My experience with advice from other hobbyists.

[Haleyf1024]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share my experience so far versus what I have been told. I already know I will get a lot of hate from this, but oh well. First off, clown tangs. I saw one in the LFS. It was sweeter and more personable than the koles, yellows, and most of the clownfish that they had. I had done research on them and saw that people think/have experience with them being the spawn of satan and that they need huge tanks. I saw quite a few websites that said only 75-100 gallon tanks, I have a 110. The worker mentioned that each fish is different and that this one had been in the 20/30 gallon sale tank for almost a month with zero aggression towards his shrimp and other fish tank mates. I bought him. Later that day I was buying cleaner shrimp from another hobbyist who also happened to have a purple tang for sale. I had seen the same response to these fish online- they can become spawns of satan. I bought him to. The tangs met through the bag, and were eyeballing each other. When I released the purple (clown tang was already in tank) they introduced themselves and have been inseparable ever since.
I was also warned that marine bettas are extremely difficult to get to eat and that small fish/shrimp will become dinner. I bought a 4-5" MB and he eats anything I give him, from frozen brine, frozen mysis, frozen shrimp and krill, to freeze dried krill. He also hasn't touched my sexy shrimp, hermits, or cleaner shrimp. He isn't shy and actually is almost always within sight.
And finally, the valentini puffer and the blue-green chromis. I have 3 chromis, none fight, kill each other, etc that I was warned about on RC. Many people also had bad experiences with the valentini eating CUC and picking at small organisms in Their reefs. Mine has been a model citizen and hasn't even looked at my snails and hermits (some of which are less than 1/4 and inch long.) Honestly, my female clownfish is 100 times more aggressive than the tangs and chromis and my mandarin (who is fat, eating well!!) eyeballs the crabs more than the puffer.
Have I just gotten lucky every single time, or has anyone else had similar experiences? My fish are bot aggressive toward one another at all and are all fat and happy. (Should any mysteriously become aggressive, too big, or distressed in the tank, they will be rehomed to my friends 300 gallon or to the LFS).

 

[username in use]

Judging by your post history, you have only had this tank up for a couple of weeks. You have also most likely purchased juvenile tangs (unless you have a 10" clown tang in your tank, not likely)

That being said, do you really think that two weeks with juvenile fish in a new tank is a proper amount of time to completely dismiss the years and years of experience gathered together by thousands of aquarists?

This is what is going to go down. You are going to be sitting on your high horse, thinking you have outsmarted the decades of research on the subject, much of which has been done by not only highly accomplished professional marine biologist but also incredibly talented and thoughtful hobbyist who have spent many many many years devoting countless hours to this subject. Then, maybe in a couple months, maybe in a year, maybe two, your now maturing fish are going to get very angry and aggressive due to their cramped living conditions and are going to start a war. It will end in the death/disfigurement of one or many fish in your tank and you will be left wondering what happened to your pretty little happy fish who loved each other so much.

 

[Haleyf1024]

I had been watching the clown tang in the LFS for 2 weeks and was told his history before purchasing him. The Purple had been with the other hobbyist for month, and again I was told his history, and saw him interact with multiple other tangs and various fish. The purple is about 5" and the clown tang 5-6". Again, I am judging by what I and previous owners know about these specific fish. Also, again, should their personalities do a complete 180 they have homes waiting for them. I (personally) would have to say yes, I think I can judge them as of right now. Of course, I respect your opinion on how long to wait to judge a fish and their personalities

 

[slief]

You have much to learn and this lesson will be money down the drain or the toilet when your fish start dying. Pretty much all the fish you mentioned above should not be put into a brand new system. You are asking for trouble. Frankly, your LFS should have advised you of it or you should do more research. To each their own. I've seen this same scenario way to many times and it generally doesn't end well for the livestock. I've said this before and I will say it again here. Those that are successful in this hobby are the ones who are the most patient. You need to learn patience and a purple tang and a clown tang are a pretty bad mix in such a small tank. 4 or 5' of grazing space for those fish is way too small. I don't care what size tank your LFS had them in. If your fish make it through the cycles and transitions your tank will go through in the coming months, you will then find out about their temperament but at this early stage in your systems maturity or lack of, you made a horrible choice IMO and your LFS didn't do you or your fish any favors. They were clearly only interested in your pocket book.

 

[CHSUB]

i agree with you on clown tangs not being more aggressive than other tangs, however, they get huge and will look terrible in a 110 gallon tank soon!!!!

 

[Haleyf1024]

I probably should have mentioned I did read a few people's stories on their fish (the clown and purples) and that also vouched for them, that theirs had also been very tame and never touched another fish. And that the tangs and betta are the only newcomers in the tank

 

[username in use]

I had been watching the clown tang in the LFS for 2 weeks and was told his history before purchasing him. The Purple had been with the other hobbyist for month, and again I was told his history, and saw him interact with multiple other tangs and various fish. The purple is about 5" and the clown tang 5-6". Again, I am judging by what I and previous owners know about these specific fish. Also, again, should their personalities do a complete 180 they have homes waiting for them. I (personally) would have to say yes, I think I can judge them as of right now. Of course, I respect your opinion on how long to wait to judge a fish and their personalities

Well the clown tang can grow to be over a foot, and the purple to around 10". You have juvenile fish who are new to each other. The "history" that the lfs gave you is worthless. They bought it and only know what has happened in their tank for the previous few weeks/month. And the purple was only with the other hobbyist for a month, as a juvenile (this can not be stressed enough).

You are actively putting information out into the world, telling people to dismiss all of the collective research and knowledge on a subject because you have spent a couple weeks with these two fish and they seem ok. :headwalls:

 

[slief]

One last comment... I've been in this hobby over 27 years and I've had my current 480g display for 20 years now.. I wouldn't even put a Clown Tang in my own tank because of their temperament towards other tangs. Heck, I won't even keep purple tangs in my tank for other reasons. Like I said, you have much to learn and it seems you like learning the hard way which is a shame for your fish.

If YOU were smart, you would return those fish and allow your tank plenty of time to go through it's stages before you go nuts with sensitive and or aggressive fish. At least then these fish would stand a reasonable chance of living. Then again, based on your LFS, I suspect he would just peddle them to the next unsuspecting customer.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Fish that have been fine for over a year can turn on a dime with personality.

 

[toothybugs]

Going in to anything with the attitude of "I think I'm right and 2 people said so too so screw you guys and all your wisdom" is probably going to get you no more than an empty wallet, a broken heart, and a sad headshake from everyone who tried to talk you out of a bad idea.

Don't ask for pity later.

PS - read my signature line.

 

[username in use]

To recap:

110g tank -

Pair of Clowns
Valentini Puffer
Marine Betta
Purple Tang
Clown Tang
3 Chromis
Mandarin


Anything else in there?

 

[saltyair]

unfortunately you seem to know it all and don't listen or do your research. I feel for the fish you have put into your tank. Clown tangs are open water swimmers and get very large, once they mature they become extremely territorial. Why not learn from others that have been doing this hobby longer.
if your looking for long term success in this hobby use this forum as a learning tool. Seems a little arrogant to make a statement like that when all the reports and experiences show different results.

 

[snorvich]

Experience? What experience? How many years have you been doing this?

 

[MondoBongo]

One last comment... I've been in this hobby over 27 years and I've had my current 480g display for 20 years now.. I wouldn't even put a Clown Tang in my own tank because of their temperament towards other tangs. Heck, I won't even keep purple tangs in my tank for other reasons. Like I said, you have much to learn and it seems you like learning the hard way which is a shame for your fish.

If YOU were smart, you would return those fish and allow your tank plenty of time to go through it's stages before you go nuts with sensitive and or aggressive fish. At least then these fish would stand a reasonable chance of living. Then again, based on your LFS, I suspect he would just peddle them to the next unsuspecting customer.

dude, he obviously knows what's up. he's been watching these fish for two weeks. TWO WEEKS man! that's like... 14 days or something. what more do you want? :lolspin:

to the OP. please do come back regularly and update us. i'm posting here to mark this thread, so it keeps coming up in my feed. i can't wait to see how this one turns out.

the advice you receive here, in most cases, is backed by substantial observational, anecdotal, and in many cases excellent scientific evidence. but obviously you know better. this is not an atypical post from someone who has not been in the hobby very long, happens all the time, but i'm going to warn you, it will come to bite you.

i've ignored plenty of advice myself, and it seems OK for a while, but trust me, it catches up with you.

 

[Fade2White12]

I'd also expect that 99% of the people on RC know more about being successful in SW aquaria than the couple college freshman that work at your LFS. I find it puzzling that you'd trust the advice of an obviously failing (or soon to be) LFS over the people here who have absolutely no stake in your reefing success or demise and only the well-being of your inhabitants.

I highly sense this is simply a trolling attempt because I have a hard time believing anyone could be so arrogant and misguided.

 

[Rybren]

He set up his 110G seven days ago. That's a whole lot of experience.

 

[ca1ore]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share my experience so far versus what I have been told. I already know I will get a lot of hate from this, but oh well. First off, clown tangs. I saw one in the LFS. It was sweeter and more personable than the koles, yellows, and most of the clownfish that they had. I had done research on them and saw that people think/have experience with them being the spawn of satan and that they need huge tanks. I saw quite a few websites that said only 75-100 gallon tanks, I have a 110. The worker mentioned that each fish is different and that this one had been in the 20/30 gallon sale tank for almost a month with zero aggression towards his shrimp and other fish tank mates. I bought him. Later that day I was buying cleaner shrimp from another hobbyist who also happened to have a purple tang for sale. I had seen the same response to these fish online- they can become spawns of satan. I bought him to. The tangs met through the bag, and were eyeballing each other. When I released the purple (clown tang was already in tank) they introduced themselves and have been inseparable ever since.
I was also warned that marine bettas are extremely difficult to get to eat and that small fish/shrimp will become dinner. I bought a 4-5" MB and he eats anything I give him, from frozen brine, frozen mysis, frozen shrimp and krill, to freeze dried krill. He also hasn't touched my sexy shrimp, hermits, or cleaner shrimp. He isn't shy and actually is almost always within sight.
And finally, the valentini puffer and the blue-green chromis. I have 3 chromis, none fight, kill each other, etc that I was warned about on RC. Many people also had bad experiences with the valentini eating CUC and picking at small organisms in Their reefs. Mine has been a model citizen and hasn't even looked at my snails and hermits (some of which are less than 1/4 and inch long.) Honestly, my female clownfish is 100 times more aggressive than the tangs and chromis and my mandarin (who is fat, eating well!!) eyeballs the crabs more than the puffer.
Have I just gotten lucky every single time, or has anyone else had similar experiences? My fish are bot aggressive toward one another at all and are all fat and happy. (Should any mysteriously become aggressive, too big, or distressed in the tank, they will be rehomed to my friends 300 gallon or to the LFS).

Congratulations, you have figured it out. All the advice offered here on RC is a massive conspiracy to keep all the good stuff to ourselves and deprive the novice reefer of that same enjoyment. Despite all the chest-puffing, clown tangs can easily be kept in a fish bowl (the ability to actually turn around, greatly over-rated), large groups of chromis are always stable and completely disease-free, and the marine betta - well you nailed it, child's play!

Or maybe you just got lucky - or haven't waited long enough for the proverbial you know what to hit the fan. One of the things you will come to learn, with a bit of experience, is that a lot of folks working the LFS are clueless. They can be good at telling you what it is they think you want to hear, however.

Part of the learning curve, actually, is figuring out which voices are worth hearing .... and which not. You will figure out quite quickly here on RC who those voices are. Wish I had had that same resource when I was getting into this hobby 30 years ago.

 

[hkgar]

All these posts and no one has even called out our budding reefing expert for not QTing those brand new fish, and they are tangs and, I seem to remember reading about them being Ick magnets.

Oh, never mind advice gained from years of experience means nothing to a gung ho newbie.

Ya think, just maybe Ick has been introduced?

 

[tkeracer619]

Uh oh.

Heres a sohal (same temperment as clown) in a 1000g. Your fish are friends for now because neither of them had territory to defend. Now that they are establishing themselves and if they survive you can expect this treatment for future new additions.

Sohal Tang - Territorial: http://youtu.be/97v0wuZv1Vc

Wonderful fish if housed properly. I'd like the same combo myself. Don't have the room however.

 

[snorvich]

All these posts and no one has even called out our budding reefing expert for not QTing those brand new fish, and they are tangs and, I seem to remember reading about them being Ick magnets.

Oh, never mind advice gained from years of experience means nothing to a gung ho newbie.

Ya think, just maybe Ick has been introduced?

Or, that the LFS runs a non-therapeutic dose of copper?