20G Sump help w/ adding more fish?

[Dennis_said]

Lets say there are no territorial issues and all fish are completely docile...

 

I have a 15g long right now... planning on throwing on a 20g sump... which would give me a volumn of about 39G (4g fuge)...

 

Would I be able to house:

 

Possum Wrasse (already in there)

Fridmani

Pair of ocellaris

 

Or would the bioload still be too great? I know that the pair of ocellaris and the wrasse would be fine w/o the sump... so what do you guys think?

 

Thanks

[NaNO ReeFiN]

Seriously.. why not just get a bigger fish tank.. (you're gonna eventually do so.. I can tell..)

 

I have a 29 gallon with a 16 gallon sump with a Euro Reef ES5-2 and even I only have 4 fish in it..

[Dustin]

That is too many fish, you really only have the stocking poss. of a 10 gallon, since the tank is just taller. So IMO all you can have is 2 clowns.

[Dennis_said]

Haha, of course man, a bigger tank Eventually

 

Not yet though, just wondering if a sump would serve this biological purpose?

 

Dustin- my tank is a 15g long, does the length make a difference as oppose to height?

[surfy]

I have a 35 gallon fully stocked with corals and 5 fish, 1 starfish, and 1 cleaner shrimp in it, no sump yet (still in the makeing) I'm sure you will be alright with the sump.

To answer your last post it dosn't matter if the tank is long or high it's the water volume that matters.

[tinyreef]

i'd disagree, length denotes more water surface area and greater gas exchange ability so it would matter significantly in certain situations.

 

in this situation the process of sumping (is that a word?) should provide enormous aeration of the water so that shouldn't be a concern (whereas a single tank system it would play a larger concern). the large sump will definitely help with its added volume and greater bio-filtration ability.

 

one of the key issues to watch imo is the metabolism of the fish in question, e.g. a catatonic clown goby vs. a free-basing orchid pseudo like you're considering.

 

another (maybe most important) is how you're going to deal with the wastes produced. (filtration: mechanical/chemical/biological, cleaner crews, manual maintenance, passive livestock filtration: cryptic, filter feeders, nano/microfauna, and so on)

 

if the fish get along (orchid vs. possum, the thrilla from manila, i know red sea ) then i think the system would be large enough so i think a 15G+20G should be fine.

[ELGORDOINAVW]

dude, getting through all the tech mumbo jumbo, the reason everyone says don't add more fish is because your main tank is only a 15 gal which gives you a limited amount of space for your fish to swim/live in. as far a being able to handle a greater bioload yes you could handle more but unless your going for a tuna can processing plant don't do more. my 2