Please rate my Bioload/tank room

[JANOtheMANO]

my tank is a 125g 60" 24" 20"

with 29g sump

my current inhabitants are

3" blue throat trigger
2" harlequin tusk
3.5" Blue tang
pair of b/w clowns
yellow watchman goby/pistol shirmp

Do i have more room to add livestock???

 

[bsagecko]

What are you thinking about adding?

 

[JANOtheMANO]

i was thinking about finishing off with a mystery wrasee or something along those lines

 

[bsagecko]

Do you plan to upgrade or are you going to stay at this size for awhile?

 

[Stuart60611]

You have room for the mystery wrasse, however, the blue tang is going outgrow your tank very fast. He will be too large for your system in 1 year and probably less. They grow fast.

 

[bsagecko]

Hence why I asked about the upgrade.....

 

[Stuart60611]

Hence why I asked about the upgrade.....

Ya, but the problem with anticipated upgrades is that they often do not happen. Life just sometimes does not cooperate with upgrade plans. It is often difficult to re-home a blue tang because once they get larger it is hard to find someone with a larger system, and most LFS do not want a large blue tang because they are much harder to sell. The below thread is a good one discussing the appropriate home for a blue tang.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1928636

 

[JANOtheMANO]

Actually i just upgraded to this tank from a 72g bowfront, so no more upgrade plans anytime soon. Ive seen how large blue tangs can get but i really dont see this fish going from 3.5 to 10 or 15 inchs in only a year

 

[Stuart60611]

Actually i just upgraded to this tank from a 72g bowfront, so no more upgrade plans anytime soon. Ive seen how large blue tangs can get but i really dont see this fish going from 3.5 to 10 or 15 inchs in only a year

You can bet on that kind of growth. Tangs regularlly grow at that pace if well fed. He will be at least 10 inches or so in 1 year if well fed. For example, my 3/4 of inch foxface grew to almost 7 inches in less than 1 year. Herbivores/omnivores, like tangs and foxfaces, grow at a very fast clip until they reach about 3/4 of full adult size and then growth slows.

 

[JANOtheMANO]

yes but i should be able to keep 7" fish in my tank, thats the whole reason for the upgrade

 

[Stuart60611]

yes but i should be able to keep 7" fish in my tank, thats the whole reason for the upgrade

Ya, but your blue tang will not stop growing at 7 inches and will grow much larger than that. He will DEFINITELY outgrow your 125. More likely, he will outgrow your 125 in about 1 year or so. It is hard to predict exactly when he will outgrow your 125 b/c variables including the individual fish and feeding come into play. However, it is not if he will outgrow your 125, but it is rather when he will do so. In any case, it will not take too long for your blue tang to outgrow your 125.

 

[bsagecko]

Well while that is true stuart that sometimes life does not allow for intended upgrades....it is an assumption....of the future

JANOtheMANO if you want to add a mystery wrasse it would probably be ok to do so in your tank....however I would be more inclined to say that you should add the mystery wrasse if you get rid of the "tang"....add the mystery wrasse and perhaps even another fish....or some other smaller bottom dwelling fish as you do have a decent sized tank....for a small FOWLR

In regards to the above posted link...almost every tang held in captivity unless it is in a 6ft long by 30" tank as a bottom min....is in the wrong size tank....

But JANO...you should probably be able to either sell your blue tang or trade it back to the lfs if you do not feel you can properly care for it. if you want something that moves around kinda like a tang maybe look at the dwarf angels: coral beauty or flame angels in particular...

I think that is all for now
Zack

 

[Stuart60611]

In regards to the above posted link...almost every tang held in captivity unless it is in a 6ft long by 30" tank as a bottom min....is in the wrong size tank....

That is why if you look at the sticky in the reef fishs' forum virtually every tang is required to be maintained in a tank of at least 6 feet in length. You can get away with less width than 30 inches (and even as little as 18) with many species, but pretty much all species except for a very few require tanks of at least 6 feet in length.

 

[bsagecko]

I have seen that sticky and it is why I made the comment above....

I still think that getting rid of the tang now instead of later would be a good idea and then get the mystery wrasse and sometime of dwarf angel or other swimming fish....so that the movement so to speak in the tank is still there

 

[Stuart60611]

I have seen that sticky and it is why I made the comment above....

I still think that getting rid of the tang now instead of later would be a good idea and then get the mystery wrasse and sometime of dwarf angel or other swimming fish....so that the movement so to speak in the tank is still there

I completely agree, particularlly b/c re-homing a small blue tang is quite a bit easier than a large one.