Rotating Fish

[songha117]

Hey guys! First post here. Out of curiosity, does anybody here have experience with keeping a smaller tank (mine is a 30g mixed reef) and housing fish that require larger tanks, and rotating them out when they outgrow the smaller tank? I'd really love to get a tang, but obviously I can't keep one in a 30g for it's whole life. But if I took a baby squaretail bristle tooth, or a young yellow tang, and rotated it out once it outgrew the tank, would I have success with that? Or would it just fail?
Thanks for the help, guys!

 

[Dmorty217]

Hey guys! First post here. Out of curiosity, does anybody here have experience with keeping a smaller tank (mine is a 30g mixed reef) and housing fish that require larger tanks, and rotating them out when they outgrow the smaller tank? I'd really love to get a tang, but obviously I can't keep one in a 30g for it's whole life. But if I took a baby squaretail bristle tooth, or a young yellow tang, and rotated it out once it outgrew the tank, would I have success with that? Or would it just fail?
Thanks for the help, guys!

Welcome to ReefCentral. The practice you described isn't encouraged by most on here. This hobby is measured in months and years, not days and weeks so not planning for the future is ill advised. You will also find that as the fish grows it will get more aggressive toward its tank mates, and the fish may not be as easy to get rid of to a bigger home as you may think. I would wait until you can get a bigger tank to house the fish for its life time, not just a few months

 

[Xavibear]

+1 to the above.

 

[MrCaveman]

You'll likely grow attached to any tang you buy making it hard to get rid of it when you can upgrade to a larger reef and keep the fish instead!

 

[Betta132]

The only time I've heard of someone successfully doing that, they were growing things out to put them in a huge tank. Just get things you like that can live in a small tank, or get a bigger tank.

 

[snorvich]

Good advice above.

 

[thenewguy997]

No way.. What if it gets,a disease. High stress in a small tank. Why not just save your money and buy a bigger tank

 

[ALH]

Or buy smaller fish. Lots of small fish to choose from

 

[reeferstace]

Best practice is to get fish suitable for the environment you can provide for them now. Tangs are not suitable for a 30g tank.

 

[ken6217]

In addition to the above, I would feel bad where the fish would be going. Maybe to a store or another hobbyist that won't do as good as job as you did and then the fish could die. Even if going to a "good home", it could still die from the stress of the capture, move, and potential harassment from the new tank mates.
Ken