Fish Help

[kyle sicard]

Hi right now I have a 125g saltwater reef tank and my current fish are a large yellow tang a medium sized clown fish and a lawnmower bleeny and some crabs snails and shrimp. At my local store they have california stingrays and a black and orange batfish. I've been looking to get them for some time because i recently had a disease infect my tank killing all my fish ,but my clown fish anyways my tank is currently healthy growing all kinds of things and all fish are healthy. But anyways I was wondering if these 2 fish are suitable for my tank and if not what do I need to do to make my tank suitable. I'm currently doing 1 waterchange a week so my tank is clean i assure you. Also I believe my blenny got sucked into my sump so any suggestions on how to find him in there ,because he's been missing today for 3 hrs. I also jsut put him in today. Please help me with this fish problem ,because i'd really like to have these two fish they'd be such great additions to my tank.

Thanks Kyle Sicard

Oh yeah i forgot to mention I'm ordering more tangs and some gobies so tell me if these fish are compatible with these two fish (California Stingray and not sure the name but its a black and orange trimmed bat fish.

 

[SkiFletch]

The stingray, not so much, it will outgrow the tank quickly. the batfish... Probably, although admittedly I'm no pro on their requrements.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Batfish, especially Platax pinnatus (Dusky Batfish) have a very low survival rate in tanks, and P. pinnatus outgrows that lovely orange stripe and turns into a big, gray spadefish as an adult. If you're really set on owning a bat/spadefish, I would suggest P. tiera or P. orbicularis, they have the best survival rates.

P. pinnatus juvenile

P. pinnatus adult

Further batfish/spadefish reading.

 

[matt295]

the stingray is definitely no good. the batfish also is no good, they get very tall, some past 2 feet i think and like Tyler said, they have a very low survival rat.

What kinds of tangs are you getting because there might be some problems in that small of a tank

 

[kyle sicard]

the stingray is definitely no good. the batfish also is no good, they get very tall, some past 2 feet i think and like Tyler said, they have a very low survival rat.

What kinds of tangs are you getting because there might be some problems in that small of a tank

I'm getting a few more tangs and yesterday i picked up a blue tang ,but other then my yellow and blue tang i'll be getting a naso tang, powder brown tang, and an achilles tang. Also i might get a cpl neon gobies.

Batfish, especially Platax pinnatus (Dusky Batfish) have a very low survival rate in tanks, and P. pinnatus outgrows that lovely orange stripe and turns into a big, gray spadefish as an adult. If you're really set on owning a bat/spadefish, I would suggest P. tiera or P. orbicularis, they have the best survival rates.

P. pinnatus juvenile

P. pinnatus adult

Further batfish/spadefish reading.

They sure get ugly as an adult thanks for the heads up on the batfish =)

The stingray, not so much, it will outgrow the tank quickly. the batfish... Probably, although admittedly I'm no pro on their requrements.

Is there any way i can get a stingray that will remain a size suitable for my 125g tank?

Oh ya i bought 2 blue madrines ,because they look neat and are pretty intresting ,but the guy at the fish store said that they eat a strict diet of cocca pods and he said i should order some. He said they should be fine for a little bit since cocca pods grow on corals. Any places that i can order the cocca pods?

 

[kyle sicard]

Also I saw a snowflake moray eel at the store and I was about to buy it ,but then i quickly learned of their houdini tricks and the guy did say I met all the requirements in my tank.

 

[Lynden]

I think adult batfish have an elegant look. Anyways, they do outgrow most home tanks, and I would recommend 180 gallons for most species. Fenner recommends much less as a minimum, but they would look out of place to my eyes. They are, however, rather easy to keep; only the aformentioned Platax pinnatus does poorly in captivity, for reasons not always understood.

The california stingray is a temperate species if I'm not mistaken, and so cannot live indefinitely in tropical reef tanks. I'm not aware of any species that can be kept long term in a 125 gallon.

What tangs were you looking at? They would probably be a better option for a 120 gallon than a bat or ray. I wouldn't recommend the Achilles unless you can find one that is healthy, and I also wouldn't recommend the naso for size reasons. But there are a great many species that could be kept in your tank.

"cocca pods".... by this could you mean 'copepods'? They can be ordered off the internet. With two mandarins it would be best to do it quite frequently to prevent starvation. Also, keep an eye out for fighting, in case you happened to get two males. They will bite at each others' finnage.

 

[kyle sicard]

I think adult batfish have an elegant look. Anyways, they do outgrow most home tanks, and I would recommend 180 gallons for most species. Fenner recommends much less as a minimum, but they would look out of place to my eyes. They are, however, rather easy to keep; only the aformentioned Platax pinnatus does poorly in captivity, for reasons not always understood.

The california stingray is a temperate species if I'm not mistaken, and so cannot live indefinitely in tropical reef tanks. I'm not aware of any species that can be kept long term in a 125 gallon.

What tangs were you looking at? They would probably be a better option for a 120 gallon than a bat or ray. I wouldn't recommend the Achilles unless you can find one that is healthy, and I also wouldn't recommend the naso for size reasons. But there are a great many species that could be kept in your tank.

"cocca pods".... by this could you mean 'copepods'? They can be ordered off the internet. With two mandarins it would be best to do it quite frequently to prevent starvation. Also, keep an eye out for fighting, in case you happened to get two males. They will bite at each others' finnage.

I was planning on getting one of the smaller naso tangs ,but I still belive my yellow tang would be bigger then a large naso tang ,because it is the largest yellow tang i've ever seen