How Many Fish

I am just setting up my 29 gallon nano and I think I am going to start off with a fish only tank. How many fish do you guys think I could have in it without it being way crowded? Also what kind of fish do you guys suggest for my tank?

Fish pollute the water.
Coral filter the water.
Why not start with a tank that is filtering and cleaning the water; a tank that provides a clean water environment for fish?
See more on this below in the thread linked in my signature.

If you decide to go only FO then go Predatory like Lion fish that would be cool looking

Does anyone have a guess on about how many fish I could keep in a 29?

Ben said it.
You probably don't realize what you have stumbled onto here. A place where coral is free.

The idea of just keeping fish is kind of outdated because coral is so easy, so cool, so available and even predatory fish can be kept with coral. And coral allow you to keep more fish. I've had a lot more than 4 small fish in a 29 gallon tank. (see the pic)

Don't forget to read below, because the hobby may be a lot less expensive than you realize. Contact me for rock and sand.




Edited by Mark Peterson - September 26 2010 at 8:42pm

^ Just depends honestly if you run a skimmer or not, I know that they sell a skimmer for the biocube 29 (AquaC brand or something, dont buy the stupid air stone skimmer) you can probably keep 5-6 fish. I kept 3 fish in my 14 and everything was just fine, so I figure you could double it.

I currently have 6 fish in my 40 breeder, i'll probably pick up 2 more and call it a day

Macroalgae with a 2" bed of Oolitic sand and decent LR works great. With one good powerhead (~500 gph) positioned low shooting water to the surface, there is no need for any more equipment.

While various filters, corals, sand, live rock and the such allow us to keep more fish without compromising water quality- I think it is very important to consider the over health and happiness of the number and size of fish that should be kept in any size tank. Mark has been successful keeping large number of Cardinals in a smaller tank because of the slower activity of those fish. More active fish should mean fewer fish. Some fish should not be considered at all. I wouldn't even consider keeping tangs of any number in a tank that small.