butterfly or tang?

cody57

Member
planning my next addition to my tank. which fish would be the wiser next addition, a pearl scale or auriga butterfly or naso tang? h2o qual. as of tonight amm=0, nitri=0, nitra=25 ph=8.2:rolleyes:
 

cody57

Member
jwtrojan44, mine also is 5'x2'x1.5'. i was just thinking today, the tang may grow too big, since the ff could get to be 10". i've got time, i'll consider some other fish. it seems all the 'cool' big, but not 18" big, are aggressive or semi-aggress.
 

y2says

Member
I wouldn't go with butterflies since they are a bit delicate. The naso should be ok if you get a smaller one. We have on that's about 7" in a 100g at my work for that last 3 years. You can go with a sailfin tang which are hardy or a blue tang. Either way, wait another month or two.
 

cody57

Member
thanks for the info y2says, i saw some hippo tangs at a lfs that were only an inch long, if that big. is that size a bit tricky to get started and keep healthy. on the naso, your saying they grow pretty slow? also whats the smallest, yet safe size to start with?
 

ocellaris_keeper

Active Member
When I bought my hippo it was about an inch - got ick right away and spent six months treating it. He's a happy healthy addition to the tank and about 5" and getting bigger.
If your tank is truly 120 Gal and quite established there are a number of butterfly spieces that will do fine.
Klien's, Racoons are good spieces
Pyramid and heniochus bannerfish are good schooling butterfly that do real well in a 100+gal tank.
 

y2says

Member
I found that buying too small of a fish is pretty tough. It also depends on what other livestock you have competing with it. I bought a blut tang about a 7 months ago that was about 2" and it was healthy and never showed any signs of ick until I moved and my tank crashed (which killed almost all of my fish). These are timid fish too, so you want one that is bigger than the fishes in your tank.
The naso at my work is a little bigger than before of course. I can't really tell, but it's definetely not like a volitan lion (doubles in size in about 5 months). My sailfin hasn't grown much in 2 years and that thing eats everything.
 

cody57

Member
ocellaris_keeper, raccoons look like a great fish, but i thought they were more difficult to raise than the pearlscale and auriga.
:rolleyes: also, my lfs dude said hippos are ick magnets. is this true? thats kinda why i was shying away from them
 

cody57

Member
jwtrojan44
the niger trigger looks pretty cool, do you know much about them...personality, easy to keep, etc.?
 
I

ivanfj

Guest
Triggerfish are pretty hardy most of the time and of course there are exceptions. The niger is a bit more shy than the huma or the burga. It may need a longer time to adjust in your tank.
 

cody57

Member
reid101, i think i am, the niger trigger looks great, but looking at different sites, mags,etc. they seem to get too aggressive. if i get a smaller naso, he should be good for awhile. besides, i'll teach him to smoke like the fish on diver dan(you have to be old to get that one) and it'll stunt his growth.:D
 

ozadars

Member
Hi,
I would choose butterfly because tangs are so common but few people have butterflies, i would buy a frozen food eating copperband if u can find, but if u really want a tang i would recommend purple tang, u ll buy and s/he ll live too long w/ u sooo buy the best or what u want
Good Luck
Selim
 
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