Reef cleaners?

[makai]

Hey guys and gals.....

looking for a new fish for the purpose of cleaning my tank and LR.

I saw a nice KOLE TANG and also a PURPLE at my LFS.
Both have been there since september, so i know they are healthy and past the risk taking point. Both are under $50. too.

I need some imput on the efficency of these fish and if any others would help better.

thank you.

 

[gcvt]

Wasn't it just last month that you said "no more big fish for me"?

Tangs are big fish and I would not recommend putting one in your 55g tank. Tangs aren't 'cleaners' anyway.

 

[makai]

I sense some hostility in that message...

Yes, I admitt that....that was also before i entered 57 lbs of rock into my tank.
Excuse me if i said cleaner, i meant grazing fish....
the Kole tang is roughly 2" long and the purple is a tad larger.

anyway......
productive comments will be appriciated.

 

[gcvt]

Originally posted by makai
I sense some hostility in that message...

Certainly no hostility intended at all makai!

I still wouldn't recommend putting any tang in a tank of that size though. Koles don't grow quite as large as Purples, but both require tanks much larger than 55g.

 

[makai]

i apologize...............

still have some green hairy growth on some rock....
is that healthy? i was told to aquire some type of grazing fish to take care of that. i have about 6 crabs but they not quite doing the job.

any suggestions?

 

[Seamonkey84]

i've been told that bumble bee snails will eat hair algea, but i've also been told that useing the lower quality salts will promote lots of unwanted algea growth.

 

[makai]

Ended up buying the Kole Tang.......
does great job on the glass and LR, but didn't really take care of my algea growth on my sand.

would snails or shrimp be better for my growth on the LS?

 

[slipknottin]

ugh

tangs need big tanks. 6ft tank minimum. Even places like liveaquaria, which commonly advice smaller thanks than youd want, says 70 gallons minimum.

 

[makai]

yes your correct thats what they say...........

i personally don't believe them......
i also have very good books i've spent some serious money on that tell me to feed my fish three times a day......
i don't listen to them either.....

to be honest, that tang will be dead before it grows another inch...never mind another 4". Never quite seen a fish grow to the stats that they do in the wild.

my next fish is an orca whale...they say that needs an ocean....gonna stuff him in my 10 g though

 

[gcvt]

Originally posted by makai
i personally don't believe them.....

Why don't you believe this to be true?

Originally posted by makai
i also have very good books i've spent some serious money on that tell me to feed my fish three times a day......
i don't listen to them either.....

If I had the time, I'd give my fish three small feedings per day, instead of one larger feeding.

Originally posted by makai
to be honest, that tang will be dead before it grows another inch...never mind another 4".

Why would you say that?


Well, good luck. Keep an eye out for ich - your tang will be constantly stressed in a tank that size so disease outbreaks are likely to be common. Of course, I'd recommend returning the fish, but that's just me....and most everyone else in this hobby.