Gregmoeck. You are certainly not helping the situation by bringing up all these other threads or being sarcastic in these highly controversial threads.
I don't understand.. What is trolling or troll-feeding?
sorry RVANANO, i will remain quiet.
Trolling is the term for deliberate posting of messages in the intent to incite a negative response from other members.
I think everyone feels your input is welcome, as is everyone elses, so long as it is kept friendly.
very few harlequin tusk get over 6 to 7 inches in captivity... and blue jaw triggers usually stay below 6 to 7 inches as well... they do not grow nearly as fast as blue tangs, and again, the requirements are different...
and as far as "what if", all i can say is this pertains to everyone here if you look at it that way, but i have the resources to easily replace the 125 should anything happen to it...
most of us as serious hobbyist have backup plans in the event anything should go wrong... however, to the people who keep these blue tangs (not yellow, or sailfin, or any other tang or fish) i am simply inquiring why you do so... again, i was not goin to and am not goin to bash anyone, but some of you certainly get defensive about it all rather than explaining your own back up plan...
at least i have a plan, and curently have the tools to carry it through whenever i may wish to do so...
i am here to create awareness on one particualr species that i feel is the most overlooked and neglected as far as the proper care goes...
When I had first started stocking my 55g, I was interested in tangs. Read around a bit on LiveAquaria, and saw my tank was too small. Went to the LFS, and they said they said the smallest tank they'd recommend for a Yellow or Blue tang is 55g, so they convinced me to buy them. Needless to say, they died within 3 days (don't think they were healthy fish to start, but I'm not convinced the tank size didn't contribute either) and once I researched more online, I decided not to replace them.
Perhaps a more useful piece of information for judging what tank is OK for a tang is not by volume, but by dimensions. Why would a 100g hexagonal tank be "OK" when there is no more than 3 feet of distance in any direction, while a 4' long 55g tank not?
I understand the requirements are amount of swimming space. Since this is the case, why are minimum requirements given in gallons? Same lines: why do most people say "yeah, your 100g is OK" when in fact, the fish may have less linear swimming space than in a 55 gallon.
GregsReef brings up an excellent point that I was waiting for a poster to mention. If something happens to you or your family, god forbid, then your forced to sell the 125G or the 400G you got saved in your basement. Now, your critters are forced to live in the same tank for a few more weeks, months, years.
As for your question towards the people who keep hippos under 75G, its simple "they like the fish and can't afford/maintain a 6' tank". I'm curious to what other response were you waiting for? "i like to see a hippo tang die slowly in my 58G?"
Aside from the hippo tang being too large for a 58G, hippo tangs love to swim as a previous poster mentioned. Most people are highlighting the fact that since their hippo tang is a small size, its okay for their x ft tank. Swimming behavior is very crucial. if your hippo tang sits in the same spot all day, then your hippo tang needs to get checked.
You mention resources. The question is what happens if you need those resources for a life-threatening event. Everyone can say they have a 6ft tank waiting for their hippo tang in their savings account or currently in their basement. With that said, everyone is going to tell you they have future plans/resources for their future sized hippo already setup. In addition, i find nothing wrong with continuing to purchase the same species at a small size and replace them when the size becomes detrimental. If you really want to fix this tang situation since the start, then the rule of thumb would be to only house fish that are capable of your current sized tank.
i find this thread completely useless as I don't see what other response the OP is waiting for besides the one already mentioned in his first post.
GregsReef brings up an excellent point that I was waiting for a poster to mention. If something happens to you or your family, god forbid, then your forced to sell the 125G or the 400G you got saved in your basement. Now, your critters are forced to live in the same tank for a few more weeks, months, years.
As for your question towards the people who keep hippos under 75G, its simple "they like the fish and can't afford/maintain a 6' tank". I'm curious to what other response were you waiting for? "i like to see a hippo tang die slowly in my 58G?"
Aside from the hippo tang being too large for a 58G, hippo tangs love to swim as a previous poster mentioned. Most people are highlighting the fact that since their hippo tang is a small size, its okay for their x ft tank. Swimming behavior is very crucial. if your hippo tang sits in the same spot all day, then your hippo tang needs to get checked.
You mention resources. The question is what happens if you need those resources for a life-threatening event. Everyone can say they have a 6ft tank waiting for their hippo tang in their savings account or currently in their basement. With that said, everyone is going to tell you they have future plans/resources for their future sized hippo already setup. In addition, i find nothing wrong with continuing to purchase the same species at a small size and replace them when the size becomes detrimental. If you really want to fix this tang situation since the start, then the rule of thumb would be to only house fish that are capable of your current sized tank.
i find this thread completely useless as I don't see what other response the OP is waiting for besides the one already mentioned in his first post.
Be it stated, the Original Poster has tried to have a sane discussion and to bring out the reasons why it is not a good idea to put this species in a small tank, even when 'baby.'
If we are to continue this discussion---1---if you are keeping this species in a tank that may not be adequate and want to know the arguments against it, a) first read the sane parts of the thread, and b) ask a civilized question to get more information. 2---if you want to criticize the practice, try to provide rational answers to questioners, who may just have heard that this is not a good idea. Assume the best of the other guy. But if you scent 'troll', report the post.
at this point, being 3 days in, i dont think your tank size would have had anything to do with it... serioulsy doubt it in fact...
as far as min. size requirements in gallons, i think it is a reference to the length of the standard tank of that size...
but as you mentioned the linear swimming room, this is where the aquarist needs to do his own research and make sure he/she has the appropriate length tank... i mentioned previously, that the tank legth, and filtration, and amount of oxygen in the water along with proper feeding to support the tang's, in this case the blue or regal tang's metabolism...
I had a blue in a 55g and then moved to an 80g. The fish lived for 9 years, and would have lived longer if not for the Ick invasion of 2010.
Note sure if the 55g would be considered too small, but the guy was only the size of a dime when I got him.
Hahaha this thread is cracking me up... Listen first and foremost this is a HOBBY! People are going to do as they see fit for them selves... I understand that this is supposed to be an awareness thread but I am sure that 95% of the reefers that have regal/hippo tangs know that their tank is too small... I have a regal in my 55 and I know that I will eventually have to move the big girl to either my LFS or a bigger tank. However, we shld not really tell people they are doing wrong when I think most people over stock their tanks in thought that they will upgrade. Maybe instead of pointing out why we do things.. just ask yourself why u bought that one fish that shouldnt really be in the tank.. CUZ WE JUST HAD TO HAVE IT!!!! LOL I wish we all owned oceans then it wld be perfect but I am sure that someone wld say that the other persons ocean is not good enough for that fish/coral. We created an artificial world to put these beautiful creatures in, so lets just try to take care of them and love them to our best ability. haha I sound like a tree hugger. Heck I am just hoping my oversized anemone doesnt eat my tang let alone if it has enough room to move around haha. But I am going to upgrade soon! haha (really I am by jan.)