Tank size/Fish compatibility

[asylumdown]

If you saw my copperband, you'd know that wasn't a risk for him. The one I lost in a ich treatment/QT accident was the same. My experience has been that they're hard to get to eat, but once you've got them trained on frozen foods (which definitely requires some TLC, preferabbly in a separate, low competition qt system) they're as robust as any other fish.

I do agree they'll do better in a mature system (everything does), but once you get them eating you can easily provide their entire caloric requirements with frozen foods.

Mine eats two different kinds of enriched brine, two different brands of mysis, pacifica plankton, and most of a frozen clam or mussel every other day or so. He's as thick as a tang.

I will definitely agree that getting them to that point can be a challenge though.

[Marlin65]

I would say you are good to go on both. I have close to the same size tank and mine are fine. plenty of room for them to swim around.

[George]

Hate to be a devil advocate, but what is the minimum tank size length wise for a powder blue tang? is it 3'x3' , 2'x2' or 1'x1' if someone have nothing in the tank but water and the fish? Couldn't the fish swim around in a circle in a 1'x1' tank and not hitting the wall.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by George

Hate to be a devil advocate, but what is the minimum tank size length wise for a powder blue tang? is it 3'x3' , 2'x2' or 1'x1' if someone have nothing in the tank but water and the fish? Couldn't the fish swim around in a circle in a 1'x1' tank and not hitting the wall.

at what point does 1ft , 2ft or 10ft make a difference to a fish that swims a sq kilometer a day?

[George]

Originally Posted by George

Hate to be a devil advocate, but what is the minimum tank size length wise for a powder blue tang? is it 3'x3' , 2'x2' or 1'x1' if someone have nothing in the tank but water and the fish? Couldn't the fish swim around in a circle in a 1'x1' tank and not hitting the wall.

Originally Posted by reefwars

at what point does 1ft , 2ft or 10ft make a difference to a fish that swims a sq kilometer a day?

interesting...I agree that 1ft sq, 2ft sq or 10 ft sq doesn't make a difference to a fish that swims kilometer sq. But somehow my gut feeling tells me putting a powder blue in a 1'x1' tank is not a good idea.

[fishoholic]

Personally I think the powder blue is a very bad idea. They can be hard to keep (finicky eaters, ich magnets, and a lot of them when they first come in to a lfs have internal parasites) also they are aggressive fish once fully established. If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Personally I think the powder blue is a very bad idea. They can be hard to keep (finicky eaters, ich magnets, and a lot of them when they first come in to a lfs have internal parasites) also they are aggressive fish once fully established. If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

Well put and I agree the powder blue tang is not a good choice. see http://wetwebmedia.com/powdbluetg.htm

They too ofter get sick for no apparent reason die and take many of their tank mates with them.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Personally If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

That's interesting cause my friend Paul with a 700g 10ft said the same thing that if you saw his tangs swim back and forth you'd see how 6ft isn't enough.

I agree about the aggression not so much about the room, fish are going to use up the space they have be it 3ft or 10ft when you compare it to where they come from I guess none of its really fair is it?

I don't buy the bit that this fish just dies for no reason that could be said for 50 different species when the diagnosis is done by hobbyist with no medical back ground no?

[reeferfulton]

[quote=fishoholic;825741 If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.[/QUOTE]

I hate these threads and I love them.

Proof that every fish is different. And every tank is different. At the end of the day every single fish tank is too small for any fish.

But if the tang police feel better cause there tank is 2 feet longer then I'm happy for you.
But I have never seen a 6 foot tank with only one tang. There is always a whole bunch In there competing. .

Just be responsible. If you truly feel the fish are suffering then do the right thing by them and pass them along.

To the op. 2 large fish seem reasonable for that size tank. But my experience is limited. And I know nothing about the characteristics of those two fish..

O the tang rants I love them

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

If you saw my copperband, you'd know that wasn't a risk for him. The one I lost in a ich treatment/QT accident was the same. My experience has been that they're hard to get to eat, but once you've got them trained on frozen foods (which definitely requires some TLC, preferabbly in a separate, low competition qt system) they're as robust as any other fish.

I do agree they'll do better in a mature system (everything does), but once you get them eating you can easily provide their entire caloric requirements with frozen foods.

Mine eats two different kinds of enriched brine, two different brands of mysis, pacifica plankton, and most of a frozen clam or mussel every other day or so. He's as thick as a tang.

I will definitely agree that getting them to that point can be a challenge though.

In my reading, it has been pointed out that cpb's don;t eat mysis in the wild.
They are omnivorous but their diet consists mostly of micro flora (and some fauna) so even when they are eating frozen, they're basically living on mcdonalds.

Thats why so many reputed to be eating frozen foods still die from malnutrition.