Tank size/Fish compatibility

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by George

Hate to be a devil advocate, but what is the minimum tank size length wise for a powder blue tang? is it 3'x3' , 2'x2' or 1'x1' if someone have nothing in the tank but water and the fish? Couldn't the fish swim around in a circle in a 1'x1' tank and not hitting the wall.

at what point does 1ft , 2ft or 10ft make a difference to a fish that swims a sq kilometer a day?

[George]

Originally Posted by George

Hate to be a devil advocate, but what is the minimum tank size length wise for a powder blue tang? is it 3'x3' , 2'x2' or 1'x1' if someone have nothing in the tank but water and the fish? Couldn't the fish swim around in a circle in a 1'x1' tank and not hitting the wall.

Originally Posted by reefwars

at what point does 1ft , 2ft or 10ft make a difference to a fish that swims a sq kilometer a day?

interesting...I agree that 1ft sq, 2ft sq or 10 ft sq doesn't make a difference to a fish that swims kilometer sq. But somehow my gut feeling tells me putting a powder blue in a 1'x1' tank is not a good idea.

[fishoholic]

Personally I think the powder blue is a very bad idea. They can be hard to keep (finicky eaters, ich magnets, and a lot of them when they first come in to a lfs have internal parasites) also they are aggressive fish once fully established. If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Personally I think the powder blue is a very bad idea. They can be hard to keep (finicky eaters, ich magnets, and a lot of them when they first come in to a lfs have internal parasites) also they are aggressive fish once fully established. If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

Well put and I agree the powder blue tang is not a good choice. see http://wetwebmedia.com/powdbluetg.htm

They too ofter get sick for no apparent reason die and take many of their tank mates with them.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Personally If you saw the way Doug's powder blue cruises back and forth in his 7 foot long tank you'd realize 36x36 is way to small for one.

That's interesting cause my friend Paul with a 700g 10ft said the same thing that if you saw his tangs swim back and forth you'd see how 6ft isn't enough.

I agree about the aggression not so much about the room, fish are going to use up the space they have be it 3ft or 10ft when you compare it to where they come from I guess none of its really fair is it?

I don't buy the bit that this fish just dies for no reason that could be said for 50 different species when the diagnosis is done by hobbyist with no medical back ground no?

[daniella3d]

3' tank might be acceptable for a small tang if it has swimming room all around. I have a coral beauty in my 2' x 2' tank and the coral beauty cruise the 4 walls without interruption. If it is limited to 3 walls or 2 walls free for swimming then the fish is going to hit the wall, turn around, hit the other wall and turn around add nauseum. That start to look like a tiger in cage going from one side of its fence to the other all day long...sad.

Originally Posted by reefwars

That's interesting cause my friend Paul with a 700g 10ft said the same thing that if you saw his tangs swim back and forth you'd see how 6ft isn't enough.

I agree about the aggression not so much about the room, fish are going to use up the space they have be it 3ft or 10ft when you compare it to where they come from I guess none of its really fair is it?

I don't buy the bit that this fish just dies for no reason that could be said for 50 different species when the diagnosis is done by hobbyist with no medical back ground no?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefwars

I don't buy the bit that this fish just dies for no reason

Have you kept a powder blue? I've gone through probably 8 of them over the years, they like to die. It's their thing -lol The one that I bought "used" lived, but turned into a major bully and had to be removed to save my Achilles..one of the more difficult fish, IMO.

[kien]

I too have had lots of PBTs in my time and it has also been my experience that PBT are very fragile fish. You may get lucky and find one that is more robust than most, but generally speaking they have a bad track record for long term survival. We could solve this by doing up a poll though :-)

As for your tank size, those are great dimensions Adam! Looking forward to your tank journal

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Have you kept a powder blue? I've gone through probably 8 of them over the years, they like to die. It's their thing -lol The one that I bought "used" lived, but turned into a major bully and had to be removed to save my Achilles..one of the more difficult fish, IMO.

yes and mine didnt die for unknown reasons it starved.... pretty simple to determine why that happened, im sure there are good reasons why the fish dies when it does but because of the fishes nice baby blue color it attracts alot of people who dont know when a fish is starving , sick or infected so when the fish dies its unknown.

i never said this fish was for beginners but i also dont buy it that they just up and die in mass numbers for unknown reasons either.

out of the eight you had i bet most of their deaths was explainable

[kien]

All fish deaths are explainable, except when the hobbyist can't explain it. Then it's unexplainable.