Shout Out: Smallest Tank, Biggest Tang and YOU!

[ca1ore]

My proxy for fish happiness is leaving the covers off my display and counting the number of dried up corpses on the rug per 24 hours. Zero = really happy; between 1 and 5 = moderately happy; more than 5 = unhappy. Funny that when I had a pair of Siamese Cats my fish were really happy.

 

[DSC reef]

Many things often live longer in captivity than the wild. I was contemplating getting a fox, and they certainly live longer in captivity, but whether that makes them “happy” is not something I am sure can be answered

Do you have fish currently and are they happy??

 

[Jon Fishman]

Do you have fish currently and are they happy??

“yes”, and “I don’t know”

 

[DSC reef]

“yes”, and “I don’t know”

So then happy is irrelevant as long as they are healthy then correct? Certainly you don't need a fish to tell you it's healthy. I know my fish were healthy by look, actively swimming, great appetite, good color and so on. My point is I never used the term happy but instead I said our fish were healthy, fat and not suffering in recent posts.

 

[Bossman]

As long as my fish are behaving as I believe the species should; eating, grazing, are healthy, gathering at the front of the tank during feeding, swimming and interacting with other fish, they are "happy". I'll continue to use the word "happy".

I've definitely had tanks that were not happy. Currently everyone is happy. Even my coral.

 

[Jon Fishman]

So then happy is irrelevant as long as they are healthy then correct? Certainly you don't need a fish to tell you it's healthy. I know my fish were healthy by look, actively swimming, great appetite, good color and so on. My point is I never used the term happy but instead I said our fish were healthy, fat and not suffering in recent posts.

You seem pretty rattled by the fact that I said Fat doesn’t equal healthy. Not saying your fish aren’t healthy..... but a fish that is “fat” as in “not normal body proportions compared to normal” isn’t necessarily healthy.

If a dog is 30lbs larger than breed standard it’s either poorly bred (often the case) or over-feed/under exercised. It’s not “30lbs healthier than other dogs of the same breed”. Why wouldn’t the same be true for fish? Not enough exercise and/or too much food.

 

[DSC reef]

You seem pretty rattled by the fact that I said Fat doesn’t equal healthy. Not saying your fish aren’t healthy..... but a fish that is “fat” as in “not normal body proportions compared to normal” isn’t necessarily healthy.

Rattled? I thought we were have a general discussion about fish. It doesn't matter to me if you think my fish are fat, unhappy or horrible looking. How do you know the fish is over weight, lol. To that, happy reefing.

 

[Jon Fishman]

The non-anglophones are probably cringing at the semantics

 

[Jon Fishman]

[QUOTE="DSC reef, post: 5963207, member: 35890" How do you know the fish is over weight, lol. To that, happy reefing.[/QUOTE]

Are you suggesting fish can’t be overweight?

 

[DSC reef]

[QUOTE="DSC reef, post: 5963207, member: 35890" How do you know the fish is over weight, lol. To that, happy reefing.

Are you suggesting fish can’t be overweight?[/QUOTE]
You made a comparison with weight of a dog. Without weighing my fish, knowing how much we feed, ect, its impossible for you to assume our fish is fat and unhealthy. I never said fish can't be overweight, I asked how would you know our fish is over weight. At least I brought pics to the table to prove what healthy fish look like Its obvious your looking for an argument so good day.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I was never talking about your fish, haven’t seen your fish.....

 

[fish farmer]

I used to work at an Atlantic salmon broodstock holding facility. Granted they aren't tangs, but the fish I worked with could be compared to what I see discussed on this topic.

The goal of the program was to restore salmon to the Connecticut River, by stocking fry or smolts into freshwater with the goal of leaving for saltwater and returning back to their home rivers after several years. Salmon are more easily cultured in captivity than tangs so they fit into domestic life better, but they still had wild behaviors once captured.

The adult salmon we collected in the spring in CT would have ranged up into the north Atlantic for several years and return at around 1o to 15 lbs. They would then be held in 20 foot circular freshwater tanks approximately three feet deep. Maybe 20 to 30 fish per tank. This situation was similar to what they would experience in the wild prior to spawning. spawn would happen in October. These fish would them be stuffed into 6 foot circular tanks about 2 feet deep, two or three per tank, they were usually thinner at this point due to non feeding for months. They were put in these tanks in order to train them to feed in captivity again, which most would retrain by the following April. Most of the time the fish wouldn't fight due to no territory to defend, but we had one ornery 12 lb male who jumped from one tank to the next and was able to find his way into the sump and drained the tank of water, killing two salmon in the process.

This male survived the ordeal and eventually went into the reconditioned 20 foot circular which housed about 30 salmon ranging around 25 lbs each. Since we liked this salmon's rigor he got extra helpings of food at supper time, in several years he was 52 lbs! He was at an unhealthy weight, toward the end of his life (6 yrs maybe) he would hang right below the water inflow and when we cleaned the tank once a week, he would roll on his side and take a "nap" for a couple of hours. I always figured he was getting winded by the activity of cleaning the tank. The other smaller stove pipe thick salmon would be fine during cleaning.


I believe the only real way to see if your fish has unhealthy fat deposits is to slice them open and do a necropsy, but if they are sitting on the bottom looking like they swallowed a bowling ball and get winded at increased activity, then maybe diet and exercise are in order.

 

[VR28man]

Heckuva story, @fish farmer!

For the OP: I think a 50 gallon is OK. As long as it's a small tang species. And the tank is 72" long (and therefore 13" high and wide). And now that I've added so many silly criteria, I'll add a ludicrous one: the tank should also be a continuous loop, so the tang can swim unceasingly without stopping.

 

[Medic58]

Question. Are scopas tangs known to be aggressive. My wife brought me one for my birthday and that joker is mean.

 

[DSC reef]

Question. Are scopas tangs known to be aggressive. My wife brought me one for my birthday and that joker is mean.

It's a zebramosa so they can develop attitudes for sure.

 

[Medic58]

It's a zebramosa so they can develop attitudes for sure.

Thanks. She had no idea. I guess we stuck together.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

I clicked nano, but only because I wanted to see if the tang police are real! In reality, I doubt I'd consider a tang for anything less than a 75, and depending on species, more than double that.

You may be on a domestic watchlist with that vote. The tang protection agency, TPA, is probably tapping your phone now. Lol

 

[DSC reef]

Thanks. She had no idea. I guess we stuck together.

That's a beautiful tang. With our purple, once everyone in the tank knew he was boss then he settled down.

 

[Seamore2001]

You may be on a domestic watchlist with that vote. The tang protection agency, TPA, is probably tapping your phone now. Lol

Hey, I said I agree. I think a Naso probably deserves a 75 gal tank - or maybe a 100G if you want to have a flock of them.

(Troll ON)

 

[Medic58]

That's a beautiful tang. With our purple, once everyone in the tank knew he was boss then he settled down.

Yeah he is the boss mine is a juvenile he hasn’t come to his full color yet