Tang Id

[crimzy]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
You sound like a responsible and conscientious fish keeper.
I don't agree with this. Bishop, you should know if you have experience in this hobby that a naso is one of the most popular and well-known fish in the aquarium trade. Furthermore, I often come to the defense when people are ripped for having yellows or kole tangs in a 55, but a naso in there is not even questionable. I don't think this will end well for your naso so it doesn't matter if the fish was cheap or free. Suggesting that the naso will end up in your friend's 125 also has some flaws... 1) 125 is too small, 2) by the time you decide that the naso has outgrown your tank, it may be too late, 3) your friend's 125 may not be suitable for a naso for other reasons too, and 4) this plan may fall through and then the fish dies while you hustle to find it a home. Not trying to flame just giving my opinion.

 

[grapefruit]

i would have to agree to disagree, he sounds like a responsible fish keeper and he is looking forward to the future, you cant knock him just bc he did not know it was a naso tang. just my 2 cents.

 

[lion_crazz]

They are all valid points crimzy, I was just giving bishop the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. I kinda agree with you, as I said in post #13:
"I am not sure how well it will do in the 55 to begin with, but I will give the author credit in that at least he knows something about the fish he purchased and has plans to do something about it."

 

[ophiura]

All I can say is:
Your LFS honestly didn't know what this fish was?
Are you serious??????????
I mean, it is not an uncommon fish in the slightest. That just worries me. Its one thing when a hobbyist doesn't know (but I never encourage an impulse purchase)...but I certainly would NOT take any advice from them on what fish to buy, etc. Yikes.

 

[whitey]

I like how this thread and so many others become arguments about wether or not the author knows what he's doing. Some of you have way too much time on your hands.
I think this guy is irresponsible for buying a Naso Tang, but he is responsible because he knows it gets big, but he's irresponsible for wanting to upgrade it to only a 125, but responsible for getting it out of a 55, but irresponsible because, no, wait, that's all.

 

[bishop237]

You people crack me up. I picked up the fish from *****, for $17, and when it gets about 6"-7" in a couple months, I plan on selling it. If someone wants to make me a good offer for the fish now, I would take it so I can get the fish that I really want.
I posted on here asking for an ID, not to get flamed. I know what I'm doing, have had salt water fish for over 3 years now, and freshwater for about 20, including Arowana and Oscars.
The fish has PLENTY of room in the 55 gallon tank right now because he's only about 3".
And in all the years I've had fish, and went to different LFS, and talked to the "kids" that work there, I've maybe come in contact with 2 people that actually know what they were talking about. Go to ***** and talk to anyone there about their saltwater fish, and see how much they know. They can't tell which fish you can safely put together, how big their fish get, or even in this case, what kind of fish they are. But I wouldn't expect the 16 yo who works there after school to know anyway.
So to the guy who is so shocked about the store not knowing what kind of fish it is, you must not know anything if you believe that these stores know what's up.

 

[thirty6]

i enjoy threads involving tangs, someone always gets flamed
For some reason i cant figure out why that happens. Anybody?

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by bishop237
So to the guy who is so shocked about the store not knowing what kind of fish it is, you must not know anything if you believe that these stores know what's up.

Um, girl, thank you
And as a former LFS employee (sorry, "kid"), I expect that people who sell fish know what's up...and if I went anywhere and they could not tell me what the fish was, nor did I know what it was, I would probably step back and reconsider. I would not shop at a store where I would describe the staff as you did. I don't understand that. Maybe if you knew "hey, that's a steal and they don't know it" but if you didn't know yourself? OK, but don't think it is the best plan. JMO and I'm an LFS elitist

As for the implied "must not know anything" because of my faith in some LFS employees, well, I've done this for rather more than 3 years, so I know at least as much as you and deserve some respect, OK? As does any person on this board who has 3 hours experience. I did not see a single post in the intial exchange that was a flame...disagreements, yes...but not flaming....crimzy posted the only possible "flame" and seemed to be very clear that it was just an opinion (thank you crimzy

)
I thought you were deserving of some praise for coming and asking...that was very respectable...but it is one thing to ask and another to claim you've basically got it all sorted out. Even if you do know what you are doing, you can still productively disagree or say nothing.
But yes, I was pretty shocked that the store didn't know the fish, and I certainly would not take their advice! :scared:
Anyway, this post is really strange.

In fact, it was actually a pretty tame exchange until the last few posts. Really, for a tang thread this is nothing!!

I in general can't STAND the "tang police" lines, and don't see a major issue with a 55g for a few months for this size fish and you have thought about a different tank for it. I don't think that tank is large enough, and agree with crimzy on other points. But I don't think it helps people much to pronounce that they are totally wrong.
If you are fine with the decisions you made and "know what you are doing" then there is no reason you can't stand taking in the opinions of the other side, right? Both sides could learn a bit from each other, if it is productive.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by ophiura
I in general can't STAND the "tang police" lines, and don't see a major issue with a 55g for a few months for this size fish..... .
Great.. once again I find myself in the unenviable position of disagreeing with Ophiura... that means 99% of the time I am wrong.
Having stated that, for the record, I think even small tangs need large tanks. If fish develop like terrestrial animals then exercise and muscle development is crucial in the young. My SMALL Purple Tang swims the length of my 84 inch tank. Constantly. Sometimes he will dart to one end of the tank, grab something off of the rock, then dart all the way back to the other end of the tank. That makes me think that they need room from the moment they are captured.

 

[ophiura]

I would for the most part agree with this...but I, for example, would rather see one of these tiny tangs they sell these days in a smaller tank by itself where it can acclimate, eat, not be bullied and then move on to a larger system. Now in this case, I know this is not the intent, and so I generally disagree with it...but in principle I don't have a major issue for a few months. Now if it was in a 29g, you betcha

But there is no wrong in disagreeing

But when I say the tang police, it is basically the people who say "no way no how" and provide virtually nothing in the way of explanation for why they think that way. The standard "NO" line doesn't help promote the cause...it does sound like preaching and condemning and I don't care for it personally...this is not to say everyone in the tang police are like this. But I totally agree that long term there should be recognitions of minimum tank sizes, etc.

 

[1journeyman]

You're awesome Ophiura.
I have limited exp. with Tangs... just what I have read and observed with my own. I figured he would one day be the dominant fish in my tank, but had no idea he would boss everyone around even at such a small size! If my Chromis school is squabbling he'll dart through them; when I introduced my last two full grown Blue Chromis he "displayed" around them for a couple of hours.
He's awesome. Looking forward to watching him grow into full adulthood.

 

[bishop237]

I have one Tomato Clown in my tank with him, and the clown is only about 1".
All of you guys have some valid points, but a lot of it comes across as very hypocritical. If Jouneyman really wants his fish to develop fully like they should, then you shouldn't put them in a tank, or even have tanks. Pulling salt water fish out of the vast ocean to view in your gallon size tank, whatever size it may be, is EXTEREMLY different then the ocean... as to why so many fish die for so many different reasons.
I just hope that we all appreciate the fish, the life, and the challenge that goes along with owning your own tank, and "managing" your fish. But don't forget that we pull them out of the ocean for our own enjoyment, learning, and viewing. Every day you leanr something new, and even the experts that run aquiriums like "sea world" still mess up and lose fish.
I would never do anything that would harm or be cruel to my fish, I am always learning something new, and I always read and educate myself on all aspects.
Not like I have anything to prove to you guys... just backing myself up.
Bishop out.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by bishop237
All of you guys have some valid points, but a lot of it comes across as very hypocritical. If Jouneyman really wants his fish to develop fully like they should, then you shouldn't put them in a tank, or even have tanks. Pulling salt water fish out of the vast ocean to view in your gallon size tank, whatever size it may be, is EXTEREMLY different then the ocean...
Bishop out.
Yes and no... this argument has been used to death on this forum.
Clearly our tanks are different from the oceans. Still, however, studying fish in the wild gives you a good idea of their potential ability to develop in a home aquarium.
I've been SCUBA diving in the Caribbean and Pacific. In both instances I've had dive guides show me small fish that have lived for several years within the same small patch of reef. Last summer I myself, 3 days apart, saw a Hawfish in almost the same spot (Red Spotted Hawkfish off of Cozumel). Some fish live out their entire lives around the same coral cluster. These fish make excellent pets.
There is certainly an ethical question that must be answered to keeping aquariums. That said, however, nothing excuses bad husbandry. My Tang, swimming back and forth across the length of my entire tank, should develop quite nicely (According to the experts, of which I am not one...). The same Tang, in smaller quarters, would die. A shark, horseshoe crab, Green Moray, etc. would obviously suffer and die prematurely.

 

[lion_crazz]

Both bishop and journeyman have good points but I am going to have to side with journeyman on this one. We all pick fish that are suited to our aquariums. That is why you will see so many of us strongly discourage the keeping of parrotfish or moorish idols. We all know that both of those fish do terrible in the aquarium and should be left to huge public aquariums or the ocean because we do not have the tank sizes needed for them. However, that is also the reason most of us have clownfish, because they are very easy to care for and do not require much room.
Bishop, I am not attacking in you the least, as I have already said I think you are being responsible by having at least some sort of game plan for the future. You came on here, asked questions, and made a plan out. That is already more than a lot of people do. Even though naso tangs really should not be kept in 55's, yours will have a bigger tank, at least a 125, waiting for him when he gets older. I don't see any problem in having him in the 55 for a few months like Ophiura said. It's not as if you came on here and said that you thought that a 55 was all the fish needed. That would have been a different story. Anything I have said was not meant to be an attack, I was just contributing in the discussion on this forum.

 

[mrdc]

I came close to getting one and I have a 120 but went with the regal instead. I just didn't want a fish that can get that big because I do have a lot of rocks which limits the swimming space. My neighbor had a naso in his 46 for two years then gave him to a friend who has a 300. I guess you can always get the fish with a smaller tank so you can enjoy him for awhile. Just need to have plans for him later which seems like you do.