Tank sizes for fish.

[david1983]

Hello Ive been looking at a few fish with a guide of 75 gallon but if you had a 60 gallon tank with 25lb of rock, lots of swimming space and very few fish+coral or a 75 gallon with tonnes of rock, hardly any room to move and a lot of fish+coral.Would the 60gallon be better?Just a random question i dont want to list fish etc just wanted to know how the guide size works because im only going to have a few fish and corals but see tanks stacked with rock,coral and fish but the tank is bigger mmmm

[Angel*Fish]

I would be careful about using those guidelines depending on the source. They are often wrong. Different fish have different requirements. Some fish need lots of rock to swim in and out of and others need lots of free water space. Some fish, especially tangs need the tank to be as long as possible. If you have a 300g tank for a tang, it's better if the tank is 10 feet long rather than a really tall 5 foot tank. For most fish long is better.

Here is a link to RC guideline for tank sizes for tangs http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079 (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079)

In my experience tank sizes for angels is usually undersized.

When choosing a fish, always try to picture that fish at it's mature size. I saw a 400g tank the other day with a large tang in there and it made the tank looks small. That fish was visibly cramped in there.

I saw a similar sized tang in a 4000g, it was a pond style tank, really long and meandering. He covered that whole tank several times in about 15 min. I'm probably anthropomorphizing, but I thought he looked bored.

Small fish that don't need to swim for great bursts (like tangs do) make for a much nicer looking aquarium in my opinion. I cant sit back and enjoy my tank if my fish don't look comfortable.

HTH :)

[Sk8r]

Also, fish in a too-small environment start exhibiting odd swimming, sometimes aggression or panic, fin-flicking and other signs of stress---you may see your smaller fish start disappearing until that one fish is about all you have left.

Grazers, combtooths, bristletooth types, copepod eaters, angels, and some tangs, among the larger fish, require rock for grazing---and move slowly. Certain other angels grow huge, as do some tangs; and even some smaller tangs use long fast runs to ram water through their gills to get fully oxygenated. There are rock-grazers, and there are runners. So wiki-up the species you're interested in and look at the habits and the max growth---it's not true that fish size themselves to fit their tanks. I've seen some sights that just haunt me---and it's not true that fish stores can endlessly take back fish who've outgrown your tank. Some fish will have outgrown THEIR tanks, too, and there may not be that many people in your city that can even house a two-foot-long tang.

So research before buying these larger species: learn what it needs, how it feeds, and figure if you can provide that for it. If you can't, you'll find many other species that will fit your situation. FOr the rock-packed tank you describe, gobies, blennies, and the smaller angels, small damsels, plus a jawfish or two would be apt, a dragonet if you've got a fuge; and for the more open but broader tank, the same crew, but maybe even some of the larger damsels, which are colorful, patterned, and highly active. Chalk bass. Species that aren't as commonly known, but make great color. Assessors. Basslets. Etc.

[david1983]

Nice thanks for the answers.I was looking at a powder brown its around 3inch long eating really well and looks chunky.I was thinking it could be ok in my 60g 4ft long with no other fish until i get a big tank next year.Now im not so sure.Do you think he would be happy in a 60g for a year?

[xaos]

One should never purchase a fish they can't house at it's fully-grown adult size in a tank they own *right now*. That upgrade to a larger tank "next year" may never happen due to whatever reasons. Buy the fish when you've got the big tank.

Just my opinion, of course, but I think we owe it to the creatures we keep, especially since most of them get shoehorned into boxes infinitely smaller than the territory they'd occupy/space they'd use in the wild.

Also, incidentally, the 'tank sizes for tangs' sticky in this forum recommends a minimum 6' tank for a powder brown. That's considerably different than a 75g vs. 60g (both 4' tanks) situation.

[SushiGirl]

One should never purchase a fish they can't house at it's fully-grown adult size in a tank they own *right now*. That upgrade to a larger tank "next year" may never happen due to whatever reasons. Buy the fish when you've got the big tank.

+1000. This should be a requirement, IMO.

[Sk8r]

The fish you can easily get when you upgrade would be most comfortable from the beginning in a tank his little fishy senses says has plenty of room. This is my opinion, understand, but wild things (and this guy will have been caught in the huge expanses of the reef) don't take well to being closely confined: when you do get that dream tank, the fact he's got room to run will let him be as natural as possible. So I'd counsel you let that pretty powder blue go to somebody who's got the room, where he can stretch out; and you start preparing the system that will make that species live well and feel good. I agree with you: they are one of the most gorgeous fish. The good news is you could build a community of the other fishes I named, including some hardy corals, stony or soft, and have all the elements that will be his community ready to go once you have that big tank in your house. When you do get one---get him fairly small: they grow like squash in August---so he can get comfy in the tank before he gets large. A fish can better psychologically adjust to a tank he grows up to, because there's no moment of panic when he's got walls imminently in his way.

[fishytoo]

Bigger the tank the more stable the water conditions.

[david1983]

:sad2:

[Angel*Fish]

:sad2:You'll be so much more satisfied with your tank if you follow this advice. And honestly some of the coolest fish are tiny. I saw 6 barnacle blennies at the LFS today. They were positively fascinating to watch. Lots going on there with pecking order and general cuteness. They'll spawn in your tank. I would have bought all six if the tank had been ready.

<object width="480" height="390">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lfbotguAPek?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="390"></object>

[jcw]

:sad2:

I have a 6ft tank and the minimum size for a bellus angelfish I got was 125g. I thought I was good to go.

After he had been in the DT, whenever he got a little stressed (when I was gluing frags or rearranging rockwork) he would pace up and down and up and down and up and down.

It made me very uneasy and I've REALLY rethought my future stocking list. No more hippo tangs, etc.

Some people are not as sensitive as other people to this. I've purposefully decided not to think of it as a bad or good thing. I think you do what make you happy and hopefully that means keeping the fish relatively happy as well.

[Lynnmw1208]

You really have to take into consideration the activeness of the fish as well. Tangs love to swim, constantly. I just read an article in a reef magazine about fish swimming room. Basically tangs need 8-12x their total adult size for swimming room. Whereas fish that chill at the bottom i.e. lawnmower blenny need less swimming room.

For a 75 gallon, you might be able to get away with a small tang such as a Tomini tang http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+334&pcatid=334 which only gets 6". That being said, less rock is more for this guys as they need room to swim. When accounting for swimming room, you have to take into account the length x width of the available swimming room, which means not the length and width of your tank, but what is between the aquascape of your rocks.

I mean I have a 125g 6' long tank and I would never feel right about putting a blue tang in there especially since they get to be 12"