so, i have a 65 gallon reef tank. has been going for about 4-5 months. I have sleeper goby, algea blenny, kole tang and yellow tang. question... would i be pushing it if i got a hippo tang. im also looking at true percula clowns and blue mandarins. does any one see any problem with this group.
I know that mandarins need calm surroundings and clowns are territoral. is that a problem.
multiple tangs?
8 posts
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
You are already pushing the limit with the 2 tangs as it is. The hippo tang gets very very large and really needs a 150g or bigger tank.
Mandarins don't need calm surroundings, they need thousands and thousands of copepods to feed off of. 99% of the time, they will show no interest in the food we put in our tanks. Copepods are tiny crustaceans that come in on LR and they reproduce in the LR and sandbed. You would need a refugium with LR rubble or macro as a safe haven for the pods to reproduce away from predation of the mandarin and it would need to be at least 9months olds to be able to support just one mandarin.
A very large majority of Mandarins slowly starve to death over a period of a few months in systems that are either too young or lack a refugium.
With the fish you have and the ones you want, you would really need a 180g tank and a refugium for the Mandarin.
Mandarins don't need calm surroundings, they need thousands and thousands of copepods to feed off of. 99% of the time, they will show no interest in the food we put in our tanks. Copepods are tiny crustaceans that come in on LR and they reproduce in the LR and sandbed. You would need a refugium with LR rubble or macro as a safe haven for the pods to reproduce away from predation of the mandarin and it would need to be at least 9months olds to be able to support just one mandarin.
A very large majority of Mandarins slowly starve to death over a period of a few months in systems that are either too young or lack a refugium.
With the fish you have and the ones you want, you would really need a 180g tank and a refugium for the Mandarin.
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
So, are you still going to get a Mandarin and a Hippo?
The Hippo can live just fine with the other Tangs until they get bigger and start fighting over the tiny amount of territory. At least they have the benefit of being able to eat.
The Mandarin, on the other hand, will most likely starve.
The Hippo can live just fine with the other Tangs until they get bigger and start fighting over the tiny amount of territory. At least they have the benefit of being able to eat.
The Mandarin, on the other hand, will most likely starve.
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newbie916 - Posts: 375
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:12 pm
I have a large yellow tang, large sailfin tang, large hippo tang in my 100 gallon. Along with a maroon clown and his rose budded bubble tip anenome, 2 damsels, cleaner wrasse, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, and a bunch a cleaning crew. I bought the tank with most of the animals and the tangs get along well with eachother. My hippo is over 6 inches and is definitely the boss though. They've been living together for over a year and a half.
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
Wait till your Hippo is full grown at 12inches long and the Sailfin is full grown at about 15-16inches long. You will probably start seeing quite a bit of aggression.
I could probably keep an 18" Blonde Naso in my 75 alive but it wouldn't be fair to such a large fish.
My LFS just started stocking their new 450gallon L shape tank that is 8 feet long. He placed a full grown Naso that is around 17" long not counting the tail fin streamers and the fish hardly swims at all due to the tank being so small in relation to the fishes size. He is seriously re-thinking that fish choice.
The size your tangs are now, I'm sure everything is fine but they have a lot more growing to do. Good luck.
I could probably keep an 18" Blonde Naso in my 75 alive but it wouldn't be fair to such a large fish.
My LFS just started stocking their new 450gallon L shape tank that is 8 feet long. He placed a full grown Naso that is around 17" long not counting the tail fin streamers and the fish hardly swims at all due to the tank being so small in relation to the fishes size. He is seriously re-thinking that fish choice.
The size your tangs are now, I'm sure everything is fine but they have a lot more growing to do. Good luck.
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snowboss - Posts: 458
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:53 pm
Samik,
I have 3 true percula clowns .....all under 2 inches right now and the two large ones stick to gether and the 3rd is odd man out most of the time....sometimes they all hang and sometime they fight ..................you have to remember that a clown is simply a Damsel in nicer clothes, so their actions and temperment are usually gonna be the same
on a side note if you really want to see something funny get a clown and an anemone hermit cab and watch the crab try to get away from the clown trying to host the nem on his shell ...............LMAO
I agaree with Schig 100% on the manderins ....they should be made illegal or at least permited or something as so many people don't know the level of care it takes to keep those beautiful fish and LFS's have figured out the "wow that pretty lets buy it" attitude of people ...so they push them out the door
sorry didn't mean to go into a rant but I somehow have become a friggin tree hugger when it comes to Manderins.............lol
Boss
I have 3 true percula clowns .....all under 2 inches right now and the two large ones stick to gether and the 3rd is odd man out most of the time....sometimes they all hang and sometime they fight ..................you have to remember that a clown is simply a Damsel in nicer clothes, so their actions and temperment are usually gonna be the same
on a side note if you really want to see something funny get a clown and an anemone hermit cab and watch the crab try to get away from the clown trying to host the nem on his shell ...............LMAO
I agaree with Schig 100% on the manderins ....they should be made illegal or at least permited or something as so many people don't know the level of care it takes to keep those beautiful fish and LFS's have figured out the "wow that pretty lets buy it" attitude of people ...so they push them out the door
sorry didn't mean to go into a rant but I somehow have become a friggin tree hugger when it comes to Manderins.............lol
Boss
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newbie916 - Posts: 375
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:12 pm
Schigara,
Thanks for the input and I didn't realize how big those guys are going to get. All of my tangs came with my set up, when I bought the set up a week ago. I may have to re-think the tank size in a few years and upgrade to a 300 gallon. I agree with snowboss on the clowns cuz I tried to introduce my Maroon to the Perc last week. I know, everyone told me that the Maroon is too aggressive, but it was the Perc that punked the Maroon. I took the Perc out and put him in my 12 gallon cuz I know how big the Maroon will get and felt he would be better off in the 100. Thanks for all of the help these last few days.
newbie916
Thanks for the input and I didn't realize how big those guys are going to get. All of my tangs came with my set up, when I bought the set up a week ago. I may have to re-think the tank size in a few years and upgrade to a 300 gallon. I agree with snowboss on the clowns cuz I tried to introduce my Maroon to the Perc last week. I know, everyone told me that the Maroon is too aggressive, but it was the Perc that punked the Maroon. I took the Perc out and put him in my 12 gallon cuz I know how big the Maroon will get and felt he would be better off in the 100. Thanks for all of the help these last few days.
newbie916