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Blue tang in a 40G breeder...

Elite

Elite

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My boys really want a blue tang. I know 40G breeder is a bit small for tang but it's 36" long and I will get the smallest tang available. I see a bunch of ~1" tangs at LFS. How long do you think it will out grow the tank? or I shouldn't add it at all?? My boys really want it and they keep asking me..
 
They are slow growers I think... They get 12" though, so if it was in the 40gal by it's self that might work... you might end up having to sell it when it gets too big. Try it... I experiment with stuff all the time. If it gets sick, bring him back to the LFS. If he dies, then thats that... I wouldn't listen to me, so listen to Gomer or Roc's opinion. They (almost) always have goo opinions! ;D

(HINT HINT... This is where Gomer or Roc comes in and gives their opinion)
 
Hey Phong. Have your boys gone through Scott Michael's book? Maybe they can see a nice fish that you can easily house in a 40g breeder. Lots of fairy wrasses. I've also seen a reef safe angel that has a neat blue glow under 20k (watanabe?)

Just a suggestion. I know boys can be pretty persistent.
 
Hey Phong... I put a blue tang in a 75 gallon that was only about 1" long. It was at 7" inside of a year. Pretty fast growing in my opinion. It stayed very healthy, even though a 75 is too small for it. I new it would reach full size in the next year or two so found it a new home in a friends 360g. That was two years ago. He is every bit of 12" now. If your not looking for a long term occupant you should be fine for about a year for a 1"-2"-er IMO. IMO a pair of cleanershrimp are a must when keeping a blue.... along with a neon goby to help keep ich at bay. and ditto on resisting the urge... they will eat all your algae.
 
Yeah they love to look at aquarium books that I have. They like tangs. Blue tang is the only one I can find small size at the store. I can't keep wrasses because I have a wide open top and my tank is pretty shallow (breeder tank).
 
[quote author=bluenassarius link=topic=5968.msg75465#msg75465 date=1232341020]
resist the urge dude.. ;) they're gonna eat all the algae :p
[/quote]
damn I forgot about the algae.. Well this suck..

[quote author=zambavi link=topic=5968.msg75466#msg75466 date=1232341111]
Hey Phong... I put a blue tang in a 75 gallon that was only about 1" long. It was at 7" inside of a year. Pretty fast growing in my opinion. It stayed very healthy, even though a 75 is too small for it. I new it would reach full size in the next year or two so found it a new home in a friends 360g. That was two years ago. He is every bit of 12" now. If your not looking for a long term occupant you should be fine for about a year for a 1"-2"-er IMO. IMO a pair of cleanershrimp are a must when keeping a blue.... along with a neon goby to help keep ich at bay. and ditto on resisting the urge... they will eat all your algae.
[/quote]

:eek: 6" grow in a year?? what did you feed him?? I had one before but it didn't grow that fast...
 
[quote author=zambavi link=topic=5968.msg75466#msg75466 date=1232341111]
Hey Phong... I put a blue tang in a 75 gallon that was only about 1" long. It was at 7" inside of a year. Pretty fast growing in my opinion. It stayed very healthy, even though a 75 is too small for it. I new it would reach full size in the next year or two so found it a new home in a friends 360g. That was two years ago. He is every bit of 12" now. If your not looking for a long term occupant you should be fine for about a year for a 1"-2"-er IMO. IMO a pair of cleanershrimp are a must when keeping a blue.... along with a neon goby to help keep ich at bay. and ditto on resisting the urge... they will eat all your algae.
[/quote]

+1 on all this post
I had a 3" one in a 125, and just about a year later hes easily 5" long and over 1+ side to side, hes a pig eater.
If you want the Macro and plants in there Resist the urge, No tangs or rabbit fish. They always eat the stuff you want to keep first, its murphys law
 
Well I fed them a handfull of live grape calerpa (which they love) almost every day; out of my fuge. Then fed them a Mysis garlic mix every evening and cyclopees every morning and pellets every afternoon. In that entire year the blue never got ich a single time.... I contributed it to the cleaners and the fact that I fed them like crazy. Nitrates where a battle though.
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=5968.msg75467#msg75467 date=1232341351]
Yeah they love to look at aquarium books that I have. They like tangs. Blue tang is the only one I can find small size at the store. I can't keep wrasses because I have a wide open top and my tank is pretty shallow (breeder tank).
[/quote]

You should make one of thoes lids that people make out of the bird screen, and the kit to make custom window screens. I can snap a pic of mine if you havent seen one. There slick, clean, and easily removed. In my experience, ive noticed most bottom dwelling fish Dart up to evade danger, unless there "house" is right near by. So youll have a major carpet surfing safari, unless you lid it up
 
They grow pretty fast - we got ours 4 years ago, and it was 2", and it's now probably 8-9".

I think I saw a small - 1-2" - yellow tang at either Aquatic Gallery or Aquarium Showroom this weekend.
 
Thanks everyone.. I don't think I will put any tangs in there.. I didn't know they can grow that fast.

Wil, Yeah I know about the net. Don't like it though.. Thanks :)
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=5968.msg75479#msg75479 date=1232342495]
Thanks everyone.. I don't think I will put any tangs in there.. I didn't know they can grow that fast.

Will, Yeah I know about the net. Don't like it though.. Thanks :)
[/quote]

Even the one with the clear net the same dimensions as egg crate?
(and its one L, Wil )
 
[quote author=Euphyllia link=topic=5968.msg75460#msg75460 date=1232340024]
They are slow growers I think... They get 12" though, so if it was in the 40gal by it's self that might work... you might end up having to sell it when it gets too big. Try it... I experiment with stuff all the time. If it gets sick, bring him back to the LFS. If he dies, then thats that... I wouldn't listen to me, so listen to Gomer or Roc's opinion. They (almost) always have goo opinions! ;D

(HINT HINT... This is where Gomer or Roc comes in and gives their opinion)
[/quote]I'm not sure if you're serious or not. I sincerely hope you were being tongue in cheek. But in case anyone is taking you seriously I feel compelled to say that it is not cool to "experiment" with marine livestock when so much is known about the needs of the common species. A little research up front (which everyone has the responsibility to do before purchasing anything) will reveal whether the species in question is an appropriate addition to your system. Please don't encourage people to just "try it" as if we were talking about a computer game. These are live animals and deserve some basic respect. I've deliberately not commented on your attitude in this regard before now but I feel that you're not "getting" that this club finds your lack of patience and your lack of respect for the livestock to be offensive. Bottom line: If you don't respect the animals I can't respect you as a fellow reefer. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
 
I was wrong about how fast they grow. I was told they grow slowly (full size in 3-4 years), but I guess the LFS was wrong. That is why I said he might have to give it back to the LFS when it gets that big. I was just throwing that option out there because I thought they grew slowly. Otherwise I wouldn't have recommended to try it. Sorry about the way the attitude is coming across. It might be hard to tell when I'm being sarcastic and when I'm being serious. Also, am I mistaking or is the rule "1 inch for every 2 gallons"? I've been told 5" to a gal, 10" to a gal, 1" to a gal, and 2' to a gal. Which one is correct? That will effect my opinion on stocking my tanks, and helping others decide how to stock theirs. And by... [quote author=Euphyllia link=topic=5968.msg75460#msg75460 date=1232340024] If it gets sick, bring him back to the LFS. If he dies, then thats that
[/quote] I meant if he become unhealthy due to Ich or water quality, then you should bring him back. I was saying that just to clarify if he were to get the tang, to make sure he doesn't get sick and if he does, take him back and know he won't work for the aquarium. Not saying to go ahead and try that, but to listen to the other members opinion, and if they say yes, then I just wanted him to know to not try and care for him in the aquarium once he is sick, just bring him back to the LFS because it would probably stress him. I'll try to explain more in future post (not just this topic, but others too) and will try not to cause any more confusion.

But to be more clear, my opinion is that if Elite decides to get the tang, I would move it/bring it back if it out grows the tank (when 7"-10"). Sorry for the confusion.
 
The 1" per gallon "rule" is just as bogus as watts per gallon. YOu can't judge a fish on number of inches, you ahve to take into account what it normally does in the wild. Clowns hang around in one area, ideal. Tangs swim a great deal and actively, not ideal.
 
[quote author=Euphyllia link=topic=5968.msg75577#msg75577 date=1232387832]
I was wrong about how fast they grow. I was told they grow slowly (full size in 3-4 years), but I guess the LFS was wrong. That is why I said he might have to give it back to the LFS when it gets that big. I was just throwing that option out there because I thought they grew slowly. Otherwise I wouldn't have recommended to try it. Sorry about the way the attitude is coming across. It might be hard to tell when I'm being sarcastic and when I'm being serious. Also, am I mistaking or is the rule "1 inch for every 2 gallons"? I've been told 5" to a gal, 10" to a gal, 1" to a gal, and 2' to a gal. Which one is correct? That will effect my opinion on stocking my tanks, and helping others decide how to stock theirs. And by... [quote author=Euphyllia link=topic=5968.msg75460#msg75460 date=1232340024] If it gets sick, bring him back to the LFS. If he dies, then thats that
[/quote] I meant if he become unhealthy due to Ich or water quality, then you should bring him back. I was saying that just to clarify if he were to get the tang, to make sure he doesn't get sick and if he does, take him back and know he won't work for the aquarium. Not saying to go ahead and try that, but to listen to the other members opinion, and if they say yes, then I just wanted him to know to not try and care for him in the aquarium once he is sick, just bring him back to the LFS because it would probably stress him. I'll try to explain more in future post (not just this topic, but others too) and will try not to cause any more confusion.

But to be more clear, my opinion is that if Elite decides to get the tang, I would move it/bring it back if it out grows the tank (when 7"-10"). Sorry for the confusion.
[/quote]

there is no RULE regarding animals about size of tank Vs size of full grown fish, half of those stock rules are simply common sense (i.e Don't buy a 10" fish for a 12" tank) but when stocking the ONLY way you will have an educated guess about such factors as complatibility with other livestock, needs of that fish including swiming room, area of the tank the fish like to stay, etc).

Also I know their are several LFS workers and owners on this site, some of who are sponsers, I'm sure they wouldn't like having you bring in a fish with Ich to infect the other livestock in their store just because you didn't have enough sense to think about what you were getting beforehand.
 
And pee less :)[quote author=tuberider link=topic=5968.msg75587#msg75587 date=1232389002]
To expand on what Gresham is saying, 10 1" chromis weigh a heck of a lot less than 1 10" grouper.


[/quote]

And they pee and poo less :p They also eat far less.
 
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