Starting a fish list for my 300

[STEVE]

exactly...... My thoughts

[trockafella]

Have you considered a Harl. Tusk? Awesome fish..!!

[MBVette]

What will tusks eat in the tank? Will they eat cleaner shrimp? All snails and crabs? Just curious

[ridetheducati]

Harlequin Tusks are not reef safe. The Tusk will eat small fish, shrimp, and crabs.

[STEVE]

"I dont trust the tusk!"

[Chad]

Why 1 leopard?

 

They are awesome fish and do so well in harems... I'd get 5!

[yauger]

Harlequin Tusks are not reef safe. The Tusk will eat small fish, shrimp, and crabs.

That's a misleading statement. The tusk is completely reef safe. It is NOT invert safe or should I say with caution cause if you kwep him fed then they will leave them alone.

[STEVE]

DONT TRUST THE TUSK! I just like the way it sounds!

[rocko918]

desjardini, blonde naso, purple, and an orange shoulder

 

None of these are the same type of tang. We were talking about adding 4 Zebrasoma, 1 being very aggressive. Also powder blues are aggressive, adding 2 is not recommended.

Edited January 11, 2013 by rocko918

[SunWyrm]

My main focus was the Desjardini and Purple, which are both zebrasoma.

 

My point was a lot of things that many of us do aren't recommended, but there are those that can make them work in the right circumstances. IDK if a 300 DD would be a good size for that combo, but was just chiming in with my 2 large and of the same size, aggressive zebrasoma and their individual personalities.

 

MY MAIN point was that if he IS set on it, then have a backup in case say one PBT is awesome and one is the reincarnation of fishy-hitler and kills everything else you add to the tank. I think a 300 is big enough to at least give it a try - but maybe I'm playing a little too hard at devil's advocate.

 

I do think the 4 zebrasoma would be fine, but I'm a sucker for them anyway. I'm going to agree on the PBTs tho... They be crazy.

 

Edit: My husband just reminded me that a balanced diet is going a long way to help our fish maintain their calm. Jan's food rocks! Also, what about powder browns/white cheeks? They seem much more laid back than powder blues.

Edited January 11, 2013 by YiatzOfEden

[rocko918]

4 zebrasoma in a 300 gallon tank is not fine. they will kill off each other until there is 1 yellow and 1 purple. Just trying to help him not waste money and end up killing fish. they do school in the the ocean but we are talking about a 6 foot wide box.

 

plus you are talking about 2 fish that are similar he is looking at 4 zebrasoma and 2 powder blues.

 

do what you want, i won't say i told you so.

[STEVE]

lol....I appreciate the input guys! I'm not sure, thats why I'm asking. Has anyone ever seen this done succesfully?

[SunWyrm]

I was just trying to look but reefcentral stopped loading :( lol. NINJA EDIT: I found this thread, but they all look like babies to me in that tank, so to me proves nothing but that he did it for awhile. Still rather impressive. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1749739

 

I think he might be right about longterm. It also depends A LOT on individual personalities and also lots of happy food. (Are we sure Jan isn't drugging our fish?)

 

Are there other tangs you might be interested in? If you're interested in schooling, convicts do very well but are also more shy than most.

[ridetheducati]

I can show you a local reef that has the following Tangs in a 300DD:

 

(1) Black Tang 7"

(2) Powder Blues 5"

(2) Purple Tangs 4"

(2) Hippo Tangs 4"

(1) Black Spot Tang 7"

(2) Yellow Tangs 4"

 

They have been in the system close to a year. The aggression is FIERCE, constant chasing and tail whipping. The pecking order is always challenged. He feeds a lot to calm them down. Did I mention there are approximately 30 other fish in system. I believe he has a total of 45 fish (Tangs, three types of Anthias, school of Clownfish, school of Firefish, and Gobies). I may have forgot something, you get the idea. 57 watt UV to manage Ich due to aggression.

 

The point I am trying to make is it can work, but at what price.

[Coral Hind]

Like ridetheducati stated, it depends on what level of aggression in the tank you want. Myself, I would limit the Zebrasoma tangs, thats why I mentioned the chevron but a bristletooth which is also a Ctenochaetus sp. would also help to break up having too many of the same species. As for the Acanthurus sp., definitely not two powder blues. I would focus on some other cool fish like the many reef safe wrasses. I love the blue sided, orange-back, and solon wrasses in a reef tank. In a tank that size you could put several, you'll just need to have a screen top.

[yauger]

Dang Bob is the tang police for this thread!!! Beware!!! Lol dude you've seen my fish list. Most would tar and feather me! My tank is crazy aggressive.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Haha, I am with BOB all the way. Except I most definatly will say I told you so...

[rocko918]

for every 1 tank that is was successful there are 500 that it was not. Of those 500 most won't tell you.

 

in my 210 i added 2 yellow and a scopus all at the same time. The 2 yellows picked on each other until til one was too weak. I was lucky enough to be able to take him out.

[STEVE]

Thanks for all your opinions guys! It's nice just to bounce stuff off of fellow reefers and get some feedback!

[Coral Hind]

So after all this feedback I'm curious as to what your list looks like now, any changes?

[STEVE]

See, there ya go Dave...stirring the pot !

[STEVE]

Fish list still the same.....Might be changing the quanties of the some of the same fish.........

[Coral Hind]

I'm far from the tang police as I normally push the limits in my own tanks. I have two yellow tangs in my 600g but they rarely trade blows except right near lights out when they go to their rock piles and one chases the other who might have wandered too close. I tried to put them together in a 210 and they battled until I had to remove one to the frag tank. Having lots of rockwork to offer secure dens at night is helpful. Some tanks with minimal rocks in pillars doesn't give many sleeping spots which means fish fight over them

 

If you change the quanties you can go up with the numbers of tangs in a tank that big and the aggression will be spread out among them and less individual fighting. Two to four zebrasomas will fight it out but it seems if you have a larger group like seven or more and they don't mess with each other to the point where it becomes a health issue.