unicornfish tank advice

Metasyntactic · Sep 11, 2018

I was hoping to get some advice from anyone with experience with unicornfish. I've been obsessed with the fish ever since I got to see one in the wild. I'm looking at setting up a mixed tank specifically with housing a naso brevirostris in mind. I'm well aware of the fish's adult size and want to make sure any tank can properly accommodate it. The tank I have in mind is 84"x36"x36" to be housed in my basement. Unfortunately, I built a mockup and there's no way I can get anything larger into the basement without cutting into the drywall of my stairs and there's no way I would stick a tank that large on anything less than a concrete slab so whatever tank I get has to fit down those stairs.

The tank should easily hold 450 gallons which is larger than most sites suggest but I honestly don't trust the info they have. A number of them say that you can house a unicornfish in a 200 gallon tank which sounds straight up wrong. I don't even know how it's supposed to do a U turn with less than 3 feet of tank depth. I just want to make sure I'm able to provide an adequate environment for such a unique fish. Any thoughts?

LobsterOfJustice · Sep 11, 2018

If you’re dedicated enough to set up a 450g tank, don’t let a little drywall stop you. Drywall and even the studs under it can be taken down and put back within a day or two by someone qualified/experienced for a few hundred bucks. My point is, don’t let a few hundred dollars hold you back on what will eventually end up being a multi thousand dollar project.

If you are willing to have a top-down view, there are large circular intex pools you could use. You might be able to get something larger than 450g into the basement unassembled and put it together in place. A circular option is also ideal for larger open water swimmers like the unicorn, as they can swim laps uninterrupted by walls.

Metasyntactic · Sep 11, 2018

450 was the max size I could get down there if I assembled it myself from individual panes. Unfortunately a circular tank isn't really an option, both in being able to get it down there or my personal interest. If the 450 gallon tank isn't suitable then it isn't suitable and I don't get the fish, probably going for a 300 gallon tank instead. I am not going to subject a fish to a tank that isn't appropriate for it no matter how much I want it and, realistically, that's the largest tank I'm going to be putting in the basement.