Lost a couple of fish in new tank build.

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stephenwjr

stephenwjr

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What fish do you currently have in the tank?

I'm not an expert by any means, but from everything I’ve learned and read so far, I agree with the others that there are zero species of tangs that will be appropriate for a 36 gallon tank, especially if it’s a corner tank. They simply need a lot more swimming room than that and will be perpetually stressed and aggressive if put in a tank that size.

It’s not gospel, but a good resource to learn approximate tank size requirements for fish is liveaquaria.com. If you browse their marine fish, you can see the minimum tank size required to keep each species healthy. They also have other handy information on there such as typical level of aggressiveness, and difficulty of caring for each species.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!
Current fish in my tank are a Maroon Clown and a yellow watchmen goby. I took all the fish to the lfs and started over when I added my light back in May. I agree a tang is not good for my tank. I will stock the tank with snails, crabs and whatever else will eat algae.
 

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Current fish in my tank are a Maroon Clown and a yellow watchmen goby. I took all the fish to the lfs and started over when I added my light back in May. I agree a tang is not good for my tank. I will stock the tank with snails, crabs and whatever else will eat algae.
As far as CUC goes, I can’t recommend trochus snails enough. They don’t get so big that they’re knocking stuff over, but they’re big enough that a handful can really keep your algae in check.

I’d recommend one of the smaller species of algae blennies as well. We absolutely love our bicolor blenny. I wasn’t even sure we were going to get one, but now he might be our favorite fish. So much personality, they watch you all the time and skirt around the the tank from perch to perch. 60FF9D9D-A160-4127-A64D-DA4711662C1F.jpeg 2B848422-B06C-4C61-B57D-A5450F1ADB18.jpeg A6A1F02E-89B3-4DB0-B1AC-1EAABFE881EF.jpeg
 
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Dom

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What is an appropriate number of fish for a 36 gallon tank? My goal was to have utilitarian fish. The goby's and tang's being the heart of the system. Was also going to add one or two six line wrasses. The clowns are just for cycling and can be taken back to the lfs. My wife wanted the damsels so got those to make her happy but not needed.

Thank You for any advice you have.

In my view, you have too many fish for your tank. There is so much to consider.

For a fully grown Tang, I wouldn't go with less than a 150 gallon tank. Remember, the fish will grow. And as I understand Tangs, they swim vertically more than horizontally, so a deeper tank is in order. And you did say that it appeared stressed, which could be the result of being crammed into such a small tank.

Also, you are adding too many fish too quickly. I wouldn't add more than 1 fish per month, two if they are small in size. You have to give your nitrifying bacteria colony time to catch up to the increased bio load of the new fish.
 

adittam

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In my view, you have too many fish for your tank. There is so much to consider.

For a fully grown Tang, I wouldn't go with less than a 150 gallon tank. Remember, the fish will grow. And as I understand Tangs, they swim vertically more than horizontally, so a deeper tank is in order. And you did say that it appeared stressed, which could be the result of being crammed into such a small tank.

Also, you are adding too many fish too quickly. I wouldn't add more than 1 fish per month, two if they are small in size. You have to give your nitrifying bacteria colony time to catch up to the increased bio load of the new fish.

Take a look at the entire thread. OP made a few mistakes with his original stocking (back in February), has rectified them, and now only has a clown and YWG.
 

Dom

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Take a look at the entire thread. OP made a few mistakes with his original stocking (back in February), has rectified them, and now only has a clown and YWG.

I have. Just teaching him something so he doesn't make the same mistakes again.
 
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