Saw an amazing tank last night, but...

[coachfraley]

So last night, I went over to a guys house (from my local reef club) to buy a powerhead from him.

So I see his tank in the living room, and it is just plain NUTS! It is one of the new 28g JBJ HQI Nanocubes. The aquascaping is perfect, it is FULL of thriving corals, his xenia is pulsing like crazy, he has rics that are almost as big as CD's, some crazy zoas I have never seen before, and not a spec of visible algae... I mean the thing is picture perfect.

So it is so nice, that it takes me a while to notice the fish, lol. But check out what he has: a pair of black O. clowns, a blue hippo tang (very small, about 2"), a green mandarin goby, and a naked clown? (which is a clown without any stripes at all). There actually could have been more fish in there, but that is all I saw.

I know a lot of people will be upset by his fish choices... but sometimes when you see a tank that nice, it is hard to argue with the results! Obviously, the tang is a horrible long term choice, and I assumed he was only going to keep it until it got a little bigger. But I honestly didn't even think about saying anything because his tank just looked so awesome.

On the other hand, if the tank had been full of algae, closed up corals, and stressed fish, I might have had the courage to comment on his choices. Anyway, I am going to stop rambling now.

[GreenTerrorNYC]

For the record, i know nothing about saltwater fish, why is his fish choice a bad idea. ? Im curious.

FYI, big als has something similar as a deal
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...iocube29gallon

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

That tank is a poor choice for the tang at any size. At 2" that fish is ready to be in a 55-75gal tank already. The "naked clown" is likely Amphiprion ephippium - Fire Clown. The Mandarin is going to be a difficult one in there as well due to the tank not being able to produce enough pods to keep up with the demand. Even if he has a refugium for it there isn't enough volume there. You need a lot of well established live rock and live sand to keep up with the demands of those fish. If you saw no algae in that tank then I suspect he did a pretty good cleaning before everyone showed up. That kind of a bioload in such a small tank is insane. I suspect the results are in fact a false impression.

GT, that fish is a poor choice because of size, aggression, and swimming room. Paracantharus heptus gets to be 12-14 inches long and is one the most aggressive tangs available. At even 2" long they need nothing less than 48 inches of swimming space.

[coachfraley]

I would just like to be clear that I am in no way abdicating his choice in fish, I was just relaying an experience.

The tang police scare me!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I understand. Sorry if it sounded like my post was directed to you coach, it was actually to inform anyone thinking of a SW tank that it was a poor choice.

I am actually considering a P. heptus for my tank. :) Believe me, I'm not on the Tang police squad. LOL

[GreenTerrorNYC]

Thaqnks for the info, yes 12-14 inches in a 28 gallon is not so good. But maybe he will be upgrading in the future, who knows.

[zackish]

I have come to realize there are many different ways to keep fish and such and everyones way is diffent and they have their own way of keeping fish.

[NickFish]

The tank may be good for now, but who knows, when the fish grow he WILL be in a lot of trouble.

Still, maybe he was just keeping the tang for a friend or something, who knows?

You need to get back there and take a pic of his tank, lol.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I have come to realize there are many different ways to keep fish and such and everyones way is diffent and they have their own way of keeping fish.

You are quite right about this, however there are still some standards that should be met. At what point does it cross the line to inhumane treatment of animals? When a fish is in a tank that is entirely too small, to the point that it doesn't have the proper room to grow or swim, it becomes a matter in inhumane treatment.

The danger in that argument is that it opens you up to being tolerant of dyed fish. In some cultures, it is perfectly acceptable to dye fish or keep them in environments that are too small. So since it is a part of their culture, are we then going to jump up and down and scream and holler that these practices are inhumane? Of course we are, and we will do so because, weather we want to admit it or not, our views of certain humane treatments are absolutes. However, it seems with fish, the idea of humane treatment has too broad of a definition. The view that "it is just a fish" seems to be all to prevalent.

So in short, we have absolute standards for the humane treatment of animals such as dogs, cats, and farm animals, then we need to set an absolute standard for what is acceptable for our fish.

This rant isn't directed at anyone, it is just a rant that hopefully is eye-opening to the reality of how fish are treated. This tank is a perfect example of a case of providing completely inappropriate housing for a living creature.

[zackish]

Who is to say that a small tang cannot be put in a smaller tank like that. How can you actually tell that the fish is stressed out etc. etc.