Showing restraint

[Guacamole]

Hi all thi sis my first post, I just want to say these forums are awesome and I have learned so much over the last weeks just trolling.

I must say that even though I grew up around salt water aquariums, I am defiantly a noob at maintaining one on my own. Here is my situation; I have a 36gal corner aquarium with 25 lbs of live rock and a 5-6 gallon sump. It currently has 3 Blue/green Chromis and a Cleaner shrimp, as well as a snail/hermit crab cleanup crew. The tank has been up for about 2 months but I have only hade the live rock in it for about 3 weeks. I am moving really slow and am really nervous about buying livestock.

I was originally going to do a fish only tank but the more I learned and the more I researched the more excited I became about doing a reef. Originally I wanted a dog face puffer and or a lion fish, but learning about reefs I know that these fish are way wrong for this type of set up. I began looking into other types or reef safe fish and the one that really grabs my eye is the purple red sea tang. These guys are real beauties. My local Petco has a 2” one that they have had priced at $79.99, and is now marked down to $59.99 with a Petco club card thingy. I so want to buy this fish, but I am not sold on getting it from Petco. There is a fish in a tank just above it that looks terrible, and there is a puffer in the same tank that has polyp size growths on its fins. I also noticed a dying domino 2 tanks over. The tang itself looks to be in fine shape, and was grazing on the bottom of the tank today while I was there. It has also been there for about 3-4 weeks. I do have a QT but have not had anything in it and dunno if it would be any safer to put it in there un cycled.

So anyway, anyone have any thoughts? Oh and I do know that this tang will out grow my tank at some point, anyone have any ideas of how long it takes for one of these guys to get to the 10” in size that I am reading about. Thanks Again

Guac

 

[emoore]

I would not get the tang. I know it is small now but it will outgrow your tank quickly. Plus they like a lot of swimming room even when they are small. And if the other fish at Petco are sick, the tang is probably swimming in that same water.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

This is rather a two pronged issue. First off, I would exhibit more of that patience you've already shown, and hold off for a bit longer. Set up your QT tank and cycle it. Let your rock cycle a bit longer, and make sure both your tanks are stable before deciding to add showpiece (or any) fish. As mentioned, your tank is probably a bit cramped for a tang like that, and the long term prognosis would not be good. Plan on setting up your tank residents for long term.

Now, secondly, I am not trying to bash anyone or anything, but I would NEVER buy fish from large chain pet store like the one you listed. I dont know wher you live, but I would be willing to guarantee there is a nice dedicated fish store somewhere near you. They dont specilize in puppies and birds and snakes and whatever (not that there;s anything wrong with having those as pets), but you want a fish store, not a conglomerate department store. Like emoore said, Im sure all those tanks are plumbed together behind the scenes, so illness is likely everywhere. Furthermore, if the staff isnt responsible enough to remove or treat dead or dying fish, how are they caring for that fish that looks fine?

Ill get off my soapbox now.

 

[Guacamole]

Hey, Thanks for the sound advice, it defiantly put me back into reality. It is really easy to get caught up into wanting to buy something even though in your heart you know it would not be a good idea.

I actually have 2 really nice sources to get my live stock which is the big reason I didn’t buy this fish, the other is there wasn’t even anyone in the department to help me while I was there and to a less extent I know my tank is small for this type of fish. One source is a LFS about 10 minutes up the highway, and the other is a Aquatic service/setup business owner that special orders fish for all his customers. Right now I am content with letting my tank do its thing for a few more weeks, as well as I would like to buy more LR. Thanks again!

Guac

 

[Angel*Fish]

Guacamole,
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

It is really easy to get caught up into wanting to buy something even though in your heart you know it would not be a good idea.

We are all guilty of that! What a great attitude..go you!

 

[thor32766]

yeah good attitude, there is to many people who dont have that attitude towards things in this hobby.

 

[Psionicdragon]

I totally agree with everyone so far.

Just give it time. But you have to remember that reef tanks are expensive and in general saltwater fishs will be pricy.

 

[Phyto]

Hey Guac, patients is a beautiful thing!
Just keep reading and learning the info on the forums here. As you may know, you may get many different opinions to a single question. Just remember, there are many ways to maintain a succesfull reef tank.Be concious of the role our hobby plays on the worlds reefs.
There is no such thing as letting your tank cycle too long. I cycled mine for 2 months before adding fish. I waited another 4 months before adding corals. I would tell you not to add too many fish before the corals, or when you start testing your water you will find you have alot of phosphate to remove. That can be a pain. However, a fuge with some chaeto (before hand) will be very helpfull.
When you are ready for corals, locate a local reefer and they should be glad to give you some starter frags for free. If you can't find any, post your situation here.
Good luck buddy!

 

[ktrandc]

I'm new too and this site is a great place to learn new stuff. I don't think I'd get the tang unless you're sure of getting a bigger tank in the future.