alton
Valuable Member
The question comes up all the time, what size Tank do I need for my fish? There is no bullet answer, what works for one may not work for another. Any comments I make in this post are mine and not meant to offend anyone. And if you do not agree with me, then we will have to agree not to agree. A little about myself I have been involved with aquariums and fish since for about 55 years. Almost 25 years in saltwater. Do I always do everything correctly, No, Do I impulse buy, Yes. Do I get bored and trade / sell fish a lot, Yes. Why my LFS love me
My aquariums right now Home 180g, 40g and 29. Office 120 and a 20g. My tanks at home I feel I neglect them since they only get a few hours of my attention every day. Whereas office tanks get 11 hours a day with 6 frozen feedings and pellets from a pellet feeder 4 times a day. Coral comes down to GSP, Mushrooms and Euphyllia except the 120 my Blue Face eats everything but mushrooms. When it comes down to it I love my angels more than coral.
My tanks over the years at home 135 up to 200, then up to 300D, down to 180, back up to 310, down to 120, back to 180 and 120 went to work. And yes because with all the changing I am either buying more fish or trading them back in. Did I mention my LFS loves me.
My favorite fishes are Angels and Copperband Butterfly’s. Third, fourth, fifth are Tangs, Wrasses and spotted mandarins.
Copperbands – the longest I kept one was 13 years. Today I have one in my 180, a pair in my 120. According to my friend Minh (Orion on website) the shape of the forehead determines male or female. All shipped from Wisconsin Live Aquaria, my luck from anywhere else did not end well. Everyone I have ever owned is a pig when it comes to eating, including aptasia. When I walk up to the tank they are the first fish to greet me.
Regal angels #1 on my list for angels and I love making pairs. Slow growing so if you buy a juvenile it will do well in a 20 gallon to start, must have live rock to pick on. I actually purchased a 1.25” Redsea juvenile from NYaquatics many years ago that did well in a 29g for months before going into my 300DD, where the 4” male beat her up for a day and then they were a match. Right now I have a Maldives in my 180 that I have had for 6+ years. For 3 years I had two that got along very well but the larger one grew too slow and the smaller caught up to the larger and the fight was on. I have one juvenile in a 40g that will probably go to Minh to pair with a captive bred. Two in my office in a 20g that get along well, one is 1.5” and the other 1” both eating well. And then I have an adult mis-bar Maldives waiting to go from the 29 g QT to the 180 when I sell the larger imperator to one of my LFS. Hopefully to match to the 6+ year old that is only 3”+. If that doesn’t work the 3” will go to a friend and the juvenile in 40 will get placed in 180. Juvenile Regal’s from Maldives are bullet proof. I like Redsea but are non-existent in my world. Mostly cave dwellers that come out for food and then back in. Some may ask what happens when mine out grows my tank. If they do, I know a fish store that would love getting a fat Regal that is eating.
Imperators #2a. Once again very easy making pairs with an adult with a juvenile or sometimes two juveniles. Problems very aggressive and except for the one, they always outgrow my tank because they love to swim the entire tank versus the other angels. Lucky for me I have an LFS that has clients with very large tanks. At this time I have a large male adult starting its streamer and a captive bred juvenile
Blueface Angels #2b. Pairs easily made with adult and either sub-adult or juvenile. Mine have always been cave dwellers come out to eat and go back. The one in my office comes out when he knows it is feeding time and loves pellets more than frozen. I have a pair in my 180 with an adult I grew from a sub-adult state and a juvenile
Flame angels #3. Love keep either a pair or a harem. Pointed fins are male and females have rounded fins. Easier to pair small ones because most mediums and large are males at the stores. I did have a small male and a larger female trade places once but it happened in a tank that was full of liverock so the smaller male had many places to hide until the change. I have pairs in the 120 and 180, they lay eggs all the time.
#4 Golden Angels. They would be my #1 with their cute face but they are so secretive even my captive bred hides most of the time till feeding. My first pair came from Wisconsin Live Aquaria. The rumor has it Kevin had them in his office tank? My pair now in the 40g was made from a medium Wisconsin Live Aquaria wild caught and a captive bred baby from Quality Marine.
Tangs – Black is #1 I lost mine after eight years due to adding a chemical to my tank for algae control. I have a 2” 90% black/10% scopas in my 40. Captive bred yellow in my 180 from Biota. Powder Blue and Purple tang in my 120. Not sure why these two get along but they do, maybe it is the 10 times daily feeding and the fact I do not clean two sides of the tank so they are busy feeding all the time?
Wrasses – I had a Black leopard pair that now reside with a friend, the best was a Diamond Tail that kept all others in check. When he died my Male Flame wrasse killed off the female, a pintail male, a yellow fin male. Only the leopards and one other wrasse made it. Sold him when I took down my 310, of course who would of thunk of the Hawaiian ban. Possum Wrasse is nice, I have one in my 180 for years.
Spotted Mandarins - I have a pair in the 120g, an individual in the 20 gallon sucking up red bugs. Never lost a spotted and they eat frozen very well. Tail Spot Blenny is nice, I have one in my 180. I also have a pair of clowns in both tanks.
Other fish I kept – Chrysurus angels are very hardy, I had two never lost one. Whenever I down sized I traded them to my LFS. Pair of captive bred Navarchus Angels I sold to Minh. I love clown triggers but juveniles cost too much today and I got tired of trading them back in at the LFS. I bought three one time for $30 and that lasted a week before I had to sell two. But I spoke with a couple once who loved having their three in their tank for years.
After all this what you do is your business, one fish may work for you but will not work for another no matter the tank size. I had a friend who had a Desjardin's sailfin tang in a 5’ tank that grew to 8” and didn’t even seemed stressed. Just a giant puppy dog. When she took down the tank she made sure it went to a 300+ gallon tank. Which it was then sold to someone else because it hated every fish in the 300+ tank.
I have enjoyed keeping captive bred angels and tangs, the only exception is the regal angel. To me they sell them too small. Once again that’s my take, your results may differ.
Even in the wild things are not always the same. I watched a documentary once of a group of powder blues and each one had like 2 square feet of reef to feed on and control. Once in a while one would go over their line and the fight was on. Then came a school of convict tangs and all the powder blues joined together to run the convicts off. Spending time with your fish is definitely essential to keeping healthy fish and feeding often.
Sorry no pictures, I figured if I posted pictures of all my fish Rev would want me to pay for the space.
I do love R2r.
My aquariums right now Home 180g, 40g and 29. Office 120 and a 20g. My tanks at home I feel I neglect them since they only get a few hours of my attention every day. Whereas office tanks get 11 hours a day with 6 frozen feedings and pellets from a pellet feeder 4 times a day. Coral comes down to GSP, Mushrooms and Euphyllia except the 120 my Blue Face eats everything but mushrooms. When it comes down to it I love my angels more than coral.
My tanks over the years at home 135 up to 200, then up to 300D, down to 180, back up to 310, down to 120, back to 180 and 120 went to work. And yes because with all the changing I am either buying more fish or trading them back in. Did I mention my LFS loves me.
My favorite fishes are Angels and Copperband Butterfly’s. Third, fourth, fifth are Tangs, Wrasses and spotted mandarins.
Copperbands – the longest I kept one was 13 years. Today I have one in my 180, a pair in my 120. According to my friend Minh (Orion on website) the shape of the forehead determines male or female. All shipped from Wisconsin Live Aquaria, my luck from anywhere else did not end well. Everyone I have ever owned is a pig when it comes to eating, including aptasia. When I walk up to the tank they are the first fish to greet me.
Regal angels #1 on my list for angels and I love making pairs. Slow growing so if you buy a juvenile it will do well in a 20 gallon to start, must have live rock to pick on. I actually purchased a 1.25” Redsea juvenile from NYaquatics many years ago that did well in a 29g for months before going into my 300DD, where the 4” male beat her up for a day and then they were a match. Right now I have a Maldives in my 180 that I have had for 6+ years. For 3 years I had two that got along very well but the larger one grew too slow and the smaller caught up to the larger and the fight was on. I have one juvenile in a 40g that will probably go to Minh to pair with a captive bred. Two in my office in a 20g that get along well, one is 1.5” and the other 1” both eating well. And then I have an adult mis-bar Maldives waiting to go from the 29 g QT to the 180 when I sell the larger imperator to one of my LFS. Hopefully to match to the 6+ year old that is only 3”+. If that doesn’t work the 3” will go to a friend and the juvenile in 40 will get placed in 180. Juvenile Regal’s from Maldives are bullet proof. I like Redsea but are non-existent in my world. Mostly cave dwellers that come out for food and then back in. Some may ask what happens when mine out grows my tank. If they do, I know a fish store that would love getting a fat Regal that is eating.
Imperators #2a. Once again very easy making pairs with an adult with a juvenile or sometimes two juveniles. Problems very aggressive and except for the one, they always outgrow my tank because they love to swim the entire tank versus the other angels. Lucky for me I have an LFS that has clients with very large tanks. At this time I have a large male adult starting its streamer and a captive bred juvenile
Blueface Angels #2b. Pairs easily made with adult and either sub-adult or juvenile. Mine have always been cave dwellers come out to eat and go back. The one in my office comes out when he knows it is feeding time and loves pellets more than frozen. I have a pair in my 180 with an adult I grew from a sub-adult state and a juvenile
Flame angels #3. Love keep either a pair or a harem. Pointed fins are male and females have rounded fins. Easier to pair small ones because most mediums and large are males at the stores. I did have a small male and a larger female trade places once but it happened in a tank that was full of liverock so the smaller male had many places to hide until the change. I have pairs in the 120 and 180, they lay eggs all the time.
#4 Golden Angels. They would be my #1 with their cute face but they are so secretive even my captive bred hides most of the time till feeding. My first pair came from Wisconsin Live Aquaria. The rumor has it Kevin had them in his office tank? My pair now in the 40g was made from a medium Wisconsin Live Aquaria wild caught and a captive bred baby from Quality Marine.
Tangs – Black is #1 I lost mine after eight years due to adding a chemical to my tank for algae control. I have a 2” 90% black/10% scopas in my 40. Captive bred yellow in my 180 from Biota. Powder Blue and Purple tang in my 120. Not sure why these two get along but they do, maybe it is the 10 times daily feeding and the fact I do not clean two sides of the tank so they are busy feeding all the time?
Wrasses – I had a Black leopard pair that now reside with a friend, the best was a Diamond Tail that kept all others in check. When he died my Male Flame wrasse killed off the female, a pintail male, a yellow fin male. Only the leopards and one other wrasse made it. Sold him when I took down my 310, of course who would of thunk of the Hawaiian ban. Possum Wrasse is nice, I have one in my 180 for years.
Spotted Mandarins - I have a pair in the 120g, an individual in the 20 gallon sucking up red bugs. Never lost a spotted and they eat frozen very well. Tail Spot Blenny is nice, I have one in my 180. I also have a pair of clowns in both tanks.
Other fish I kept – Chrysurus angels are very hardy, I had two never lost one. Whenever I down sized I traded them to my LFS. Pair of captive bred Navarchus Angels I sold to Minh. I love clown triggers but juveniles cost too much today and I got tired of trading them back in at the LFS. I bought three one time for $30 and that lasted a week before I had to sell two. But I spoke with a couple once who loved having their three in their tank for years.
After all this what you do is your business, one fish may work for you but will not work for another no matter the tank size. I had a friend who had a Desjardin's sailfin tang in a 5’ tank that grew to 8” and didn’t even seemed stressed. Just a giant puppy dog. When she took down the tank she made sure it went to a 300+ gallon tank. Which it was then sold to someone else because it hated every fish in the 300+ tank.
I have enjoyed keeping captive bred angels and tangs, the only exception is the regal angel. To me they sell them too small. Once again that’s my take, your results may differ.
Even in the wild things are not always the same. I watched a documentary once of a group of powder blues and each one had like 2 square feet of reef to feed on and control. Once in a while one would go over their line and the fight was on. Then came a school of convict tangs and all the powder blues joined together to run the convicts off. Spending time with your fish is definitely essential to keeping healthy fish and feeding often.
Sorry no pictures, I figured if I posted pictures of all my fish Rev would want me to pay for the space.
I do love R2r.
