I was appalled

[Megatrev62]

Tonight I saw a hippo tang ,yellow tang a a coral beauty all in a 15 gallon tank!!!!! The fish looked very healthy and big ? Blew me away to say the least.The fellow who has them is putting them in a 90 very soon.They have been in the 15 for 12 months!!!! Please explain. Thank you.

Told him this goes completely against the grain!!!!!

[Jeremy Blaze]

You know what they say, ' pics or it never happened'

[MikeandNicole]

Yeah I was in a LFS and an older woman was bringing back a blue hippo tang. The fish had to be at least 6 inches and was closer to 8 inches. She brought it back because it outgrew her 8 gallon nano!!!!

[Orcrone]

Yeah I was in a LFS and an older woman was bringing back a blue hippo tang. The fish had to be at least 6 inches and was closer to 8 inches. She brought it back because it outgrew her 8 gallon nano!!!!

I'm sure there's more than a few people who would be willing to help her out with that problem. :cool:

[Megatrev62]

You know what they say, ' pics or it never happened'

Oh it's happening now. This guy just bought a 33 from me and he told me what he had and I went to his house and sure enough. It's a long story which concerned a LFS now out of business. We in the aquarium community knew it was going to happen with this store and when it finally did we were thrilled. This 15 gallon had 10 fish to begin with if you can imagine. Just a horrid story. Now this guy is getting on track and learning, and ofcourse I always point them to RC.:thumbsup:


What blew me away was the health and size of the tangs. One would never expect it.

[Recty]

There is a certain point where you cram fish into a tank and they all the sudden stop being territorial and aggressive (I'm sure there are some exceptions like undulated triggers) and just swim around in circles aimlessly.

Maybe he had something like that going on... the hardest thing to do at that point is maintain water quality.

[mfish1]

No Pix?

[MrTuskfish]

Tonight I saw a hippo tang ,yellow tang a a coral beauty all in a 15 gallon tank!!!!! The fish looked very healthy and big ? Blew me away to say the least.The fellow who has them is putting them in a 90 very soon.They have been in the 15 for 12 months!!!! Please explain. Thank you.

Told him this goes completely against the grain!!!!!

These are very hardy fish and I'm sure they could be kept "alive'' under such conditions; but they will never thrive or recover completely from what they've gone through. I expect this happens a lot more than we know.

[JVManlius]

I'd like to think that a reputable LFS would ask their customers about their aqaurium and give advise about appropriate purchases before they sell a fish or coral.

[MrTuskfish]

I'd like to think that a reputable LFS would ask their customers about their aqaurium and give advise about appropriate purchases before they sell a fish or coral.

Most don't. Wal-Mart doesn't ask if your kids are obese when they sell you the giant bag of Doritos either.

[spieszak]

Most don't. Wal-Mart doesn't ask if your kids are obese when they sell you the giant bag of Doritos either.
Thing is, Wal-Mart might advise you against the Doritos if you asked someone what would be a healthy snack for you obese kids. Can't _always_ put it on the store. My LFS tries to ask, I hear them do it. They are often met with resistance... Couple of weeks ago, I watched them advise and advise and advise against putting a clown in a 5 gallon pico. They offered up other fish...Finally, I heard the guy tell them the clown fish they had in the store were "platinums" (which they weren't) and were going to be 50 bucks a fish, but the clown goby over here is only 3.99 (discounted from the normal 10 price) The clown goby probably isn't going to make it either since the purchaser didn't really care to know anything about the fish, but at least it had a chance.

[JVManlius]

Ha. Excellent point. I guess I was lucky to have a LFS in my area that steered me right as I was learning the hobby.

[MrTuskfish]

Ha. Excellent point. I guess I was lucky to have a LFS in my area that steered me right as I was learning the hobby.

You were. I'm old enough to remember when the lfs was a very helpful & knowledgeable source of SW info. Sadly, that is seldom the case anymore. But, IMO, ultimate responsibility is on the fish's owner. I can't imagine spending the $ it costs to just begin this hobby without reading a good book on the subject. The example cited happens far more often than we can imagine, I'll bet. I wonder how many little "Nemos" croaked in goldfish bowls after that movie came out?

[jbowen]

"I wonder how many little "Nemos" croaked in goldfish bowls after that movie came out?"

A lot more than anyone would ever imagine. I worked in a pet shop about 15 years ago and we would occasionally get calls stating "I bought a fish and it died." Do a little investigating and they put a clown in a goldfish bowl... Our salt section was clearly marked but it didn't make a difference.

[Megatrev62]

"I wonder how many little "Nemos" croaked in goldfish bowls after that movie came out?"

A lot more than anyone would ever imagine. I worked in a pet shop about 15 years ago and we would occasionally get calls stating "I bought a fish and it died." Do a little investigating and they put a clown in a goldfish bowl... Our salt section was clearly marked but it didn't make a difference.

Insane.

[MrTuskfish]

Insane.

True, but not surprising. SW fishkeeping isn't a common topic. Look at how many people don't know how to raise kids, and that's supposed to be a natural skill.