# yellow tang



## Kfightfire (Feb 13, 2010)

Hey, i have a 29 gal. biocube that i started 2 months ago. i have a clarks clown, coral beauty, mandrine goby, and royal gramma as of right now. I wanted to know if a yellow tang would be too large for my tank. and if it is, i want to find an alternate chioce for a good cleaner fish that is reef safe. or any other options that would bring not only a beautiful colorful fish to my tank but a beneficial fish aswell. 


Thank you.


----------



## Highland lake13 (Nov 16, 2008)

Unfortunately I don't think a yellow tang makes alot of sense in this tank. You have a very diverse set of livestock for a 29G and some people, that will follow me, will critize this. But the issue of a tang in a nano tank has been dicussed here before on other threads with passion. Being a nano tank owner I know the difficulties of stocking a tank correctly, and instead of a tang if you are looking to clean up algea I would suggest an emerald crab. They are reef safe if fed properly and are fun to look at. They also do an amazing job. Mine cleaned my tank of all hair algea within a week or so of first being introduced. I know you said that you wanted a fish but I can't think of any fish that can preform this task in a nano. So skip the tang and look towards inverts is my suggestion.


----------



## Highland lake13 (Nov 16, 2008)

Well I just did research on your aquarium and of course you are many steps ahead of me on the invert idea. Sorry for the bad info. I would still recommend skipping to tang unless you have plans to upgrade your tank in the very near future. Hope this helps

+Cam


----------



## Kfightfire (Feb 13, 2010)

Highland lake13 said:


> Unfortunately I don't think a yellow tang makes alot of sense in this tank. You have a very diverse set of livestock for a 29G and some people, that will follow me, will critize this. But the issue of a tang in a nano tank has been dicussed here before on other threads with passion. Being a nano tank owner I know the difficulties of stocking a tank correctly, and instead of a tang if you are looking to clean up algea I would suggest an emerald crab. They are reef safe if fed properly and are fun to look at. They also do an amazing job. Mine cleaned my tank of all hair algea within a week or so of first being introduced. I know you said that you wanted a fish but I can't think of any fish that can preform this task in a nano. So skip the tang and look towards inverts is my suggestion.


 
Thank you for the advice,
yea i had a emerald crab, but out of nowhere he died. i have no idea why, my levels were good and i was feeding brown algea as well every other day. im going to pick up another one soon. any idea what fish would be suitable for my tank?


----------



## NC Frank (Aug 24, 2009)

Your tank is way too small for a tang. I wouldn't get a tang unless the tank was 6 feet long. They need some serious swimming space. I won't put one in my 46 and I already know that I am upgrading to a 180 minimum.

Your mandarin goby won't last long unless you are target feeding him every day. I don't know what the exact numbers are but I believe you need over 100 pounds of WELL ESTABLISHED live rock for the fish to stand a chance of surviving. There is a person on this site with over 200 pounds of live rock and is having difficulty with keeping a mandarin. Please don't tell me that you are feeding tigr pods as these are cold water pods that LFS try to push on people with mandarins. They will not reproduce in your tank.


----------



## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

NC Frank said:


> Your tank is way too small for a tang. I wouldn't get a tang unless the tank was 6 feet long. They need some serious swimming space. I won't put one in my 46 and I already know that I am upgrading to a 180 minimum.
> 
> Your mandarin goby won't last long unless you are target feeding him every day. I don't know what the exact numbers are but I believe you need over 100 pounds of WELL ESTABLISHED live rock for the fish to stand a chance of surviving. There is a person on this site with over 200 pounds of live rock and is having difficulty with keeping a mandarin. Please don't tell me that you are feeding tigr pods as these are cold water pods that LFS try to push on people with mandarins. They will not reproduce in your tank.


Frank I was going to post the same exact thing you did about the Mandarin. A sump with Live Rock and a DSB also help in the reproduction of the Natural pods in your tank.

Funny thing is that everyone I have ever challenged on the issue tells me, "My Mandarin eats prepared foods." I do not understand how I am the only fishkeeper that has a Mandarin that eats naturally...

p.s. - Frank, I did not know that Tigger Pods were cold water pods. Where did you get that info? I would like to show that to my LFS, as he is one notorious for pushing tigger pods. I have been lucky enough that my pod population is through the roof (I am not a fan of spending $20 a bottle for Tigger Pods). I have had a Mandarin for well over a year who was both in my 150 and 46 (only a short while in the 46, I bought him the same day I bought the 150 gallon tank)...


----------



## n1zjd (Jan 25, 2010)

Im not trying to say anyone is right OR wrong here, but my LFS has several Mandarins and Ive watched them eat her prepared food many times. In fact, she has one thats been in a 20G tank for at least a month since Ive been going there and its getting fatter! Now dont get me wrong, Im sure not all will eat prepared foods like this but there are some that will.


----------



## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

I have personally witnessed my friend's Bullseye Mandarin eat prepared food. I know it is possible. I just think that the majority of people would have Mandarins that only eat pods. It just seems that I am one of the few people that have a natural-eating Mandarin. And not that I mind that, it would just be nice if I could get that Mandarin to come out for feeding time, because he stays hidden in the rockwork hunting for pods all day.


----------



## n1zjd (Jan 25, 2010)

I hear ya, and that might be one of the big differences to my LFS being able to get them to eat prepared foods. All of the tanks that have livestock/corals in them DONT have live rock/established reefs for them to hide in for cover. Maybe that makes a big difference in getting them started on prepared foods. I dunno.


----------



## NC Frank (Aug 24, 2009)

wake49 said:


> Frank I was going to post the same exact thing you did about the Mandarin. A sump with Live Rock and a DSB also help in the reproduction of the Natural pods in your tank.
> 
> Funny thing is that everyone I have ever challenged on the issue tells me, "My Mandarin eats prepared foods." I do not understand how I am the only fishkeeper that has a Mandarin that eats naturally...
> 
> p.s. - Frank, I did not know that Tigger Pods were cold water pods. Where did you get that info? I would like to show that to my LFS, as he is one notorious for pushing tigger pods. I have been lucky enough that my pod population is through the roof (I am not a fan of spending $20 a bottle for Tigger Pods). I have had a Mandarin for well over a year who was both in my 150 and 46 (only a short while in the 46, I bought him the same day I bought the 150 gallon tank)...



My LFS told me not to buy Tigger Pods because they are cold water pods and that they would not reproduce in at tropical temps (he actually sells them). They rarely survive in a display and the people who I know that have cultured them have done so at room temp (68 to 70) and harvest them for their display.

Trying to find you a link I found a bunch of people saying what I said about breeding and display tank survival but nothing definitive on the topic.


----------

