Finding Nemo Tank

[randall]

I have a clown fish and just bought a purple tang last week. It's a 55 gallon tank. The purple tang is about half an inch long, fairly small.
Is it too early to add another fish this weekend?
What fish would someone recommend? I was looking at a trigger today, but it was suggested it may be too aggressive for the clown.
Thoughts on what fish would be good in this tank would be great.
:help:

 

[evanish]

Slow down! You need to do some research. No trigger for a 55 gallon tank. Theres not even a trigger in the movie. If you wanted to add other fish, you should have added the tang last. You need to think and ask questions before you go out and buy fish. No need to rush and add fish in w/e order you want.

 

[andretti]

No trigger, no way! Those things get huge and are very agressive. They are swimming Hitlers! They also get over a foot long.

A good would be a purple firefish, a coral beauty, bi color angel, flame angel, psudochromis, six line wrasse, ???????????All of these are good choices for next additions. Watch it with the purple firefish, they are jumpers and will do a carpet diving stunt (fish suicide) if your tank is not covered. Personally, I use the lighting diffusers they sell at home improvement centers. They work great because they allow the tank to breathe, evaporate, etc while covering most of it.

 

[dvst8r]

IMO the purple tang maybe okay in a 55 for a little while but will eventually outgrow a 55 gallon tank. better watch out i think i heard the sirens of the TANG POLICE

 

[ruaround]

Could you post some info on your tank?
how old, live rock lbs., substrate, filtration, water flow, nitrates, nitrites, amonia, pH levels
What kind of Clown Fish do you have?
The Tangs will out grow a 55, and it depends on what kind of Trigger you are looking at.

 

[randall]

Runaround wrote:
Could you post some info on your tank?
how old--approximately two years
live rock lbs.--5 good size rocks. Approximately 20 lbs
nitrites--0
Ammonia--0
salinity-- 1.021
Alkaline-- 1.7
PH--8
Nitrate-- ran out of chemicals. Couldn't do test. But all my other readings are consistent with the last one I did. The last time I tested nitrate it tested at 0
I also have a magnum canister filter.
The fish police will kill me but I went ahead yesterday an added a percula clown fish, so now I have two. I also bought a cleaner shrimp. My fourth fish is a small purple tang which I bought last week. My first percula clown I bought probably six months ago.
Am I crazy? I'm having company Christmas weekend, so I wanted to add some new fish to my tank. I really don't have any expensive fish in my tank. I got the purple tang on sale for $13 so I didn't think I was taking that big of a chance.
Right now the purple tang is barely half an inch, but since previous posters have said it'll outgrow the tank--should I look for smaller fish from here on out to go with my existing four fish?
:happyfish

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Randall
Am I crazy? I'm having company Christmas weekend, so I wanted to add some new fish to my tank. I really don't have any expensive fish in my tank. I got the purple tang on sale for $13 so I didn't think I was taking that big of a chance.
Just to clarify: is your tank just for "showing off" to your company or are you serious about keeping a healthy aquarium system?
A Purple Tang will die in your tank. Period.
It's your tank, and no one can stop you from filling it with whatever you want. I just want to understand what your thread is saying... are you basing your aquarium purchases by the cost of the fish?

 

[jacknjill]

because you bought the purple tang so small, it most likely will die.

 

[hagfish]

I would add more LR before adding more fish.
The size of the tank won't have much affect on that small of a tang for a while. But tiny tangs are usually pretty difficult to keep so it may not make it anyway. Make sure you give it plenty of greens to eat (Nori, spirulina, maybe some broccoli).
I see that you have 2 clowns and a tang, but you said you have 4 fish. So what's the 4th fish?
Has the tank actually been up and running for 2 years?
FWIW, I don't think you've done anything that is going to cause major crisis contrary to the mood of the thread. Just be sure to keep it slow and be patient. The $13 you spent on the fish isn't much, it's the fishes life others are probably worried about. Aside from that, if the fish dies, it may cause an ammonia spike and cause other things to die. It doesn't take much.
Got any pictures of your tank?

 

[randall]

Thanks to everyone for the advice--even to those who have beat me up a bit. My fourth fish is a cleaner shrimp. And yes, I've had the tank for two years. I had a yellow tang that died just recently with two percula clowns. I started with the clowns and then added the tang early in the tank's life. One of the perculas died six months ago. The yellow tang died about 3 weeks ago. I think I discovered the floater fairly quickly and got it out right away. My latest water test show no spike in ammonia or anything else.
I guess I'll have to go in a different direction besides tang when my purple dies since my tank appears to be too small. I'll also buy more live rock.
After I do that, what do you all suggest I go out and get?

 

[1journeyman]

Well, sorry for your feeling beat up.. not intended. Your post definitely made it sound like you cared more for "show" and "cost" than for the welfare of your fish.
There are an amazing array of small fish for a reef safe tank. Yo might try Michael's "A pocket guide to marine fish" for a good breakdown. Personally, I've got a large aquarium, but I'm stocking it with an assortment of small fish. My favorite so far is a "Red Spotted Hawkfish". You can see them on this site (the picture on the site, however, is a bad one).
There are an assortment of Blennies, Gobies, Wrasses, etc. that you can look into.