Tank Pics

[Musho3210]

Yes, take out the tang......

HAHA, musho

have you got a tang??

nope , i just have my rule that i got through various sources, certain experiances, seeing tangs in motion, other peoples thoughts, owners experiance, spending time just staring into tang tanks until my mom gets bored, and made my conclusion which is in my siggy. I am a dedicated member of the tang police.

Anyway i wouldnt buy macro algae seeing that its so easy to get free.

 

[Lynden]

Yes, take out the tang......

Give me a break. This has nothing to do with the problem and the tang will be perfectly fine in a 60 gallon tank for a long time to come. Really getting sick and tired of these "tang police". Seriously, do you people have any evidence AT ALL, that isn't an anecdote, regarding the need for all tangs to have huge tanks?

Triggerobsessed, I suspect any macroalgae in your tank will be dissassembled by your fish in a few weeks. This solution is only effective if one has a seperate tank (refugium) to house the algae. In the meantime, try using granular ferric oxide. It comes under a wide range of names but can usually be identified by it's colour and shape: it often looks like "little clay balls". This product is highly effective at lowering phosphates and nitrates.

Zeolite can help sometimes, as well, but this is best used on an established tank to keep nitrates from rising; it's effect is painfully minimal.

Living sponges should only be purchased if the tank is in perfect condition, as any algae or cyanobacteria growth can smother the decorative ones. Furthermore, feeding the larger ornamental sponges will add to your nitrate problem. So in short, you are right, they are difficult to keep. But the small ones that grow under live rock (I've got tons of 'em) form part of the effective filtration of natural live rock.

 

[Musho3210]

Yes, take out the tang......

Give me a break. This has nothing to do with the problem and the tang will be perfectly fine in a 60 gallon tank for a long time to come. Really getting sick and tired of these "tang police". Seriously, do you people have any evidence AT ALL, that isn't an anecdote, regarding the need for all tangs to have huge tanks?

Triggerobsessed, I suspect any macroalgae in your tank will be dissassembled by your fish in a few weeks. This solution is only effective if one has a seperate tank (refugium) to house the algae. In the meantime, try using granular ferric oxide. It comes under a wide range of names but can usually be identified by it's colour and shape: it often looks like "little clay balls". This product is highly effective at lowering phosphates and nitrates.

Zeolite can help sometimes, as well, but this is best used on an established tank to keep nitrates from rising; it's effect is painfully minimal.

Living sponges should only be purchased if the tank is in perfect condition, as any algae or cyanobacteria growth can smother the decorative ones. Furthermore, feeding the larger ornamental sponges will add to your nitrate problem. So in short, you are right, they are difficult to keep. But the small ones that grow under live rock (I've got tons of 'em) form part of the effective filtration of natural live rock.

No, we are just a special handful of people with an abnormally large sized heart, have very very very slight ties with PETA, who like to exadurate.

 

[Lynden]

OK. Large Acanthurus and all Naso, Prionurus do often live in the surge zone or are pelagic to begin with. Within these genera I agree with you. But this is not the case with Zebrasoma, Ctenochaetus and many smaller Acanthurus, and Paracanthurus. These fishes live one the reef, just like many of the other fish people keep in reasonably sized tanks. They require a tank proportionate to their size, just like most other fish. In fact many triggerfish and larger angels require much bigger tanks proportionately than reef-living tangs, and on par with the largest Naso and Acanthurus, if their territorial behaviour is to function properly.

Also, "abnormally large sized heart". Perhaps I would agree with you, assuming these hearts are proportionately large when compared to the brain (like those of the vast majority of PETA supporters).

By the above I mean, do you honestly think that flaming people about a fish that you think is in a tank to small will do any good whatsoever? The answer is, no, it will not. If you choose to restrict yourself from all tangs unless you have a huge tank, I feel sorry for you; you're mindlessly depriving yourself of beautiful and useful fish, and what's more, deriving some sort of false nobility from it. Which is, luckily, not my problem. Nor is it Triggerobsessed's, or any others you attempt to belittle and look down upon.

-Lynden

 

[Musho3210]

no, im not getting a tang until i get a 6 footer (if i ever do) and this is only for a yellow tang, i might be missing out but wont make me hypocritical. These things are active, and big, so i think they deserve a big tank. If you dont agree with me its fine, i exadurate all fish in tank sizes anyway.

 

[Lynden]

Fair enough... not to late to revoke being a "tang policeman". You realize in a six-footer you could have all kinds of tangs, and that they would do just fine; hell, you could have a whole pack of yellows. Remember that when compared to the ocean, a 60 gallon and a 150 gallon are really much the same... a drop in the bucket. Doesn't matter much to the fish.

Either way, try not to flame people for keeping tangs in "small tanks". Really like saying "my god is better than your god".

 

[shibby]

yeh tang police is well annoying!!!

if you think about it any tank is too small, imagine taking your tank and placing it in the sea that will put things in proportion.

my rule. tangs in 65impgal if a small tang but preferbly the bigger the better :

 

[Lynden]

At least the majority (but likely all) of aquarium experts agree that the minimum tank size for the yellow tang and Ctenochaetus is something around 60 US gallons. These are the smallest tangs, and this tank size is perfectly reasonable. It is safe to assume that if someone is a "tang police", that they haven't took any type of scientific evidence - or even logical, sane reasoning - into account, and therefore are not worthy of the title "expert", or sometimes even that of "sane person".

 

[Triggerobsessed]

well ive tried every phosphate removing media, and did a %40 water change. The corals still refuse to open up even after 2 days....I dont know what to do

 

[SkiFletch]

phosphates:15ppm

DAMN!

Wow just back-read this thread and there's your problem... Phosphates are an irritant to corals at levels as low as 1ppm or less. 15ppm would be like you taking a bath in jalepeno pepper concentrate. Ouch.

Nitrates of around 20ppm aren't that bad, especially not for a tank full of softies. Were it my tank, I'd do another drastic waterchange and get a phosphate reactor with some rowaphos/phosban/other GFO. Have you tested your input water for phosphates? Could be part of the problem...

 

[AK77]

I saw that too but thought he meant 0.15ppm. If it is 15ppm.. DAMN!!!!!

Do you not have a QT with some temporary lighting that you could place the corals into for the time being?

 

[Triggerobsessed]

ok i did a huge water change and loaded my filters full of phosphate removers, and my corals have opened up! The phosphate levels are now around 5ppm and nitrates are mostly gone, about.08ppm. I plan to take all the chromises out, and the tang to reduce the waste being produced. Anyone want chromises? The water going into the tank goes through a brand new RO unit so i think i just need to take some stuff out lol.

 

[SkiFletch]

Cool, do you check the TDS of your RO unit?

 

[Triggerobsessed]

dont know what that is

 

[AK77]

dont know what that is

I've got one of the inline TDS meters. It monitors (depending where you connect it up) the total dissolved salts going in, and the output too. Mine read about 400 going in and 0 coming out.

You can see the red tube coming in (tap water) and the black lead from the TDS meter connecting to it. The other black lead up the top left is reading the filtered water.

It still might be worth testing the RO water with a phosphate kit just to be 100 percent sure that you havent got a faulty membrane or something.