Tang or not to Tang

Going to skin you a bit; you're tank is definitely too small AND you haven't done a WC in a month AND you have no skimmer. That kind of shows that you're not the most serious about wanting to do things right....yeah, your params may be okay, but that doesn't mean the organisms aren't stressed out. I'd definitely take it easy and try to introduce a fish that's going to be a bit more forgiving, and won't wipe out everything else with ich once it gets sick.

I am loathe to suggest such a thing, but a damsel might not be the worst thing to introduce! They are open swimmers, won't hide all the time, and are pretty hardy. Also, they can be found in some very colorful varieties. There are some types that show less aggression than others. My Talbot's Damsel is yellow and pink and very docile.

Get a tang as a reward when you DO upgrade (as something to look forward to) and when you have built up the experience and skill to take care of a more challenging fish.

Cathic, I'd be concerned about it if it ends up in there for a while....

I have never used a skimmer(going on 3+ years),IMO this has nothing to do with keeping a tang,or any other fish for that matter.As far as WC's go,well thats debatable too...and lets not even start on the ich issues again.We do agree on one thing,the tank is too small,but to say he doesn't care or isn't serious because he has no skimmer is silly

Seriousness does not = the ability to afford all the eauipment. Coming from a college student. but then again. sometimes i have to decide to buy groceries or aquarium stuff and as you can see my aquarium is coming along at a steady pace. But i am a biology major. lol. all things aside for those of use that cant put want in the tank we want it can be a tough pill to swallow. jsut remember, they are living creatures and even though they are fish they are your responisibility. if you think you can create an environment that is fair to the fish i say why not

Wc is not from lack of want it is finace related. Skimmer is a fine option for a larger tank but not a required one. If I didn't care I would have just bought the tang and complained later about the lfs selling me dieing fish. I appreciate your advice and intentions in protecting the fish, but I was trying to get some free advice a number of months down the road. I plan on qting the tang for two months and treated for ich I don't plan on buying 2 500 gallon tanks so can have an equal sized qt system(as I have not seen ANYONE do that). So let me clarify my timeline a bit better, quite soon I will have the space and finances to upgrade to something in the range of 200 - 500 gallons, a few months out I plan on buying all fish and qting them in the 40g or similiar sized bins while I get the dt setup,plumbed,cycled and aquascaped. I do plan on a skimmer(the best I can find based on reviews from here) an ATO, a WC system, something close to 300+ gallon sump with closer to 2000lbs lr. I know that seems like a large upgrade and is and will be.

Please don't mistake my questions and lack of perfect scheduling for me not carrying. Had I not cared I would have bunch of expensive sps corals and not thought about this current period of reduced finances and subsequently had it all die. If my params ever check out as less than ideal I will do what is needed to corrrect the issue.

Oh and my clowns beat my domino up so he went back to the lfs. So damsels might be a risky addition

I'm not so sure that buying and QTing all the livestock for an upgrade before hand,is the right idea.Theres just to many things that can come up and cause set backs.
But thats JMO.
If I was gonna upgrade,I'd wait until the new tank was ready or close to ready before buying the fish.

Well guys, I have a yellow tang, anyone near enough to Birmingham to want a free Tang?

I'd take him Cathic.But I doubt my atlantic blue and kole would leave him alone.

After thinking about this for a while I decided that perhaps 2 or 3 100g tubs would be a better choice....something this size would allow the fish to remain if and when the DT is delayed somehow...although something of this scale will require me to purchase all of the mechanics, plan out the plumbing, etc etc ATLEAST a month in advance of the tank actually arriving. I am fairly sure the tank I am thinking off will need to be a custom made acrylic(I want a 5'x5'x5' cube) or potentially make it 2' longer and drop the depth to 36'', it will all depend on the house I buy in the next few months.

Wow putting it on paper makes me think of all that needs to be done for this, but I figure start planning 6-12 months in advance will let me get proper input and methods from everyone here. Even get skinned a few times(for which I appreciate and think I will do a WC tomorrow since I got paid, even if the normal testable toxins are not present, and my 3 coral are not super picky it doesn't mean other untested toxins are not there(but i really didn't have a choice before))

My wife requires that I complete the 40g before I can upgrade(which should all coordinate nicely as far as timing goes).