newby :p

Glandrau12

Reefing newb
Hello everyone. I've had my 20 gal saltwater aquarium now for a few years. but it's now that i'm really starting to get into the hobby. :D i decided to register to living reefs to get some feedback when i have any questions. Which i actually have several. :p in my aquarium i have one feather duster, one scopas tang, one orange spotted shrimp goby, one spotted green puffer, one turbo snail and one hermit crab. just yesterday i realized that my feather duster had a small chunk missing from it's radio hole. today in passing by the aquarium i saw that my puffer took a huge bite out of it. I've had that puffer for about a year now and it's never attacked the FD like that. and i know he wasn't hungry because i had just finished feeding him about 25 minutes earlier. what should i do? if this keeps up i think i'd have to remove either the puffer or the fd from the aquarium but i'd rather not do that. any input? oh and my other question: well, i'm currently living in puerto rico and i have been going to a lot of pet stores and aquarium specialty shops but i haven't been able to find one that sell nassarius snails yet. i'd really like to have 2 or 3 to keep the substrate cleaner so i wouldn't have to do maintenance too often. i'd rather buy them from a shop here in p.r. rather than get them online because the snails might not make it from the stress of being shipped all the way here. any suggestions?
 
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. I hate to be the one to tell you, but that 20gal is way too small for any tang. It will become stressed and die. Sorry :( Now, as far as the puffer, they eat crabs, snails, feather dusters, etc. So he is gonna keep picking at it until it's gone. You should be able to ask your lfs to order some snails for you when they place their next order with the distributor. That way you won't have to pay for shipping fees. :)
 
thanks for the welcome :D
yes, i agree the tank is too small. i'll be receiving a 55gal tank soon and will be able to solve the prob by moving the Fd and Tang to it once it's fully cycled, but i'ts going to take about 2 months or so from the time i actually get the tank and how long it'll take to get it cycled. i guess i'll have to try to hide the FD in some live rock somehow. thanks for the suggestions.

And yes these puffers are brackish water fish, but they can slowly be acclimated to SW. i had bought my puffer already acclimated to Sw from the store, so i never had any problems with that. :P
 
I really hate to burst your bubble, but a 55 gal is still too small for any tang. The smallest of tangs need at least 6 ft of swimming room. Personally, if this was my tank, i would take back the tang and puffer (20 gal is too small for them IMO also, but if the puffer is still around an inch he may be ok for a bit) and get a couple of nice firefish or a clown. Both of those can live happily in that tank until you up grade.
 
I really hate to burst your bubble, but a 55 gal is still too small for any tang. The smallest of tangs need at least 6 ft of swimming room. Personally, if this was my tank, i would take back the tang and puffer (20 gal is too small for them IMO also, but if the puffer is still around an inch he may be ok for a bit) and get a couple of nice firefish or a clown. Both of those can live happily in that tank until you up grade.

No bursting happening. i am aware of the tang's needs. i'll also be getting a 150 gal tank in a couple of months. and the puffer is just under an inch, so he'll be okay until i can upgrade. Thanks for the help. :p
 
Actually those little spotted puffers will be fine in a smaller tank for a while.But can become extremely aggressive in any size tank.
 
Welcome to site and hobby!.

The nassarius snails you mentioned in you're post will help stir(oxygenate) the top layer of the sandbed.They really don't clean the bed unless you count eating leftover food.
 
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