Originally Posted by SarahJane
So do I need to get rid of my tangs all together? The store where I got them said that two should be fine together in my 55 gal. Guess I need to do more research and not just listen to what the store says. Thanks for your help so far.
This is my take on your question.
There is not enough real estate in a 55 gallon aquarium for 2 tangs, period, end of story. You really need at minimum a 75 gallon tank for a tang. Period. End of story.
My LFS owner is a small business owner and guess what. He's a great guy who knows fish and knows corals. He has also taught me a lot. But he is in a BUSINESS and businesses need money to stay open.
I listen to my LFS owner, but I also research everything out I possibly can when it comes to picking out fish because I'm the one signing the credit card or writing the check, not him. After all, he is TAKING the money I earned and I need to know I am making a wise financial purchase too.
When I first got my snowflake eel, I wanted to buy shrimp for my tank. My LFS owner told me not to because snowflake eels will consider the shrimp his next meal. So, I went home and researched the eel and found out he is was right. They are
prone to making shimp a meal, so I didn't buy the shrimp the next time I went in and he asked me about it.
Then I bought a second tank... and started stocking it with other things I liked including shrimp. He got his shrimp sale out of me eventually, but not on that very day. He knows a lot but doesn't know everything and I can't cry to him about my own mistakes because I should research things on my own and get another opinion. Believe me, you'll get lots of opinions and others even told me that my snowflake eel might not eat a shimp. But considering I was told there could be a problem and my research on other sites mentioned it as well I decided I better not.
By no means am I one of the tang police. I'm just telling you the saltwater facts here. Personally, if you want to keep the tangs, start shopping for a bigger tank and start setting it up. The tangs will get stressed out, more than likely will wind up with ich or some kind of problem and they will die.
If you don't want to tank shop or do another tank, maybe your LFS will give you store credit and allow you to return them. There are many, many kinds of fish that can be kept in a 55 gallon aquarium. Just make sure you have adequate real estate for everyone to be happy and you have fish that can get a long with each other and you'll be okay.
We all have to learn and make our fair share of mistakes a long the way before we can consider ourselves more than a beginner at this hobby.
Denise M.
