Input would be greatly appreciated.

kaytiiie

kaytiiie

Member
I have a 29 gallon fish-only SW tank that has been set up for almost three months now. So far I have 2 blue damsels and a small porcupine puffer. I want to get a tang, and I was considering buying a snowflake eel. Would these all work together? My Porcupine Puffer is about 3 inches long, and my damsels..well I honestly don't treasure them. They're just good little pops of color left over from my cycling stages. I realize that by getting a snowflake eel they might be eaten. I also think I'm okay with that loss. What I'm really focused on is my Porcupine Puffer, Lucifer. The only reason why I decided to jump into this hobby was so I could own a porcupine. We got to keep a tank at school and we had two of them, I fell in love. I've done a lot of research and there aren't many things that are compatible with him. Tangs are the only ones I'm interested in out of them all. I don't want any sort of fancy expensive tang, nothing that gets too big. There's one at the LFS that I like. He's very very small and kind of a light grey color with blue-ish looking freckles on his nose. He swims around and nibbles at seaweed all day. I want to get him, and I was hoping that he would be a good addition. I also know that almost any fish I'm going to buy is going to out-grow my small tank, so I've already started saving to buy a 55 gallon or maybe even larger.
Sorry for the novel..Thanks.
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Yeah, even if you get a tang that is really small now, it will still be stressed in that size tank. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
 
drewsta

drewsta

Active Member
I have a SFE in my 37G tank and he couldn't be happier just make sure you have plenty of live rock for him to hide in. They aren't very outgoing fish but they look awesome. Also make sure the top of your tank is covered completely so they can't jump out because they will. Here is my SFE (Fluffy)
 
mag395

mag395

Member
It sounds to me like you're leaning towards an agressive setup. Tangs generally require more swimming room (>=55 gallons) than most fish even at a young age but they are compatible with most eels.
You might be able to get a small grouper because they don't have much range. But keep in mind they grow pretty quickly and pretty large. You can get panther grouper's when they're like 4 inches but they can grow to about 20" which would probably destroy a 29 gallon. Also, they'll eat anything they can swallow. Marine betta's are nice fish too.
As for the eels, they'll probably survive in a 29 gallon but won't like it. Look into the ghost eel, it requires less room. They will also swallow anything they can fit in their mouths.
You probably don't want to hear this but porcupine puffers require more swimming room than tangs do. I suggest saving up quickly and buying equipment that can support a 55 so you don't have to buy more when you upgrade.
 
kaytiiie

kaytiiie

Member
Thank you everyone. I think I'll buy a small snowflake eel, I can always upgrade my tank and find that cute tang later. : )
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I agree that groupers, tangs, puffers, etc should not be in a tank that small, really, period. Sometimes I'm up for a bit of "give" but that is a small tank for such fish. Maybe not the snowflake - but remember they escape very easily.
But I would consider upgrading at least to the 125g range to keep the puffer long term. Really, I would not bother with anything in between if you are also interested in tangs. Keep looking in the classifieds or in a local reef club.
Unfortunately, there just are limitations in this hobby with tank size. Some fish, regardless of their size, just can not be kept in a 29g.
As your tank is still quite young, I wouold also be careful that you don't stock to rapidly. That tank in "tank years" is barely cycled, and shouldn't have a lot of fish in it, IMO
 
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