Tank Mate Advice Please!

[reefbobc]

In my tank I have 2 fish. The first one I got was a Purple Firefish. He is heallthy and beautiful! Recently, I got a small Blue Hippo Tang and love it to death!. There are no problems with them getting along, the only issue is the Tang is very active and personable and now the Firefish spends about 99% of the time hiding out of sight and will only come out for a few seconds to eat a little every other day.

I'm wondering what would be a better tank mate for my Tang in terms of activity and personality? I would rather be able to look at both of my fish and not just one. I might be interested in swaping out the Firefish if any of you have some good sugestions. Thanks!

 

[returnofsid]

We need more information about your tank.

What size is your tank?
Is it a reef tank, or Fish Only?
Are there any specific fish that you want to add, in the future? For instance, knowing that you want to add a Mandarin would help us suggest fish that would be compatible with a Mandarin....etc.

It sounds like the Purple Firefish may be intimidated, by the Hippo Tang, which sounds a lil' unusual. Careful that the firefish doesn't jump. That's very common, with them, especially if they don't feel comfortable in their surroundings.

 

[reefbobc]

We need more information about your tank.

What size is your tank?
Is it a reef tank, or Fish Only?
Are there any specific fish that you want to add, in the future? For instance, knowing that you want to add a Mandarin would help us suggest fish that would be compatible with a Mandarin....etc.

It sounds like the Purple Firefish may be intimidated, by the Hippo Tang, which sounds a lil' unusual. Careful that the firefish doesn't jump. That's very common, with them, especially if they don't feel comfortable in their surroundings.

I have a 14 gal Biocube set up as a reef so 2 fish are probably the max for now. Before anyone tells me that the Tang is too large for my tank ( I know that it will be someday) it is only about 1 1/2 inches right now and when it grows I'm planning on upgrading to a larger tank anyway. Funny you should mention a Mardarin as that is one fish I would like to have in the future.

 

[ntswift]

I would hold off to get a mandarin until you get at least a 100 gal tank or some other way of supplying it with pods. The fish may be small and look really cool but it wont last in your tank unless you are constantly feeding it pods from a bottle.(or other means) Have you thought about a clown fish?

 

[ac7av]

Well you did ask about your fire fish hiding and it’s because of the tang. Even a 1 inch tang is way to much fish for a 14 gallon bio cube. It probably is stressed and the filefish is responding to its stress by hiding and keeping out of the way. You should be looking for a better tank mate for the fire fish not the tang. You should be looking now for a bigger tank for the tang. Something at least 4 feet long for a blue hippo.

 

[mfinn]

Well you did ask about your fire fish hiding and it’s because of the tang. Even a 1 inch tang is way to much fish for a 14 gallon bio cube. It probably is stressed and the filefish is responding to its stress by hiding and keeping out of the way. You should be looking for a better tank mate for the fire fish not the tang. You should be looking now for a bigger tank for the tang. Something at least 4 feet long for a blue hippo.

I have to agree.

 

[Shane and John]

Agreed....thats just cruel...Thats like making you live in the space the size of a closet..
Im not much of a fan of the tang police at all.But this isnt about Tangs,This is about being Humane...The Tang wont live to long that way..
We started with our blue tang in Johns 29 gallon bio-cube...he lasted about 3 months in there till he had to move into the 120...and some will say thats even to small for him..

 

[returnofsid]

A 14 gallon biocube is large enough for 1 SMALL fish, NO MORE. Your Tang is completely suffering, no matter how "small" it is. Tangs need TONS of swimming room! It's not just about the size of the fish, but the habits of the fish. Tangs are not comfortable OR healthy, unless they have plenty of room to swim. Your fish needs a good 12 square feet of swimming room and a 150 gallon tank, minimum.

I'd also NEVER put a mandarin in such a small tank. I wouldn't put a mandarin in anything smaller than a 50!!

WOW, no wonder your Purple Firefish is suffering. In fact, your tank is barely adequate for JUST a purple firefish.

 

[mfinn]

I'd say a tank that size would be great for a couple fish about the size of Catalina Gobies.
2 different color/kind.

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

Hey reefbob! So I think you may have had the same problem we had when we started our tank - false information from the wrong people. I have a feeling you were told 14 gallons was enough space for a tang? Some people we had talked to said, "Oh yeah, general rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water per 1 inch of fish." Which generally works - for the majority of small freshwater fish. Living by this rule, our poor puffer fish (about 1 inch long) was suffering in a 3 gallon bioorb for about a month before I did more research and found one small puffer needs at least 10 gallons of space, if not more, due to their active behavior. Needless to say, he's much happier now being in an adequately-sized tank.

My suggestion would be to find someone who has been working with SW tanks for a long time (here being one of the best places for that advice) and ask them any questions you have BEFORE making a purchase. With a lot of saltwater fish, you have to do your research to make sure you have the right environment for them. I can't tell you how many different fish we were planning on getting for our tank, until we researched their behavior and realized a good 75% of them wouldn't be compatible with either the size of our tank, or the type of fish already in our tank.

I'm guessing you probably didn't get the information you needed before your purchase, and therefore bought under false pretenses, so I'm not going to get snotty with you or make you feel dumb for putting a tang and firefish in your 14 gallon. I mean hey, everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes. The best part is that you recognized soon enough that there was a problem, and you now have time to rectify it before the fish suffer. Good on you for starting this post sooner rather than later! I wish you luck and hope my advice helps on your future purchases for your 14 gallon

 

[ac7av]

SaltwaterNoobs, that could not have been better said. I too have made big mistakes in that department.

Reefbobc, maybe you could go back to the store you got the tang and tang and see if they can or will take it back for at least a store credit. Explain your case and that you should have never purchased that fish for the currant tank you have. Or if you know someone that could house your tang until you have an adequate tank for it. Ether way you really should remove that tang from that tank as soon as you can. The health of that fish really depends on it.

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

I'd also NEVER put a mandarin in such a small tank. I wouldn't put a mandarin in anything smaller than a 50!!

Question, Sid...in your galleries of your tanks, the one regarding the contents of your 46 gallon reef tank has a picture of a mandarin goby. Are there different types of mandarins that can survive in different sizes of tanks? I ask because we were looking to purchase a mandarin in the future for our 40 gallon, and some places we've perused (one of which is a reputable vendor on this site) have said 40 gallons is fine for some types mandarin gobies. Do you know which types those would be, if this vendor is correct?

 

[Slate]

Question, Sid...in your galleries of your tanks, the one regarding the contents of your 46 gallon reef tank has a picture of a mandarin goby. Are there different types of mandarins that can survive in different sizes of tanks? I ask because we were looking to purchase a mandarin in the future for our 40 gallon, and some places we've perused (one of which is a reputable vendor on this site) have said 40 gallons is fine for some types mandarin gobies. Do you know which types those would be, if this vendor is correct?

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this one guys. But, it is my understanding that beyond the size of the tank it is the live food source that really limits whether or not you can sustain a Mandarin in your tank, since they are almost impossible to train to eat frozen foods. You would still need at least something around a 40gal breeder minimum to be able to provide enough rock for hiding places.

So I take it that you could have a mandarin in a 40gallon tank without problems if you were able to keep a large enough pod population. So perhaps a good sump set up with a way to breed enough pods and a way to move them to the DT as needed. Basically they need a lot of love in smaller tanks so they don't just decimate your pod population and then starve :shock:.

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this one guys. But, it is my understanding that beyond the size of the tank it is the live food source that really limits whether or not you can sustain a Mandarin in your tank, since they are almost impossible to train to eat frozen foods. You would still need at least something around a 40gal breeder minimum to be able to provide enough rock for hiding places.

So I take it that you could have a mandarin in a 40gallon tank without problems if you were able to keep a large enough pod population. So perhaps a good sump set up with a way to breed enough pods and a way to move them to the DT as needed. Basically they need a lot of love in smaller tanks so they don't just decimate your pod population and then starve :shock:.

Ahhhhh that makes complete sense! I've heard of several other types of fish who are the same way - need lots of food attention the smaller the environment. Thanks for the input!

 

[reefbobc]

Hey reefbob! So I think you may have had the same problem we had when we started our tank - false information from the wrong people. I have a feeling you were told 14 gallons was enough space for a tang? Some people we had talked to said, "Oh yeah, general rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water per 1 inch of fish." Which generally works - for the majority of small freshwater fish. Living by this rule, our poor puffer fish (about 1 inch long) was suffering in a 3 gallon bioorb for about a month before I did more research and found one small puffer needs at least 10 gallons of space, if not more, due to their active behavior. Needless to say, he's much happier now being in an adequately-sized tank.

My suggestion would be to find someone who has been working with SW tanks for a long time (here being one of the best places for that advice) and ask them any questions you have BEFORE making a purchase. With a lot of saltwater fish, you have to do your research to make sure you have the right environment for them. I can't tell you how many different fish we were planning on getting for our tank, until we researched their behavior and realized a good 75% of them wouldn't be compatible with either the size of our tank, or the type of fish already in our tank.

I'm guessing you probably didn't get the information you needed before your purchase, and therefore bought under false pretenses, so I'm not going to get snotty with you or make you feel dumb for putting a tang and firefish in your 14 gallon. I mean hey, everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes. The best part is that you recognized soon enough that there was a problem, and you now have time to rectify it before the fish suffer. Good on you for starting this post sooner rather than later! I wish you luck and hope my advice helps on your future purchases for your 14 gallon

Thank you SaltwaterNoobs for a post that is not condeming. Some of the others are just a little too over the top for me. I said I'm upgrading to a larger tank soon and I don't think having the tang in my small tank for a while amounts to amimal crulity or something, give me a break!

 

[fulkerl]

SaltwaterNoobs your post number 10 is one of the best post I have read in a long time, I hope you always post as I will always read them. Thanks larry

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

SaltwaterNoobs your post number 10 is one of the best post I have read in a long time, I hope you always post as I will always read them. Thanks larry

Thank you, Larry I find constructive criticism and positive advice to someone asking for help (especially one who is new to the hobby) is always better than passive-aggressive, condescending comments. I give advice as I would like to receive it. Thanks for the encouragement

 

[returnofsid]

Question, Sid...in your galleries of your tanks, the one regarding the contents of your 46 gallon reef tank has a picture of a mandarin goby. Are there different types of mandarins that can survive in different sizes of tanks? I ask because we were looking to purchase a mandarin in the future for our 40 gallon, and some places we've perused (one of which is a reputable vendor on this site) have said 40 gallons is fine for some types mandarin gobies. Do you know which types those would be, if this vendor is correct?

I did have a Mandarin in a 46. However, that tank had about 75 pounds of live rock, a thriving refugium, loaded with pods and no competing fish, for the pod population. I also purchased bottled pods, every couple of months, to add to the refugium. Typically, I wouldn't recommend anyone do this. However, given the right circumstances, and healthy tank, you'd be able to put a Mandarin in a 40. On the other end of the spectrum, I wouldn't put a Mandarin in a 200, if it also had a few wrasses in it, that would out compete the Mandarin for it's needed food source.

Reefbob, I apologize if my response came across as condemning. However, in a way, I guess I am doing that. I do feel it's very irresponsible to house a tang in a 14 gallon nano, no matter how soon you plan to upgrade or how small the tang is. I probably should have worded my response different, as to not sound rude. However, my feelings would still be the same.

That being said, I am currently housing 2 Tangs, in a 40 breeder, for a fellow hobbyist. This was kind of an emergency fish sitting circumstance and I'm moving one of those tangs out of the 40 soon. None the less, even the remaining tang deserves something larger than the 40, and soon will have it's wish. So, I'm also guilty of putting a tang in too small of a tank...lol.

 

[mfinn]

Thank you SaltwaterNoobs for a post that is not condeming. Some of the others are just a little too over the top for me. I said I'm upgrading to a larger tank soon and I don't think having the tang in my small tank for a while amounts to amimal crulity or something, give me a break!

Nobody is condeming you, just giving you good advice.

You asked a question and you were given advice.

I'm sorry you don't like what was said.......

We will say what we believe and that is based on experince.

This is a great place for information, use it and learn.

 

[Xtremedave67]

Its easy to get confused, Ive looked on Liveaquaria.com vs. slatwaterfish.com and they can even give 2 completely different tank requirements for same species.
I wanted a tang in our system, but I did find out prior to buying they need linear swim room that we dont have currently.
as far as manadrins???? Ive seen many with mandarins with smaller systems ( with Fuge)
of course with the ORA madarins, may be a moot point now anyway????