care level?
- Thread starter fish mann
- Start date
elfdoctors
Active Member
The care level generally reflects the level of difficulty in keeping that fish. Some fish have special feeding requirements. Sometimes, e.g. mandarins, it just means having a large tank with lots of live rock as these will rarely take dead food. Often it relates to their tolerance to poor water conditions (e.g. don't use such fish in a young or overstocked aquarium).
Unfortunately, the fish descriptions on this site don't really describe the requirements. What fish are you thinking about? You are more likely to find this out by researching the particular fish species.
Unfortunately, the fish descriptions on this site don't really describe the requirements. What fish are you thinking about? You are more likely to find this out by researching the particular fish species.
fish mann
Member
well, elf doctors, im thinking of adding a spotted sweet lips to my tank, but im getting conflicting oppinions on how tough they aer to keep, my lfs is telling me that they are a hardy fish but this site is saying they are difficult to keep, and i just added a heni. butterfly to my tank maybe last week from my lfs, andi noticed tht he's got some spots, i think it's ich.. i dont no what to do.. iknow i cant add the sweet lips until my tank is alright again, imthinking of taking the butterfly back to the store wher i got it from.. what is your oppinion?
elfdoctors
Active Member
The sweetlips is a cool looking fish! I have no experience with them myself. However, I read that the hardest thing about them is they require live food during acclimation. If you buy it from a LFS make sure it is eating frozen or flake food vigorously before you buy it. Many of these slowly starve to death.
It also gets huge, often around 2 1/2 feet! The Minimum sized aquarium that is recommended for it is a 150 gallon. It also requires lots of hiding spaces. It will also eat many of your invertebrates. If your profile is correct, with only a 44 gallon tank, this fish is probably not a good fit for you.
How long has your tank been set up?
Do you quarantine?
Hopefully the spots on your heniochus are not ich. Otherwise make sure you treat it completely with hyposalinity or copper before you get any expert level fish. Taking the butterfly back to the store will not fix your problem as you have to assume that the other fish are also infected now (although some of them may not not even show symptoms for 23-28 days).
It also gets huge, often around 2 1/2 feet! The Minimum sized aquarium that is recommended for it is a 150 gallon. It also requires lots of hiding spaces. It will also eat many of your invertebrates. If your profile is correct, with only a 44 gallon tank, this fish is probably not a good fit for you.
How long has your tank been set up?
Do you quarantine?
Hopefully the spots on your heniochus are not ich. Otherwise make sure you treat it completely with hyposalinity or copper before you get any expert level fish. Taking the butterfly back to the store will not fix your problem as you have to assume that the other fish are also infected now (although some of them may not not even show symptoms for 23-28 days).
fish mann
Member
thanks again elfdoctor, it is a pretty sweet looking fish isnt it? im planning on up gradign to a 125 gal tank in the near future, but, it's wierd because i am getting so many mixed opinions on that fish. i may hold off until i get a bigger tank or i may get a real small one and by the time it starts to grow, i will have the larger tank.. i don tno what to do about the spots on the butterfly because iyhave coral adn lr in the tank so copper is out of the question, i have been adding garlic to their diet on their food and what not.. any more suggestions about what else there is to do?
i have a 10 gal. tank that i can se as a hospital tank, but it isnt large enough to fit the other two fish in that tank also.. i am lost heh. help me again i fyou have anymore input.. my tank has been set up for close to two years so it's pretty well cycled and there are no nytrates or amonia and that ph is perfect also, so i dont know what sparked the ich in the tank, it may of been becaue i bought the fish from the lfs on the day that it arrived there so i wont be doing that any more haha, hopefully i can get some more advice on what to do to clear up the tank.. thanks again
i have a 10 gal. tank that i can se as a hospital tank, but it isnt large enough to fit the other two fish in that tank also.. i am lost heh. help me again i fyou have anymore input.. my tank has been set up for close to two years so it's pretty well cycled and there are no nytrates or amonia and that ph is perfect also, so i dont know what sparked the ich in the tank, it may of been becaue i bought the fish from the lfs on the day that it arrived there so i wont be doing that any more haha, hopefully i can get some more advice on what to do to clear up the tank.. thanks again