20-30 damsels or cromis in a 120 reef?

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

how about a school of yellow tang maybe 6 or so

[DJ88]

eli,

I wouldn't even recommend one tang in a 120 gallon tank. Let alone six of the same type. :confused:

I am getting the feeling this is a bit of a troll, if this is the case be warned this thread will be closed in short order. Concidering the level of knowledge you have exhibited in the past I suspect this is the case.

[Troy F]

I think a tang/surgeon fish would be fine in a 120 depending on type but I think you'd need a much larger tank to attempt a group. I've seen the results of a group of yellow tangs kept in a medium sized tank at an office I service. It isn't pretty, the maintenance guy regularily replaces tangs (hell they're only around $20). One of the ladies their asked me one day, after I'd expressed an interest in the tank, if it was normal for the tangs fins to fall off? I of course said no and she replied that quite frequently they'd find one laying on the bottom without most of its fins.

As far as a huge school of fish like you were asking about originally, I'd say you should bring your numbers down to around 8 like Duss mentioned. The green chromis Chromis virdis stay smaller than the other green chromis C. atripectoralis.

I did a bit of research and asked around a little about some other fish such as damsels that can be kept in groups. Despite what Scott Michael's Marine Fishes says about the Pomacentrus spp. of damsels I've heard that they pretty much act like any other damsels. One account said they single one fish out of the group and pick on it until there are no fins left and then they move on to the next, leaving the other to heal.

A nice shoal of fish for your size of tank would be a small group of the Paracheilinus spp. genus (ie. flasher wrasses). I'm thinking of a group myself. One male and five or six females would be stunning if you ask me.

[Delphinus]

Eli

6 yellow tangs in a 120? Um ... don't do it.

My understanding is that yellow tangs are a schooling fish, but in very large territories (ie. kilometres).

When confined to a small box they get aggressive towards one another. At the stores, I've never seen tangs that didn't look to be in terrible shape when held together in the same holding tank (even when the holding tank is large, like ~100gallons). They just beat each other up too much.

[DJ88]

Eli,

Are you loking to replace all of these fish?

i have a 2inch regal blue tang in my reef that has ick(saw it today),cant catch it (i never fed my fish)
i have 3 other regals, 2 leneatus tang, 1 jawfish, 1 yellow,1 chevron tang,1 unicorn tang.
they are all doing fine.
anything i can do to treat it in my reef so it doesnt affect the others.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is that why you are asking about a huge number of clowns or damsels?? Are all of these Tangs alive still? Or are they dead?

it's no wonder your fish had ich. you don't feed them(tangs feed constantly) and a 120 gallon tank will not provide enough food for 9 Tangs. Not even close.

I hope these fish are alive and not in your tank anymore.

unbelievable.. :mad:

I now know this wasn't a troll. you really would fill a tank like this.

[ 27 June 2002, 10:04: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[Aquattro]

So Darren, are you saying a school of Powder Blues in my 20g would be bad? I think they'd be real purdy all stacked up in there :(

[Rainman58]

I`ve had 6 Chromis in my 180 for about a year and a half now and have never had a problem with them picking on each other and they are doing fine.

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

for about 4 years i had a haeaiian tang yes i never fed it at all never had any sikness,same with chevron and a blue.
yes i did get very angry when they died in a temp spike couple month ago.but the others where in another reef of mine that i sold.
the rest of the fih that you hear me talk about where in my friends tank that he sold.
and now i have an empty tank i mean no fish at all which i am still deciding on wat to get for 125glns reef.
in a fish only tank i have a pair of tomato clown.another tank 6 tank raised ocelarus.
i am posting these questions to see everyones respond and wat people had done in the past.
originally to place my clowns together in that 125glns.
i have seen a 180 glns reef setup for about 5yrs that was full of corals.and about 20 fish in there including 4 black ribbon eels,pair yellowhead goby,6 large green chromis pair of tomato clowns and more,..

[Delphinus]

Eli

Two things...

One, not feeding fish is a bit of an outmoded notion. Basically, the forefront of thought these days is, "if it has a mouth, FEED it!" Heck, this goes for corals and anemones too, that we used to think were photosynthetic only. The animal will live a much healthier, happier existance. I recommend you start feeding your fish. Start off with things like mysis, and nori, and other seaweeds for the herbivores. Trust me, tangs need to EAT. They have a insatiable apetite. If they're not eating, they're hungry, and if they're hungry, they're stressed. Unfortunately, it's pretty simple math. You and me, stress is, "my boss is a jerk" or "customers are so stupid" or whatever. Stress for an animal is "I am going to DIE!! I do not want to DIE! Please!!!" That's why stress leads to depressed immune responses. Imagine feeling that way. You can't have a full, happy life going every day like this. Keep their stomachs full, and I guarantee your fish's health will improve.

Two, stocking levels. Basically, our tanks are little itty-bitty boxes that fit neatly into our houses. There's just no way we can fit everything we like into them. At some point, we need to start making choices, because we can't just do it all. If we try to do too much in one system, the end result is something will suffer. We all need elbow room. Imagine living your whole life in an office cubicle. This is where you eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, have sex, etc. Except for the sex part, it pretty much sounds like jail. But even prisoners get to go outside once in a while. Sounds pretty bad. But remember, it gets worse. Because not only are our fish confined to this space, they have to share it with others. Standing room only. At best, it will lead to stress (and remember, it's the "I am going to DIE!!! DIE!!!!! DIE!!!!" kind of stress). At worst, someone is going to crack from that stress and go postal, and beat the crap or even kill another.

So, I know it's tough, but you have to pick. What is it that you want to accomplish. What is the focal point of the reef tank, and build the system around that. Trying to replicate the natural environment as best as possible.

Remember, in the ocean, there's plenty for things to eat. At best, our tanks are only a small footprint of ocean. They can't compete with Mother Nature. We have to do our part as well. Which comes in the form of feeding, good water management, water changes, good water current, choosing suitable tankmates, keeping stocking levels to a minimum, and so on.