New Guy

[Pyro]

Hello,
I am the new Guy... As of right now anyway.
I am in my mid 30's, wife and 4 year old son.

I currently have a 26 gallon tank with:
2 Clown fish 1 true and 1 false Percula
1 Hippo Tang 3-1/2 inches
1 Sailfin Tang
1 3 stripe Damsel
many Xenia
live rock

I have been battling aiptasia for about 2 months. I HATE this stuff. I have to admit I was feeding it at first then I found out what it was.

I am currently looking to upgrade to a 65 gallon tank. The widest I can go is about 40 inches. Until I hit the lottery and buy a much larger house.

Well thats about it. Cheers!:Cheers:

 

[dcantucson]

Hello Pyro. Welcome to Living Reefs. Get yourself so Aiptasia-X to rid your tank of the Aiptasia. It works very well if you keep on it.

 

[sen5241b]

Kalk paste will kill aptasia also.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.

 

[Pyro]

Thanks everyone. I am very happy to be here.

 

[Toolman]

couple of peppermint shrimp could help there are a bunch of good LFS in NJ and welcome

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard Pyro.

You are aware that the Hippo and Sailfin tangs need a bigger tank?

 

[Pyro]

couple of peppermint shrimp could help there are a bunch of good LFS in NJ and welcome

Heres the thing. I have had numerous Shrimp in the past. They all get eaten. :grumble: They live for a few days or weeks then I find a bit of carcus lying around or 1 leg floating on top. The hermit crabs dont eat the Aiptasa and I cant keep shrimp alive long enough to see if they will work out. I just have bad luck with shrimp. All they are for me is an expensive meal for my fish.


Thank you to everyone for welcoming me and offering advice.

 

[yote]

I think we've all got something that we kill every time we try to introduce it.:grumble:

 

[VAreef]

Peppermint shrimp are usually really cheap. I threw 3 into my last tank and they only lived a few weeks but it was long enough for them to wipe out the aptaisa that was growing. I kept noticing there were suddenly fewer and fewer. I blamed it on a hitchhiker crab I never was able to catch until I broke the tank down.

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the site.

Wow,I'm floored, a hippo and a sailfin in a 26g.The sailfin grows to a foot and a half alone.It's like having your pet dog live in a closet.The humane thing to do is take them both back.

 

[Pyro]

Both Tangs are only about 3 inches long. I got them both when they were really really tiny. They swim into the current created by the power head. I am currently looking for a larger tank so they all have more room to play.

To be honest the largest fish in there is the 3 stripe damsel. That's probably because he eats every shrimp I buy.

 

[Bifferwine]

Eeek. Even small tangs of those species need at least 75 gallons. They need A LOT of swimming space, regardless of how small they are. Tangs stress easily and usually live very short lives when they are forced to live in such small tanks.

 

[INreefer]

Welcome to the site pyro... I had a yellow tang and a hippo tang in my 55 gallon tank for about 3 years. I heard the same things that everyone is telling you, but the fish seemed happy so I kept them until I moved and then all of my fish died :grumble:...

Now i'm not saying that what I did was right or encourage it, but if the fish are happy the fish are happy.

Good luck with your current tank

 

[mikewurtz]

Welcome to the site. You'll find a ton of useful information here.

 

[Bifferwine]

Welcome to the site pyro... I had a yellow tang and a hippo tang in my 55 gallon tank for about 3 years. I heard the same things that everyone is telling you, but the fish seemed happy so I kept them until I moved and then all of my fish died :grumble:...

The difference is a 55 gallon tank still provides 4 feet of swimming room for tangs. I kept tangs in my old 55 as well. A 20 something gallon tank is not acceptable for tangs, and can't be compared to a 55.

 

[INreefer]

I agree 100% Biff, I was just stating that since they were talking about getting a 65 gallon tank I believe. Just kind of a future reference kinda thing :mrgreen:

 

[PRC]

I've gotta agree with the others, but I'm not gonna beat you up over it. If you're in the market for a 65g tank, maybe you could take the Tangs back and get some store credit toward the purchase. Even a 65g is far too small for Tangs.

May I recommend putting an ad on Craigslist offering to trade 2 tangs for a 65g tank. Believe me there are plenty of reefers out there that would be more than happy to do it.

 

[coolhandgoose]

Hi, welcome to the site. Lots of great info and people on here.