the topic:

1)You can put a lot of schooling fish like tetras but they have a very small bioload and don't really get above 1.5-2". You should never put 7 x 3" fish in a 10 gallon FW tank.

2) you can get definitely get away with overstocking a FW if you have a lot of live plants. They soak up the nitrates/ammonia etc like sponges. In some instances, you can get away without cycling a FW tank if it is heavily planted from the onset.

3) plus the lights are not as strong so you can get away with a slightly higher bioload without getting as significant of an algae problem.

 

Dissolved oxygen is you biggest limitation. SW doesn't hold as much as FW, and the higher the temp, the less it can hold. If you check out some of the more elaborate stocking calculators, you will see that they go by total surface area and temp more than actual volume. (IOW, a 30 tall @ 82F will yield a much smaller stock capacity than a 30 long @ 76F).

Hope this helps.

 

+1 to Mr. Bill I agree

 

I completely agree. I was hoping I would get to say it first lol. Great job once again Mr. Bill. ;D

 

Thanks for all the replys!! Now that you said that mr. Bill, I remember reading that somewhere.

 

I would put Mr.Bill's explaination as the greatest factor then tharsis' as a much smaller portion.

 

Aggression is also an issue. The 10 neon tetras arent really going to harass each other that much, where as droping 10 small gobies into a 10g tank, your going to encounter fighting over territory.

Also, a large amount of sw specimens require a steady live food source (ie pods and algae on your live rock) to survive long term in captivity where as most freshwater specimens have been bred in captivity for so long they will thrive on frozen, freeze-dried foods, flakes and pellets.