OK, the ich ordeal is almost over-

[scouncil]

And I need to decide what other fish to put in the big tank.... I probably have about 2 more weeks or so (to make 8 weeks total). I have the big Naso tang still, but he's pretty peaceful. So-

Should I go with the whopper purple tang that Donny might still have (if someone hasn't taken him home yet)? I sort of hate to get a whopper since they are really aggressive once they are aclimated and I'll never be able to add another tang unless it's like, shark size if the Naso and tang X dies off.....

The pretty white striped tang at Donny's (darn, blanking on the name) Sheol? Is that baby aggressive too? I don't want a purple/white fight on my hands.....

What about trying a nice smaller blue tang (would it live?)

I'm going to need some cool reef safe wrasses too. My green chromis are dying off (only have 5 now) and I'm not wild about them anyway, so I'm not going to replace them when they all bite the dust (which they will start killing each other off when they get down to critical mass of 3 or 4 anyway, right?).

Ideas, comments? Tommy, Alex, Norman? Nobody else is talking to me. I'm so sad.
Susan

 

[bamachamp92]

hey susan the sohal tang is really aggressive according to books ive read or i would have it in my tank. donny has a nice achiles tang right now i dont think you would have a problem with a big purple if you put them all in at the same time.

 

[salt newbie01]

That achilies is BEAUTIFUL!!! So long as he is eating GRAB HIM!!! I don't know so much about mixing tangs. I have read to get one of each of the body types. Similar body types are more apt to fight with each other. But your tank is big so you might be ok with three. Most of the reef safe wrasses are cool and purdy! whip fin, filamented, solar, excuisite, lubbucks etc. There is a thread in the fish forum on wrasses - check it out if you haven't already - it will give you some great ideas. Have you thought about a clown and maybe an anemone? I love mine! It is soooo neat to watch the clown/nem relationship. Very cool. What about anthias? you could do a large school of anthias. Lyretails are pretty and the super males are beautiful!! Also the Genicanthus species of angel fish are reef safe - the lamarck's, swallowtail and wantanabie (sp) are cool looking angels! You have so many choices with that big tank. do some research and have fun with it!!!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

An achilies can be very aggressive as well and needs TONS of flow since they live in the surge areas naturally.

Is the achilies eating now?

I love those tangs.

 

[scouncil]

I'm not wild about the Achilles. He's basically brown with the orange teardrop near his tail. Boring. Is there any other redeeming qualities, or is he just fairly rare and cool? I love the powder blues, but I had my chance at that big one and I'm not sure I'll get another.

That sohal is beautiful, but he's pretty big too (not as big as my Naso). He's the Naso body type though, isn't he? And there's only 2 body types- the purple tang body type and the Naso body type, right?

I've got a coral beauty angle that I love. I'll have to look into another dwarf. I forgot about those. And I'll look at the wrasses..... Have to have more of those.

The anthaias I've never been able to keep alive more than several months, so I'm a little shy about that too.....

 

[LorenK]

I don't recommend two dwarf angels together. It can be done but usually leads to the death of one or the other.

 

[salt newbie01]

I thought the angles I listed were bigger than most of the dwarfs - like the coral beauty - I thought being diff species they would be alright. Sorry about the bad recomendation - I forgot about the coral beauty

 

[scouncil]

I thought that in a big tank they would do ok. I've got a 220gal.

 

[scouncil]

That Achille's tang is still there. You think the Achilles tang would be better than the Sheol (whatever it's called) tang?

And how can I get the Achille's tang if I get that baby blue carpet anenome? Do you thing that baby blue anenome is really baby blue? Would it live in my tank more than a month? That "blue" carpet is still there, and there is a nice green carpet there...

 

[salt newbie01]

Most of the carpets require a lot of light. Are you running 250mh? I don't know for sure if that would be enough light if the nem wound up settling on the bottom, like carpets tend to do. With the tank being 30 inches deep I just don't know how intense the light will be on the bottom. Do you have any bottom dwelling fish (like sand sifting gobies) because they like to eat those fish!!

Carpets are soo cool but something to really consider the pros and cons about.

 

[ironman]

I would do some research before making hte investment in the carpet. It is beutiful. I saw it when it came in. I can say I have never seen anything like it. I would love to have it, but I am hesitant due to the ability they have to eat some fish, and I would be concerned about the color staying that way long term, I have never seen one like it is why I worry about the color.
As for the achilies tang, It is a VERY difficult tang to keep, Few people have success with them. Under the circumstances with the tangs you have lost recently I would recommend you wait on that tang till you have successfuly kept other tangs for awhile. and like pat said they need heavy flow. So research that tang more to before you purchase it.

 

[salt newbie01]

What type of carpet is it? Haddoni or gigantea? If it is haddoni they don't require as much light but are still difficult - if it is gigantea then it requires some of the highest light as far as nem's go. As that iron guy said - do dome research before purchasing either.

 

[ironman]

if the carpet looked like this I wouldnt worry about the color, but it is Bright neon blue only on the tips, and bleach white everywhere else. check out this blue nem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAUbwpsWaMw

 

[ironman]

this one is cool.
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...nie&start=40&ndsp=20&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&ie=UTF-8

 

[ironman]

im pretty sure it is a gigantea

 

[scouncil]

Brian, I didn't have any trouble keeping tangs (had three, purple - 8 years, Naso 5 years- this one is still alive, and yellow 5 years). The purple was beat up by the yellow when I moved all the live rock and corals to the new tank and left the fish and not enough rock in the old tank and he looked bad after 2 days and died a few days later in the big tank. The yellow died from the Ick. Naso, is still fat and looking good, though I was concerned with the Ick event. The big powder blue got hit with the ick after the big wound that it developed and died (ugh!).

Do you think the Achilles is worse (harder) to keep than the powder blue?

 

[ironman]

hey susan, I wasnt saying you werent able to keep a tang. I know you kept tangs for along time. I was refering to the stability of the system after your ick outbreak. I would place achilies tangs as much harder than a powder blue tang. I have no doubt you can keep one, My concern was the system being ready for one. I would like to see some other tangs thriving first.

 

[scouncil]

The coral (big) tank is doing well. I've got baby shrimp and cocopods running the place over and all the coral look good except for the elegance (could the shrimp be bothering them?). I have 2 fire shrimp, 2 peppermints and 4 cleaner shrimp. I got all the extra shrimp for the ick outbreak and the fish weren't getting better and I moved all the fish back to the 100 gal to quarantine them. I've got 3 brittle stars in there too, as well as bunches of snails.

 

[salt newbie01]

With all that said susan I would still get the fish back in the tank for a few weeks before adding something new - From what I have read the achilies tangs are harder than p blue. And just because your inverts are ok doesn't mean the ich is gone. I think all Bryan is trying to do is save you a bunch of money. I too would hate to see you put your fish back in the tank and then in a short amount of time (1-2 months) add a new expensive hard to keep fish. I think you have enough room and an achilies would be a great addition just be careful. Good luck with which ever way you choose. keep us up to date

 

[ironman]

I get the feeling you want me to tell you the fish will do great and live forever! HEHE!
There is a risk you take with any surgeon fish, they are extremely prone to disease caused from stress. the funny thing with tangs and surgeons is they are so unique with each type. looking at a purple tang next to a yellow tang or scopas you would think they had the same tempermeant, as with a regal and a sohal. but they are very different. of the tangs and surgeon fish the surgeon are more prone to disease, and within the surgeons there are some that are easier to keep and some that are harder. on a scale from one to ten on survivabilty (one being best ten being worst), I would put a Naso at a 1, regal at a 4, a sohal at 2, powder blue at a 7, and a achilies at a 10. I would love to have that achilies in my new tank, but I would expect it to have a 1 in 10 chance of living if I bought it