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FAQs about Naso lituratus Systems
Related Articles: Lipstick Tangs,
Naso Tangs, Surgeonfishes/Tangs/Doctorfishes
and Marine Aquariums, Related FAQs:
Lipstick Tangs 1, Lipstick Tangs 2,
Lipstick Tang Identification, Lipstick
Tang Behavior, Lipstick Tang
Compatibility, Lipstick Tang Selection,
Lipstick Tang Feeding, Lipstick Tang
Disease, Lipstick Tang Reproduction,
& & Naso Tangs 1, Naso
Tangs 2, Naso Tangs 3,
Naso ID,
Naso Behavior, Naso Compatibility,
Naso Selection, Naso Systems,
Naso Feeding, Naso Disease,
Naso Reproduction, Surgeons
In General, Tang ID,
Selection, Tang
Behavior,
Compatibility, Systems,
Feeding, Disease, |
The bigger the better... at least a six foot run.... |
Naso lituratus: Aquarium Volume vs. Aquarium Dimensions
– 10/31/09
Dear WWM crew,
<<Greetings Bruce>>
Well I have been reading enough of your FAQ's on Naso lituratus and
other Naso tangs for my wife to think that I have a serious obsession.
<<Oh?>>
The more I read, however, the less I believe that I can accommodate this
fish in my aquarium, which is ironic, since that is why I upgraded!
<<Ah…or should I say…uh-oh!>>
I have a 180 gallon custom tank with an eight foot length, two foot
height, and 18 inch front to back.
<<Mmm…>>
I picked these dimensions to allow for ample swimming room.
<<With maybe the exception of the front-to-back dimension…perhaps there
were limiting factors involved>>
There is a 55 gallon refugium underneath the stand, a GSM 2 skimmer, and
200 pounds of live rock.
<<Is all this rock in the display? Do consider your statement of “ample
swimming room”>>
Current fish are two BG chromis, a bicolor angel, a coral beauty angel,
and a lemon butterfly (C. miliaris). A black back butterfly, C.
melannotus, is on the way.
<<Both Butterflies are good choices for aquarium keeping>>
This is a FOWLR with a few mushrooms. I have read in the FAQ's various
tales of woe with this species, including viciousness, difficulty in
keeping, and overgrown fish for their systems,
<<I assume we’re talking about the Naso here? Quite possibly, yes… But
this can also apply to many other fishes when kept under less than
satisfactory conditions (e.g., growing-up in “too small” an
environment)>>
despite the prevailing presentation among the more reputable online fish
businesses, (i.e. Live Aquaria, Blue Zoo Aquatics) that these fish can
successfully be maintained in a community tank.
<<Oh, and they can…given a big enough tank for the long term. I have a
Naso lituratus that resides peacefully with four other tangs from three
different genera, as well as a Scribbled Rabbitfish and other smaller
reef denizens…also in an 8-foot tank…but with front-to-back and
top-to-bottom dimensions of 30” each…more than doubling the “volume” of
your system>>
So my question is, bottom line, can a Naso lituratus be maintained
happily and for the duration of a "normal" life in a tank of my size
with four or five butterfly fish of about 5 to 7 inches, a few dwarf
angels, and a few smaller fish, such as chromis, Dartfish, clownfish?
<<Recommending suitable fishes for the size of one’s system is often a
hard sell…and there are others that would dispute a tank such as yours
being “too small” for Naso lituratus. But given that these fish have a
possible lifespan of decades, can grow to 12” and more in the home
aquarium (20” in the wild), and become more wide-ranging as they mature
(some might even say…pelagic…)…I do think the 18” front-to-back
dimension of your tank is a limiting factor here>>
Frankly, I think that a tank of my size is about as big as many people
will be getting in their hobby.
<<For many, yes…though it does seem to me that 180g displays, and
larger, are much more common these days>>
While I would like to believe that it would have quite a lot of swimming
room in the eight foot length, I sincerely question whether a one foot
long fish (or more) would be happy living in an 18 inch wide tank.
<<Agreed>>
Thanks for all your help in this bewildering obstacle course we call
marine fish keeping!
Bruce
<<Happy to share Bruce… EricR>>
Naso Tang:
System\Health\Shipping Stress. 3/14/2009
<Hi Paul>
I have a 125 (6' long) all fish.
I have some live rock (1) blue tang, (1) clown, (1) damsel, (1)
mandarin,((1) yellow tang, (3) emerald crabs, (3) cleaner shrimp,
several snails, (2) sally crabs, and several hermit crabs.
<Pretty closed to maxed out as far as stocking is concerned>
All the water parameters are exactly where they should be.
<Actual readings would be helpful.>
The tank has been set up for 6 months and have not had one problem with
it.
I started out with a 30 a couple of years ago and learned from there.
<OK>
Three weeks ago I purchased a (Naso) Tang (west indies?) from
Saltwaterfish.com.
<What kind? I am going to assume Naso lituratus Totally inappropriate
for a tank this size and with this level of stocking.>
When it got here it was very lethargic and couldn't seem to get off of
its side. It carried on approximately two days this way and then started
swimming upright.
<How big was the fish - Fish under four inches rarely adapt to
captivity.
Also, it is imperative to get them eating immediately.>
During this time it didn't eat and I let it go for three more days and
it went back over on its side and never recovered. I subsequently got my
credit for the fish and decided to use it to order a larger Hawaiian
Naso Tang. (after the acclimation period)
<Any Quarantine?>
I put it in the tank and it just laid on its side. After several hours
it righted itself and seemed to be swimming OK.
<Shipping\environmental stress, starvation.>
It has yet to eat and this morning it is listing to one side like the
other one did. I have tried everything I can think of, "entice", krill,
algae, flake food, etc. but it will not eat. The other fish in the tank
are loving the different variety of things I have offered.
<You may want to try some live Brine Shrimp>
Am I missing something? I hate to lose the guy he is very pretty but am
at my wits end. I contacted a local fish store about some help but he
was as clueless as me on what to do.
<There is much to learn here. Firstly, Naso's get BIG, needing hundreds
of gallons. Being in conditions too small will stress them to death.>
If you can give me some advice I would be most appreciative.
<Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/naso.htm and here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/naso_lituratus.htm >
Thanks,
<My Pleasure>
Paul
<Mike>
Naso Tang (Second attempt) HELP!!
Hlth, temp./sys. 3/8/09 Hi Guys, <Joey> In a bit
of a panic and I'm hoping and praying you guys can help. <Will try> 150 US
GAL Reef tank(with 50 GAL sump) , inhabitants are as follows: 1 x yellow tang
approx 4 inches doing very well, nice and thick eating well good coloring and
shape. 1 x powder brown tang doing amazingly. Beautiful specimen, eats well
with no abrasions and is just my pride and joy. 1 x one spot fox face rabbit
fish. Again doing very well and about 4 to possibly 5 inches in length although
not nearly as "massive" as the tangs 4 x blue green chromis. All doing well
and between 1 and 1.5 inches 2 x ocellaris clowns hosted in the same sebae
again doing very well (1 = 2.5 inches , 1 = 3 .5 inches both very hearty) 1 x
blue devil damsel doing well 2 inches 1x lemon (or yellow damsel) doing well
but very very small I would say about 1 inch long Various corals of all
types, leathers, SPS's , LPS, Softs, etc. About 200 LBS of Live Rock (lots of
rock very large structure in the middle of the tank 5 inches or aragonite
mixed with crushed coral bed 50 gallon sump with 1/3 as fuge . about 5 inch
sand bed down there and about 30 pounds of live rock Above display I have an
algae scrubber that is in the process of being established Lighting is :
2x 250W 14000K MH , 2 x 54 Watt T-5 FLO 420 NM , 2 x 54 Watt T-5 FLO 460NM,
9 white 1 w lunars and 9 blue 1 watt lunars. Water parameters are all very
good . There is one item that I'm not confident on however which Is water
temperature. I have been running my tank at about 83 degrees at night and it
peaks at just under 86 (85.8 - 85.9) during the day. <I'd lower this, allow
it to be a big lower... a good five degrees F. or so> There seems to be 2
schools of thought on this. The mid to upper 70's crew and the "keep it as NSW
temps of where the fish came from" crew. Because these are reef animals mostly
from the south pacific or Indonesia I thought it would make sense to run it at
this temperature. <Ahh, no... see WWM re... I've written and debated
extensively re this topic... much better in almost all cases for temperature to
be lower... Don't have the time to hash over again here. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/heatrat.htm and the linked files above> At any rate
here is my issue and why I'm so concerned, well call it scared as honestly
that's what I am right now. A while back I introduced a very healthy looking
Blonde Naso into my tank (no QT and trust me I understand all the reasoning
behind doing the Qt I just haven't had an opportunity to set one up yet although
I definitely need one and it WILL get done believe me!) <I hear you> The
fish was perfect in the store and eating well. I brought him home and initially
he was okay (for the first few minutes) but when I tried to feed he did not show
interest. Then he began to show "black" coloring. And when I say black I mean it
was frightening at first since I had never seen a fish turn completely black
like that. Almost like he had donned a ninja outfit. No heavy breathing or other
behavior that would lead me to believe he was stressed so I thought maybe those
are just his night colors? <Yes.... can be... and patchiness, lighter
blotches... But in a word: stress... from?> I did some searching and didn't
really find anything leading me to believe that NASO's have "night" colors
<Oh, indeed they do. Large Naso lituratus (though I don't condone/suggest this)
are collected for ornamental use at night time... sitting/laying on the
bottom... Have seen many times> so I began to really be concerned. For the
next few days I continued to try without success to get him to eat vigorously.
He would eat the occasional passer by seaweed the others would let slip but
nothing more than that. I thought maybe he was getting bullied but didn't really
see anything to support that. <Often subtle...> Then about the 3rd or 4th
day he began to get a white cotton looking crust around his lips. <Oh, might
have been damaged in collection, holding shipping... not uncommon> It would
almost drift in and out of his mouth occasionally when he breathed. Almost as if
he had a fake mustache that wasn't quite staying on? This went on for
another 2 days and finally he passed on "I assume" because he never came out of
the rocks structure. <Ah no... the question might be... "what caused this
fish to go into the rock structure?"> My Cleaners all disappeared for a day
or so and all reemerged later on at the same time. It was about a week when I
finally gave up all hope that she was alive. I did some research and found
that perhaps the stress of the move caused her to get a fungal infection that
ended up leading to her demise. I did some asking around at the LFS and it turns
out that she had just been brought in that same day when I bought her. A mistake
I will NEVER make again. I should have asked but saw her eating which gave me a
false sense of security. <You're learning> This time I put a slightly
bigger and much thicker specimen in to my tank. Same 2 hour acclimation
process. Very healthy and eating although he had been at the LFS for about a
week. Eating well as well. I put her in last night and immediately began to see
the same type of behavior as the last including the "Black" coloring. I am very
very scared now that she will go the same way the other one did and I just can't
figure it out. Why the Naso? <Mmm, one important factor that you've
mentioned... temperature... and its effect on metabolism AND dissolved oxygen...
need to lower...> I have bought all my fish from the same place and all are
doing amazingly well? Not to mention the powder browns are supposed to be more
difficult to care for than the Naso's ? <... needs more DO> Or at least
that's my understanding. BtW I have tried soaking the food in garlic and also
tried Zoecon with Zoë mixture. (have tried brine, pellet, flakes, and
seaweed of green, purple, brown and red varieties although I understand they
have a preference for the brown) This time no fungus looking white stuff
around the mouth (YET!) but I have noticed whitish markings on her skin . She
had those from the store and they kind of look like just character marking...
just abrasions perhaps. But I'm not sure. I really don't want to lose her .
I would be very grateful for any help you can provide. Thank you very much for
your time. Very Gratefully, I tried to introduce Joey Freyre
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Tang families (sic, genera)
and tank size 2/19/08 Mr Fenner, I would first like to
note that I have read several of your online publications recently and found the
detail to be of great value. Thank you for your efforts in relaying information
to marine hobbyists such as myself. <A pleasure to share; a hope to relate
information of worth> I have a question about the various families of tangs
in relation to their suitable home aquarium size. I read through your
documentation on wetwebmedia.com and there are only a few noted tank volumes
recommended as a minimum for the families; <Ah, genera> the Acanthurus,
Ctenochaetus, and Zebrasoma all note a guideline size starting at 50 gallons. I
was wondering if the data is current, <Mmm, not really is likely a reasonable
response. Having been a content provider in the trade and hobby for... is it
really more than forty years?... much of my in-print work is woefully dated...
and worse... extant w/o this note> and if perhaps you had some additional
recommendations or adjusted recommendations for tank size for any of the 5 major
families on the site? <Well... for most small species of Acanthurus, all the
Bristlemouth and Sailfin species, really a fifty gallon volume that is otherwise
not crowded... will suffice... that is, with otherwise good maintenance,
nutrition... keep these species alive, healthy for something like a "normal"
average maximum life span... However... Some Acanthurus get quite large (saw an
absolutely gorgeous group of five A. blochii yesterday diving off Crescent
Bay/Manta Ray Cove here on HI's Big Island... I do hope my video of them came
out... and I do wish I knew enough re editing, placing such on this/these
devices that I could immediately (if not sooner) share this with you... But
these were all more than a foot long body length (more with their caudals)...
These would need hundreds of gallons... Naso and Prionurus species likewise need
hundreds of gallons... systems of at least a couple metres/six foot "run"/length
to be happy, grow, survive for any real period of time... Oh, and
Paracanthurus... should not be kept in anything smaller than a 75... It should
go w/o saying, but am always aware that many less-sophisticated folk may read
this... that "bigger is better" for sure... behaviorally and physiologically
with these and all other fish groups.> There are several message boards that
I frequent, of which they all have a group of people who state that the minimum
tank size for most tangs would be something with a 6' length, and nothing
smaller than a 75 or even 90 gallon for Zebrasomas or Ctenochaetus. Is there any
data that supports specific sizes for these tangs? <Mmm, anecdotal experience
mostly... There are historical, institutional longevity records for some
species... but these are almost always kept in vastly larger systems... But I've
kept, personally can account for the most popular species care in the stated
volumes by our and other service companies...> I only ask out of curiosity,
personally, I have a 180g tank and have been in the hobby for a couple years,
but would much prefer to gather all the data that I can as a reference. Thank
you for your time, it is much appreciated. Alex Liffick <Thank you for your
interest, asking. I do ask in turn that when you have confidence, time, that you
consider joining our WWM Crew in aiding others. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Tank Size for a Lipstick Tang 7/16/07 Hi there,
<Hello Jonnie, Marie with you today> Just a quick question, I am
thinking about getting a Naso lituratus (Blonde) for my reef set up.
<One of my favorite fish!> What would you say is the minimum tank
size for this fish? I have done my research and have read anything from
75-150 gallons and between 4-6 feet long. I have a 110 gallon, 4 foot
long Aqua Medic bow front. Is this okay? <Scott Michael recommends
180-gallon tank as a minimum. I have a Naso lituratus in my 160-gallon
reef tank, but I personally would not place this fish in a tank any
smaller than that. It also depends on the size of the fish, and what
other fish you have in this tank? These fish can grow to lengths of 18
inches. > Many thanks, Jonnie Culling <Your welcome Jonnie,
good luck>
Tank size for lipstick tang (Naso lituratus)... BIG! 7/15/07
Hi there <Greetings, Mich here.> Just a quick question, <OK.>
thinking about getting a Naso lituratus (Blonde) for my reef set up.
What would you say is the minimum tank size for this fish as I have
done my research and I have read anything from 75g-150g 4ft-6ft. <I
would lean to the high sides of these numbers, if not higher.> I have
a 110-gallon 4ft aqua Medic bow front. Is this o.k. <I think this is
too small for this fish. In the wild, these fish get BIG! Really, really
big, to 18 inches or so. And they swim... a lot, and need a lot of room.
I think it would be unfair to put this species of fish in such a small
tank.> Many thanks. <Welcome! Mich> A couple of
q's, Naso hlth./sys., mixing Cnid.s 5/14/07 Hi crew,
<Sarena> My fiancé and I LOVE your site. It has been such a great
help! You guys have taught me so much that my non-marine friends are
convinced that I am a marine expert because I use acronyms and terms
they've never heard like "reverse osmosis" and "QT" (although I am very
new to the hobby and still don't know nearly enough!!). <I am fairly
old to the hobby and find myself in the same condition!> The first
question I have is regarding our Naso Tang. We just got him from
saltwaterfish.com (he's about 4 in long). When we first put him in QT,
we fed him some frozen Spirulina enriched brine shrimp and he ate it
right up. Since then, he will not eat a thing. <This genus of rather
open-water tangs really doesn't "like", do well in quarantine... I
suggest you do a pre-emptory pH-adjusted FW dip/bath and place it in
your hopefully minimum four, better six foot long system> We kept
some dried macroalgae on a clip in the corner of the tank...he wouldn't
touch it...we even tried soaking it in Garlic Guard. We thought it may
have been because he was unhappy in such a small tank (10 gallons) so we
moved him over to our display (4 ft long, 72 gallons, good water flow)
yesterday. <Ah, good> He was only in QT for about 1 week but we
did daily Para Guard treatments during that time so hopefully (fingers
crossed) he is parasite free. We still have not seen him eat at all.
<Takes a while to adjust... and this fish will likely need to be moved
to larger quarters still w/in a half year or so...> He was out and
about last night, swimming in place against the water where the flow was
heaviest. I'm hoping he's just "adjusting" and maybe that's why he's not
eating? <Yes. Very likely so> But it just seems weird that he
chowed down on the first day we got him and then not since.
<Probably had not eaten for a good while before...> The other thing
I noticed today is that he will only come out from hiding when I'm not
in the room. If I peak around the corner I'll see him swimming around
and then if I walk in the room, he'll quickly go hide behind some rocks
and not come back out until I leave. Do you think he'll get over that?
<Perhaps... as stated, and posted elsewhere (I have a relatively new
article on Naso lituratus on WWM... this fish needs ROOM to feel secure>
Ok, second question...about possibly overstocking. Here is the rundown
of what's in our tank and I'm wondering if it would be crazy to get
anything else (maybe one more fish) or if we should get rid of some of
our stuff: It's a 72 gallon reef tank with approx 100lb Fiji live
rock. All levels are good with the exception of the nitrates (were
around 40-60ppm)...yikes, I know! <Way too high... this needs
addressing, fixing NOW> We have been doing almost daily 10 gallon
water changes and vacuuming the substrate to get the nitrates down and
it has helped (they are now around 15ppm) so we're going to continue to
do that until we can get them back to normal. Fish: • the 1 Naso
Tang • 2 Percula Clowns • 2 Pajama Cardinals • 1 3-Striped
Damsel (bully of the tank) Inverts: • 4 Tiny Blue Leg Hermits
• 10 Nassarius Snails • 4 Queen Conches • 1 Fighting Conch •
1 Peppermint Shrimp • 1 Camelback Shrimp • 1 Coral Banded Shrimp
• 1 Anemone Crab • 1 Arrow Crab <Keep your eye on this
Stenorhynchus... become predatory> • 3 Emerald Crabs <Ditto>
• 2 Porcelain Crabs • 2 Sally Lightfoot Crabs • 1 Brittle
Starfish • 1 Red Serpent Starfish • 1 Purple Urchin • 1
Cleaner Clam (although I can't find him) • 1 Sand Shifting Cucumber
• 1 Yellow Cucumber • 1 Lettuce Nudibranch • 4 Feather Dusters
• 1 Long Tentacle Anemone • 2 Pink Tip Haitian Anemones • 1
Atlantic Carpet Anemone • 1 Rock Anemone • 1 Florida Condi
Anemone <Mixing anemones together and with other Cnidarians can be
very big trouble...> • 1 Red Gorgonian • 1 Deep Sea Yellow
Gorgonian • 1 Orange Tree Sponge Corals: • 1 rock of Yellow
Polyps • 1 rock of Green Star Polyps • 2 Green Ricordea Mushroom
Polyps • 1 rock of Umbrella Mushroom Polyps • 1 Leather
Toadstool • 1 rock of Orange and Lime Green Zooanthids • 1
Cladiella • 1 Frilly Mushroom Coral • 1 Christmas Tree Coral
Everything seems to be doing great but that's this week...who knows...it
seems to change all the time. We recently stocked up a lot on the corals
and anemones so I'm worried that we might have overloaded it too quickly
and that could be a recipe for disaster. Any insight would be great.
<Read on WWM re each of these species, and any future purchases... Ahead
of acquisition...> And last question (sorry, this email is getting
to be longer than some of the reports I had to write in college!)...one
of our perc. clowns has one gill that sticks out a little bit. He seems
completely fine...not acting weird at all, swimming all over the place,
and eating well. His gill has been sticking out like that for a few
weeks now. We did move him to the QT tank when we first noticed it and
treated him for a week and 1/2 with Para guard (thinking it could
possibly be a parasite) but the gill didn't change and he seemed to be
fine so we moved him back to the display. Should I be worried about it?
<Mmm, no... Worrying will not change the future> Thanks again for
all of the great info you provide and sorry for the ridiculously long
email!! Sarena <No worries. Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Naso tang in shock I acclimated my new Naso tang this
morning. Since he has been released into my system he has remained in
shock (lying on the bottom, breathing rapidly, moving his side fins and
keeping his dorsal fin erect). <Signs of anoxia, a lack of oxygen>
He has moved a few inches here and there but is otherwise looking
pretty pathetic. Is there anything that I can do to help? Does his
actions mean inevitable death? <Add aeration ASAP. An
airstone/mechanical diffuser, air intakes on your powerheads...> The
other fish that were acclimated were 2 Heniochus, flame hawk, anemone
and a coral banded shrimp...all are doing extremely well. Lights are
still off. Any suggestions or valuable insights? Carrie <Naso
genus tangs are active, large animals that require high, consistent
levels of dissolved oxygen... and as part of this, plenty of room to
swim, have for gaseous exchange. And yes, best to leave the lights off
for now. Bob Fenner> Naso Tangs & Algae Anthony,
<Anthony is a little busy right now, so I am filling in.> Thanks for
responding back so quickly on the brown algae problem I was having. You
mentioned you knew the type of algae I was talking about but could not
remember the name. I was wondering if you had any luck locating the
type. <Feel free to browse through the images we have on
www.WetWebMedia.com regarding.> Also you mentioned placing a couple
urchins in the tank to control the problem. This has been done, two
Royal Urchins. I heard that the Naso lituratus would be good at helping
to control this also. Your thoughts on this and compatibility with a
Yellow Tang. <Nasos in general are relatively compatible with Yellow
Tangs, but Nasos require large tanks (180 gallons and up) and very
strong water movement (10 times the tank volume per hour minimum with
approaching 20 times being optimal, example a 180 gallon tank with total
circulation in the 1800-3600 gph range).> Thanks again, Jim <You
are welcome. -Steven Pro> Naso Tang
Hello, I own a 72 gallon Tank with a 3" yellow tang, 3" Picasso trigger,
2" regal tang, 4"Lamarcks angel, and a 4" Naso tang (Naso lituratus). My
question is concerning his size I know that they can reach to a huge 20"
in a 15 to 20 year period. I was wondering how long I could keep this
little guy in my 72 before I have to give it up or buy a larger tank.
Also he pigs out on the prepared dry algae and is huge and then the next
morning he has a pinched belly. Thanks for your help, Greg <Hi Greg,
Your Naso needs room to swim starting with a minimum 4 foot long tank,
preferably 6 feet, and the larger the better. Please go to
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/naso.htm for more info on Naso Tangs and
their requirements. Craig> Naso Tang I have a
Naso that is about 3 inches long. He paces back and forth every once in
a while across the front of the tank. He eats well but I was wondering
if the pacing means anything? <This pacing behavior is usually caused
by poor water circulation. Nasos in particular need very brisk water
movement, 20 times the tank volume per hour. -Steven Pro> Re:
Naso Tang How do I get 20 times the tank volume of movement?
<You can use a combination of powerheads and external return pumps.>
Will this affect the yellow tang and clown? <No> How does not
having enough water movement affect the Naso? <The theory is that
they panic, thinking they got trapped in a tidal pool. If they were
truly stuck behind a sand bar they would die from heat, low dissolved
oxygen, or even a fish eating bird. But basically, they freak out from
stagnant water. -Steven Pro> Naso Tangs. . . Mr. Fenner,
<Hello> Hi! How are you? I was just reading an article you wrote on
Naso Tangs and became concerned about mine. I have a 100gallon tank --
is this enough room for my Naso? He seems very happy -- eating well,
actively swims, etc. <Enough for a smallish (hand-size) specimen...
for a while... year or two> How fast is their growth rate normally?
Will he eventually outgrow the tank or will he adapt to tank size?
<Will likely outgrow... can go from a few inches to several in a year.>
Thanks for any help you can provide. By the way, I love your website --
VERY informative and interesting. Thanks for all you do for us fish
lovers! :) Elizabeth <Glad to have you be one of us. Bob Fenner>
Tank Setup Hey Bob, <Actually, you are "talking" to Steven
Pro. Anthony Calfo and I are helping Bob out for awhile answering the
daily questions.> Its been a busy three weeks since I last talked to
you and a lot has changed with my tank. My Aunt and Uncle who bought our
old house decided that they liked our tank so much that they would buy
it. Its kind of bitter sweet because I end up loosing my animals and the
tank I have worked so hard to build and maintain but now I don't have to
worry about moving the setup and I get to build a new larger one. Since
they didn't know anything about keeping marine fish, I lent them your
book and gave them a crash course in Saltwater 101. I've also been going
over every weekend to check up on them and supervise while they add
fresh water. Anyways my questions have to do with my new setup. Right
now I am looking at a 90 gallon tank. For filtration I want to have a
sump with an ETSS Evolution 500 skimmer. I also am going to have at
least 90 lbs of live rock and a 6 inch live sand bed for biological
filtration. My fish list for right now is a Naso Tang, 2 Percula clowns,
a raccoon butterfly, and possibly a juv. queen or emperor angel. Do you
think this tank will be successful with the filtration system and
animals I have listed? <I would not get the Naso. They get rather
large for a 90.> You Advice Is Appreciated, Jonathan Pac
Horse for 90 gallon Reef Tank Bob/Anthony, <greetings regional
friend... Anthony Calfo at your service> I was just wondering about a
recent purchase being acclimated to my tank. I am actually using my
wife's email account to check on something (because I'm not at the
office). I sent my wife to Aquatic Technology (she works in Strongsville
and we live on the East side of Cleveland) to pick up a small coral of
her liking (to try and get her "into" the reef tank). <aha!...
flawed psychology, assuming that the gentler sex doesn't know what we
are really up to... hehe> I also mentioned that she could instead buy
a small fish of her choice as long as she get permission from Greg at
Aquatic Tech (I trust his judgment on reef systems) <Ahhh, yes. Greg
and his smiling face> I armed her with the following: We have a 90
Gallon Reef Tank, 100lbs LR, 20lbs LS, Purple Tang, Blue Headed
Wrasse (you remember this question from earlier) and Clarkii, a blue
haddoni and a cleaner crew consisting of some blue/red hermits, snails,
emerald crabs and some Sally Lightfoots along with some Corals. She came
home with a Blonde Naso Tang. <holy cow!!!! what's up with that
beautiful baby horse of a fish?!> Looks great. I read about them
today. Gorgeous animal -- however, after reading from your sight, he
may eat my cleanup crew? Greg from Aquatic Tech told her that he should
be fine. <I'm far more concerned that is a poor choice for an empty
90gallon let alone one stocked with fish such as your Purple tang that
will ultimately also outgrow it. I agree with Greg that there is a good
chance it will be relatively reef safe. But the fish is inappropriate as
it grows far too large for a four foot tank> He mentioned that there
may be a squabble between the Purple Tang but that the Naso should mind
it's own business.... <agreed, especially if the Naso is larger>
he never mentioned anything about eating all the small inverts... is
there going to be a problem? < a chance, but no more than a purple
tang or dwarf angel eating coral. Your blue headed wrasse is far more
dangerous to crustaceans> What should I look for if I intend to keep
a close eye on the situation? < an add in the newspaper for a good
price on a bigger tank, bud! Hehehe... I hope you can tolerate my
humor/sarcasm... there is truth in there. Kind regards, Anthony>
Stocking Questions? Hi Bob! I have had a reef tank going for a
few months. 75 gallon with 90lbs of live rock and 75lbs live sand. All
levels look good and I have recently added some fish. Percula Clown and
Kole Tang. My question is over future stocking. I plan on adding a Flame
angelfish. I would really like to add a Naso Tang as well. I would start
with a smaller one, but is a 75 too small for him? How long before he
would outgrow the tank? Thanks! <Well worded... I appreciate your
cautious approach... a Naso lituratus (as this is likely THE Naso
species you're referring to) would likely do okay in this size, shape
system for about a year... depending on factors we could expand on...
Bob Fenner> Naso Tangs in a four foot aquarium is
a NO NO Hello I currently have a 110g reef that I will be
upgrading this summer to a 150 or 180 if my floors can handle the
weight. I currently have a white cheek tang and will be adding a yellow
tang after his quarantine period is over. Can I keep a Naso tang as
well? If not what are some other tangs I could house with these 2
guys?<None> I have close to 200lbs of LR so there are a decent amount
of cave and hiding sports. <Naso tangs do not need live rock, In the
wild they inhabit open water. They need swimming room and a four foot
aquarium will most definitely not be enough, IanB> Thanks Chris
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