# The nicest Hardy saltwater fish???



## kevinkkay

Well, I switched my giant regal for a smaller powder blue tang last week, that was a bust.... powder blue died while I was at work today from ick. morning, ick'd but fat and feeding... night DEAD, so I figure start fresh, I emptied out tank to find gobies and catch chromis and other fish to quarantine in med tank.... officially, I HATE POWDER BLUE TANGS with a passion now. My other fish should survive the on slaught of ick cure they are going to go through the next 6 weeks but I still would like a nice centre piece fish. 

I had a 1ft blue regal tang for 4 years, he got ick too once in a while but he was tough enough to handle it, his cleaner shrimp helped him out a bit too. In six weeks or so I am going to get a new center peace for my aquarium. Any suggestions on some nice fish similar in size but more hardy? 

Thanks


----------



## Pasfur

I looked at your profile and prior posts, trying to find more information. In order to give you good advice we are going to need specifics about your tank. What size tank and what type of filtration. Live rock? Corals? Any invertebrates? Sand or aragonite? Nitrate readings?

In most cases, in a marine aquarium, fish do not thrive unless given adequate space to grow into their adult size in the aquarium. For most of us, the Acanthurus tang species are going to be a poor choice, because this would require a 180 aquarium or larger.

Filtration is important to understand the types and frequency of maintanance you will be doing. When we speak of fish being "sensitive", part of this means that they don't really enjoy the aquarium environment being messed with. Which includes frequent water changes, medications, etc. 

The Powder Blue Tang fits both of these descriptions, needing a very large tank as a juvenile, and needed near perfect water conditions. 

Another concern is the 6 week waiting period you mention. Almost 100% of the aquarium literature today written on Cryptocarion says to wait a minimum of 60 days, and many sources suggest 90 days. Sorry to provide this bad news.

If you provide some more info, we can help recommend some suitable fish.


----------



## kevinkkay

I have a 120g tank fish with around 120lbs live rock no sand/crushed coral, today I emptied all water out and tried to do complete clean overhaul of rocks and inverts, basically washed everything off with clean saltwater. Now its just the inverts in there with rocks. There are around 20 hermits, 2 emerald crabs, 1 sally crab, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp. 

Fish going through quarnatine in 33g tank are, 1 -> 3" green mandarin, 2 -> 3" clown fish (nemo), 12 -> 4" green chromis. 

2 ritteri anemone put in 20 gallon tank with a few pieces of live rock. Will keep them there during quarantine.

The tank itself has 2 Rio Plus 2500 powerhead/pump, aquaclear 110 filter, Octopus Skimmers RC300, Coralife Aqua Chill cooler, coralife light, heater, bubble maker.

readings are temp at 76, sg at 1.021, ph is at 8.0 ppm, Alkalinity at 9dKH,
water change once a month, i check #'s everyday, takes a few seconds. 

Went back to fish store and talked to aquaintance/sales person there, he offered to give back my old Regal blue tang, but I opted out for credit, I wanna new centre piece, besides he grew over a 1ft long and was kinda cramped up in the tank, thats why I initially switched him for the powder blue last week. 

For quarnatine, i read a lot of different suggestions, I think I will tough it out.... boohoohoo and wait the 90 day suggestions. But I want to buy my new fish ASAP so I can place it in quarantine asap also. So I would like a nice show fish that fits perfect for the 120g but it has to aggressive enough to make chromis shoal once in a while but not completely stress them out or even eat them like my old blue regal used to do. Any suggestions for suitable fish as tough as ol' blue-eee used to be hahaha.

Thanks


----------



## Pasfur

Options are limited in a reef aquarium, so i would probably stick with another species of Tang. If you are really looking for something special, look as some of the more exotic species. A Chevron Tang is my first thought, because they are somewhat rare, but are not a difficult species to keep. They become a beautiful orange color with very attractive markings.


----------

