Additions to 210

There is some discussion of adding a few new fish to the HSC 210. Right now we have the 2 clowns, 5 Chromis, 1 Bicolor Blenny, 2 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 Dorie (the blue fish in Finding Nemo) 1 yellow tang, and 1 sailfin tang. The two tangs do a little fin flapping at each other but seem to get along well.

We have a gentleman interested in donating the money to purchase the new fish, he has some ideas of fish he would like to see if they are appropriate to the tank. One of them is the Powder Blue Tang. From what I am reading this just doesn't seem like a good fish to get with the other 2 tangs, but, of everyone on here I probably know the least. All I do is read, not "do." Have people had much experience with this mix of Tangs?

I had a huge powder blue in with my yellow and they got along great till the powder decided it did not want to live anymore:(
I think it would be a good fish to get.

dont know much about that but ive always had good luck with putting fish together that normaly would not be good. In my exp. i always made sure that the one in the tank is larger so there is no domonence issues.

In my experience to many tangs is a no no. I personally believe it is all about keeping them fat.

I wouldn't keep 4 tangs in a 210, that sailfin gets pretty big and yellows tend to be mean, also tangs tend not to like fish that look like them, a blue hippo and powder blue is a huge risk. Powder blues are a touchy tang as well.

I don't think the PB would be a good addition. When I was looking at getting the second tang didn't seem like people thought more then 2 tangs in a 125. Shawn at pets r inn just lost his big achilles, I want to say he had 3 tangs in a 180. The tang he lost was the size of my hand and would have been the biggest tang in his tank. I do love the PB

What about a dragonet ? or Anthias, and wrasse. Lots of colors from them to pick from.

nano wrote:dont know much about that but ive always had good luck with putting fish together that normaly would not be good. In my exp. i always made sure that the one in the tank is larger so there is no domonence issues.

Ive never had tangs so after reading things and what everyone here who have had them i would go with somthing else cause even if they get along it could stress them out and stress is bad for fish.

Mn. reef crzy wrote:In my experience to many tangs is a no no. I personally believe it is all about keeping them fat.

We are trying to fatten them up. They are getting a sheet of algae every day and that has helped them considerably. Everyone is eating it, even the Chromis. The Yellow Tang still doesn't usually have the full belly I see in photos of YT in good shape, but much improved.

Thank you everyone for your input, maybe we can decide together what works best for additions based on availability- not sure what Phil has to choose from. With a cover we can have wrasses and that is in the plan.

What fish is this? Way cool, but I suppose it won't work?

it looks like a yellow tale tamarin wrasse and is not suggested with a reef and are at expert level of care

Darn.. so neat looking.

To me it looks like a yellowtail wrasse that I think has been photo edited or it's main diet is crustaceans.
And i would agree with the advice on not getting another Tang. one has to take in to concideration your Tang will someday get into adult hood and you can't control hormones.

nano wrote:it looks like a yellow tale tamarin wrasse and is not suggested with a reef and are at expert level of care

LOL you beat me to the post..LOL

icereefer wrote:

nano wrote:it looks like a yellow tale tamarin wrasse and is not suggested with a reef and are at expert level of care

LOL you beat me to the post..LOL

a blues spot jawfish is kinda cool looking little smaller but good with reefs and good disposition and if u end up not liking it ill buy it from ya lol

maybe a good addition to a tank of that nature would be a spotted garden eel it is reef capatible and also good disposition and a intermediat care level It would bring a different specie to the tank and show people varity

How about a Moray? Remember the italian song? "When your swimmin in the creek and an eel bites your cheek that amoray..." Best Dean Martin imitation, :~) Are the Lion's too difficult?

get wrasses, they actually serve a purpose other than polluting the water and are IMO the prettiest fish money can buy, especially fairy wrasses. Anthias, dragonets, pipe fish, butterflies and others that require special feeding requirements for optimal health might not be the best choice, the frozen foods for them can get expensive.

Try a midas blennie maybe, saw one of those at seafishinmn meetting and it was a huge hit.

Jawfish have a lot of personality too. That would be my vote.

Were there any other fish the gentlemen was interested in?

So many cool wrasses too but aren't they jumpers? The back of the tank is kind of open and could allow fishy suicide. I'd have to look at it again..can't remember how much space between the water and opening but HD would know since he built the hood.

Dragonets are beautiful but I always feel bad for them in captivity. It seems not worth the risk to me.

Put a small screen net cover on the tank or block the back of the canopy with the netting. This will greatly reduce the fish losses from jumping out.

Regarding frozen food, have you thought about making your own with supplies from the local asian markets? The initial price is fairly high but you get enough food out of it that it is much cheaper than buying frozen stuff. Also you can add the vitamins/garlic to the mix so it is basically prepared sizing and dosing for the tank. Freeze it in flats or cube trays and you are good to go.

yeah i checked the links on tcmas and the screen tops look really nice and are effective. I think great idea for any tank with fish in it.

You could add some peg board to the back also.

Cammie and I made food from some deli items: fresh shrimp, scallop, added some algae and garlic. She ran it through the blender and we froze it in thin sheets. The Yellow Tang never really has cared much for it. Phil adds Selcon to it before he feeds them.

Phil is talking about building a screen cover using a screen door kit from HD.

Do we dare add a second Bicolor Blenny? Marvin is pretty large, so anything we got would be smaller. Can we add a Midas too? Or instead of another Bicolor?

I see the tang police are out and about.

I'm sure a midas blennie will be fine in there with marvin. It's a big tank and Midas blennie's stay in the water column more than the bicolor does so they'll be occupying different areas. I'm with Andre, the one at Seafishn's had all of our attention at her meeting. And, really, are there any fish cuter than a blennie?

Also, I bet if you show him some pics of wrasse's, he'll like the idea. They're so pretty.