Originally Posted by
elton092982
http:///forum/post/2536106
Nothing against anyone on these boards cus i'm sure you no more about this hobby then me. But I always say you won't know until you try it. I hear all the time on these forums how you can't keep this guy with this and this guy with that. To me thats not the case. I have 2 setups right now one of them my brothers while hes serving our country.
But anyway in his tank he has a 5-6 inch misbard maroon and a small 1-2 inch gold stripe maroon. I have a 40 gal with a golden head sleeper goby which most say should be in a 55 or larger. It's housed with a 3-4 inch percula a 1 inch Royal Gramma a 4-5 inch Jovanese damsel which most would say should of killed off something already and a sixline wrassee along with a gigantic green brittle aka death star , who has been the model citizen. The point im making is don't always read into what others have experienced until you've tried it for yourself.
BTW all these fish except for the sixline and gramma which joined 2 months ago have been in the tank for 8 months.
This is only true to a certain degree. You need to do your own research, yes, and not just believe what one person is saying. However, read some books, ask around, get some opinions, and then make a decision. That is why people share their experiences; so that you do not make the same dumb decisions that they did and waste the same money and time and effort and kill the same animal that they did.
I don't believe in the whole, "You don't know until you have tried it." Yes you do. There are PLENTY of things that you know before you try them. You know that a Moorish Idol is not going to live well in your aquarium. You know this because not even dedicated public aquariums can keep them longer than a year or two. You know that you should not buy a panther grouper for your 55 because the fish gets 3 feet. You do not have to "see" about this one. You know that a stonefish could kill you if it hits you with its venom. You don't have to try this one either. You know that a sea apple has the potential to wipe everything out in your tank if you are not careful.
The only thing that your argument really works with are the toss-up issues, like a angel or butterfly in a reef, a trigger in a reef, mixing clowns, animals that sometimes can be aggressive, etc. These are all things that several people *have* had luck with before, so it is not impossible.
On the other hand, show me someone with a maturing hippo tang in his 55 that has lived for over a year. Show me a tank of 15 triggers in a 180 that are not ripping apart. These things are just not going to happen. People have tried them and have failed. However, people always get upset when others harp on the tang in a 6 foot tank but that is because there are dozens and dozens of people with beautiful 125's that have maturing tangs perfectly healthy.
I also fully agree that whatever you decide to do with your tank, so be it. If you decide to go against the advice everyone is offering, that is your choice and you are perfectly free to make that choice. However, don't be upset when either the decision turns out to be a bad one or fewer people are willing to offer advice next time. If you make a decision, take responsibility for it and accept whatever consequences occur.
