A few of my fish

[crimzy]

Originally Posted by 37g Joe
I have gone to several different websites and for the achiles tang it says minium tank size 75 gallons and for the hippo tang 70-75 gallon. So even the experts say this is an alright tank for the fish but for the queen angel I would suggest getting a much larger tank and since the two tangs well much more perfer a larger tank you really should get a biger tank. I would sugest a 150 long at the bare Minimum if you want to keep the angel.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever kept a hippo tang, achilles tang or queen angel? There are too many people on here who try to give advice when they have absolutely no personal knowledge or direct experience with the fish they're talking about.
BTW, those websites are not experts... they are sites trying to sell fish. You don't need education or expertise to sell fish and make those types of recommendations.
Bob... I do think those tanks look beautiful for the timebeing. I don't want to join the debate about your plans for the future so I'll leave that alone. Your fish and tanks in general appear to be very healthy and well maintained. You are keeping some delicate species and they appear to be doing great. Nice job... you must be maintaining excellent water quality.

 

[bob a.]

Originally Posted by crimzy
Bob... I do think those tanks look beautiful for the timebeing. I don't want to join the debate about your plans for the future so I'll leave that alone. Your fish and tanks in general appear to be very healthy and well maintained. You are keeping some delicate species and they appear to be doing great. Nice job... you must be maintaining excellent water quality.
Thank you, and thanks to Leslie too. I find it very interesting that folks can look at some pix and reference their "Responsible reefkeeping" memory and tell me I am doing it all wrong. I would be the first to admit that my wife and I have made mistakes, but we learn and move on. One of the ways I pick up good information is from sites like this and other like reefcentra, wet web, meleves etc. I also have the benefit of the owner of a very good LFS, Leroy in Virginia beach. This is a guy with a degree in marine biology and I trust his judgement explicitly. Believe me, I bounce any potential fish purchases off of him before I make the plunge. My last purchase was the powder blue and I was on the fence about it but he felt it would do well based on the history of the tanks we currently have.
As far as that history goes, we have not had a fish die since Hurricane Isabel, and that was 2 years ago. We lost several fish because we lost power. Somehow my crazy wife managed to go out the next day and score a generator after hitting every lowes in the area. Had she not gotten that generator we would have lost the whole tank. As it was we lost a large yellow tang and a coral beauty as well as a few inverts. Power was out for ten days. At that time we had gotten the hippo a few months earlier and he managed to survive. He eats like a pig but hasnt grown much in the past year. We have also had the achilles tang for about two years and he hasnt grown more than 1/2 inch in the whole two years. I guess at that rate he will reach full size in about 20 years from now. He has always been healthy, we have never had a problem with ich on him.
The Queen angel is about 3 years old. Right now she is about 5 inches long and is the largest fish in the FO tank. We recently upgraded that tank to a 90 from a 58 and added a 30 gal. sump. Size wise I am not sure how much more if any she will grow, but she is a good eater, has never had any disease and gets along with the other tankmates. We picked up a yellow and atlantic tang with this tank but decided to keep the yellow and gave the atlantic to Leroy at Fish Safari to find a good home. The Picasso trigger was a turn in fish that we got from Leroy about 6 months ago and was the only other fish with the Queen. Size wise it has not grown in length at all, but has definately grown wider. It is a pig when it comes to food, but is more worried about its reflection in the glass than its tankmates. The coris wrasse is neat. We have had it for about 2 months now. It eats well and is probably number 3 after the queen and the picasso in the pecking order. It buries itself every night and doesnt come out till mid morning. But like the other fish, it goes ape when it thinks its feeding time, led by the trigger and the queen. The Powder blue, now in quarentine is the last fish going into that tank. The reef tank wont see any new fish unless one leaves, but I dont forsee that happening.
When I try and post responses on this board, I try to be helpful without being overly critical. Sometimes it isnt easy, but being critical just turns people off. Keeping saltwater fish and reefs is not a simple hobby and the learning curve can be very steep, especially considering the cost of the livestock and equipment and much of the available information is as much opinion as it is fact. Both of our tanks are doing pretty well, not perfect, but the fish are healty and I would say they are thriving. You can quote chapter and paragraph from "Responsible Reefkeeping" and tell me I am doing everything wrong, but my results show otherwise. Honestly, who has the room for a 200 gallon tank in the first place? If that were the case, then nobody should own anything but clowns and pygmy angels or any fish that doesnt grow much and can be bred in captivity. But lets face it, thats not why we have these tanks. We want the pretty fish and corals. Are we doing the fish a disservice by keeping them? Maybe, maybe not. How many queen angels would grow to full size on a reef? One in a hundred? All the others would be part of the food chain along the way. At least in a well kept tank they are safe and can live without being barracuda food. Fish in captivity do not grow to full size. Some grow more than others. If one day, mine get too big then I will make sure they go to a better home. I dont think that will be the case though.

 

[wax32]

Great post Bob.

 

[i<3fish]

Bob A. How is your Achilles Tang? I heard that they are near impossible to keep. Also, how is your Queen? Is it active or shy? I am wanting one for my 180g.

 

[aquaria]

i notice you have a coris wrasse
how long does he usally burrow for
mine burrows forever lol

 

[mopar9012]

very nice tanks..

 

[travis89]

Nice tanks but you will need at least 180 gallons to keep any of those fish when they get any bigger. That queen angel should get almost 18 inches in good conditions, and the book I have says it should be in a minimum of 180 gal. not 90.

 

[nanahugs]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful tank pictures. I only have a 40G now but would like to upgrade to a 75 as long as I can have one that size without a sump. I really want to keep a yellow tang.
Once again, your tanks are beautiful...hats off to you. :cheer:

 

[yimmy]

I think its fine for people to make "suggestions" but not insulting them. My personal opinion is when the angel gets to big he will upgrade or make plans like he said. But for now the results show hes doing fine so more power to him. This doesn't mean I would get an angel in my 95 but he knows what hes doing. Another thing is we are all hobbyist. He is consulting a Marine Specialist...no offense to us but that guy probably knows his fishies more than hobbyist.

 

[ledzep fan]

Bob A i love your tanks. Simple amazing!

Great work. I feel the same way you do when people critisize (sp?) other peoples tanks or your own. Like I said Great work.
The Zep

 

[wattsupdoc]

Hats off Bob. Great post. It is impossible to post anything with the word TANG in it sometimes. You will definetly get assaulted. Have to say though that I see LIONS point. They will get bigger. And may need a new home or somethin'. I have an achilles on my fish list and was wondering if you could post some stats on him? what do you feed? How does he act in the "hood". Any difficulties you've had with him? Anything special you do for him? AWESOME FISH BTW.

 

[surfinusa]

thiis is an old thread,but its still a nice but overstocked tank

 

[firefish_48]

Here is a picture of the first fish for my 50 gal. Green clown goby and rainsford goby x2.
Mike.

 

[kalied20]

Good luck to you Bob...I really like your tanks. I personally love tangs..I have two hippos tangs in a 90 with 12 other fish. It is a reef tank. I have had it running for about a year now. I don't have the room for a bigger tank in my home. I do however...have a plan for my fish if they get too big. The St. Jude hospital close to me has a huge tank in the lobby. They video it and put it on the TV's in the children's rooms. I am going to donate my tangs there when they get too big and then buy more.... :cheer: :cheer:

 

[puffer32]

Nothing is going to change your way of thinking, but adding that PB is going to affect your bioload and you will get into some serious trouble down the road, if not from the extreme bioload, then overcrowding, tangs HATE being overcrowded and may become stressed to the point of getting ich. I sure would hate seeing this happen to such beautiful fish.
And there is nothing wrong with constructive criticism, thats how we learn

 

[jhebi]

I just wondering if it's ok for him to keep it until they grow to a certain size that he believes it need to buy a larger tank or exchange to smaller on the same kind at his LFS. I saw some beautifull tanks with more fish than you expected, but what one of them did was that he always exchange his fishes if they outgrow his tank, and his tank is gorgeous. His name is Marti and I think he has a video on reefvideo, and also a sea horse tank with some amazing ricordias, check his tank, he has like 30 fishes I believe on his 150gl tank, not sure...

 

[cjml]

Originally Posted by powers
I think your tanks look great, and as long as your fish are fat and healthy more power to you. Keep up the good work. I admire you for posting your pics.
This is exactly why I will not post mine on here (or even post anything for that matter. I read post after post after post and I bet that at least 60 percent of them have someone who feels that they must critisize something on the post. Do not let those people get you down.
Good luck to you.
Leslie
:happyfish :happyfish

 

[cjml]

Originally Posted by Bob A.
Thank you, and thanks to Leslie too. I find it very interesting that folks can look at some pix and reference their "Responsible reefkeeping" memory and tell me I am doing it all wrong. I would be the first to admit that my wife and I have made mistakes, but we learn and move on. One of the ways I pick up good information is from sites like this and other like reefcentra, wet web, meleves etc. I also have the benefit of the owner of a very good LFS, Leroy in Virginia beach. This is a guy with a degree in marine biology and I trust his judgement explicitly. Believe me, I bounce any potential fish purchases off of him before I make the plunge. My last purchase was the powder blue and I was on the fence about it but he felt it would do well based on the history of the tanks we currently have.
As far as that history goes, we have not had a fish die since Hurricane Isabel, and that was 2 years ago. We lost several fish because we lost power. Somehow my crazy wife managed to go out the next day and score a generator after hitting every lowes in the area. Had she not gotten that generator we would have lost the whole tank. As it was we lost a large yellow tang and a coral beauty as well as a few inverts. Power was out for ten days. At that time we had gotten the hippo a few months earlier and he managed to survive. He eats like a pig but hasnt grown much in the past year. We have also had the achilles tang for about two years and he hasnt grown more than 1/2 inch in the whole two years. I guess at that rate he will reach full size in about 20 years from now. He has always been healthy, we have never had a problem with ich on him.
The Queen angel is about 3 years old. Right now she is about 5 inches long and is the largest fish in the FO tank. We recently upgraded that tank to a 90 from a 58 and added a 30 gal. sump. Size wise I am not sure how much more if any she will grow, but she is a good eater, has never had any disease and gets along with the other tankmates. We picked up a yellow and atlantic tang with this tank but decided to keep the yellow and gave the atlantic to Leroy at Fish Safari to find a good home. The Picasso trigger was a turn in fish that we got from Leroy about 6 months ago and was the only other fish with the Queen. Size wise it has not grown in length at all, but has definately grown wider. It is a pig when it comes to food, but is more worried about its reflection in the glass than its tankmates. The coris wrasse is neat. We have had it for about 2 months now. It eats well and is probably number 3 after the queen and the picasso in the pecking order. It buries itself every night and doesnt come out till mid morning. But like the other fish, it goes ape when it thinks its feeding time, led by the trigger and the queen. The Powder blue, now in quarentine is the last fish going into that tank. The reef tank wont see any new fish unless one leaves, but I dont forsee that happening.
When I try and post responses on this board, I try to be helpful without being overly critical. Sometimes it isnt easy, but being critical just turns people off. Keeping saltwater fish and reefs is not a simple hobby and the learning curve can be very steep, especially considering the cost of the livestock and equipment and much of the available information is as much opinion as it is fact. Both of our tanks are doing pretty well, not perfect, but the fish are healty and I would say they are thriving. You can quote chapter and paragraph from "Responsible Reefkeeping" and tell me I am doing everything wrong, but my results show otherwise. Honestly, who has the room for a 200 gallon tank in the first place? If that were the case, then nobody should own anything but clowns and pygmy angels or any fish that doesnt grow much and can be bred in captivity. But lets face it, thats not why we have these tanks. We want the pretty fish and corals. Are we doing the fish a disservice by keeping them? Maybe, maybe not. How many queen angels would grow to full size on a reef? One in a hundred? All the others would be part of the food chain along the way. At least in a well kept tank they are safe and can live without being barracuda food. Fish in captivity do not grow to full size. Some grow more than others. If one day, mine get too big then I will make sure they go to a better home. I dont think that will be the case though.
:happyfish :happyfish