Damsels

[topthrill]

well here's the thing, they guy who sold it to me wasnt sombody who i didnt realy know. i have known him at the store for about a month now and he's been giving me advise to guide me along the way. if he was trying to make a cheep buck heres what he would do: tell me to but a huge new tank, filter , heater and everything. then sell me a clown the next time i come in. he advised me to get a damsel fist becasue they we 3$ and if i screwd something up or the chemicals werent ready i wouldent have killd a 20-30$ fish. im sure if he had wanted money he would have advised me to get a clown or some super expensive fish right off the bat.

well, i'll make sure i ask you opinions next time.

 

[andywg]

well, i'll make sure i ask you opinions next time.

Why bother? You asked this time and still paid no heed.

I reckon most here will be far less willing to put time and effort into posting advice and their own knowledge and experience if you are just going to ignore it.

 

[Fatty]

well, i'll make sure i ask you opinions next time.

Why bother? You asked this time and still paid no heed.

I reckon most here will be far less willing to put time and effort into posting advice and their own knowledge and experience if you are just going to ignore it.

Lesson learnt tho, hey

 

[Chac]

well here's the thing, they guy who sold it to me wasnt sombody who i didnt realy know. i have known him at the store

I've known my LFS for year & still dont trust what he tells me about any stocking issues - either Fish or Corals

 

[itchirichi]

I am sure each of us have made the mistake at the beginning before , "buy the wrong fish for wrong tank at wrong time".

The be honest, your LFS friend probably isn't lying but instead offering his/her own knowledge and experience.

Sometimes, I find lots of contradictions online at different forums and most of them are probably true. When you are first beginning fish keeping, you can't really argue against majority because it simply means that there's a higher chance of truth & reliability (especially when there are so many veterans here).

Anyway, I wouldn't be so bummed about this I have made the same mistake from compulsive buying before I can only suggest you return the fish if you care for it, otherwise (sorry to be so negative) but I think it may end with a short life.

Read lots, ask lots. . .

 

[Opcn]

I think we have had enought of bash the newbie hour, he made a poor descision, lets drop it now.

 

[topthrill]

do you think it would be a good idea to remove my damsel and get a small hippo tang?

 

[Chac]

do you think it would be a good idea to remove my damsel and get a small hippo tang?

I hope your taking the pi**

 

[topthrill]

whats that supost to mean? i made a mistake, i said im sorry and now im trying to take your advise. i just though two peacfull fish would go good together.

 

[Bomber]

do you think it would be a good idea to remove my damsel and get a small hippo tang?

Hippo tangs need a WAY WAY bigger tank then an 8 gallon..yes you would have 2 peacful fish, but i think you would be even more worse off with thoes 2 fish becasue an 8 gallon is to small! i think hippo's need something like at least a 55 gllon (some sights say 40) but still that's a long way for an 8 gallon...stick with your clown, or you might even beable to get a pair (not shour) but just stick with the clown until you get a bigger tank!

 

[topthrill]

i though they just needed lots and lots of rocks because hippo tangs like to wedge themselves between them. why does the tank neeed to be so big?

 

[boshank23]

the thing is a fish like a hippo tang will have been wild caught, imagine 1 day having an ocean to live in, and the nexk only 8 gallons......
also tangs are active fish, they like to use all the room they have, if they have no room they become stunted and life expectancy is dramatically shortened.
2 (tank bred) clown fish will be able to live in 8 galls, just.

 

[topthrill]

so no tank bread hippo ether ? at my LFS they have a hippo in a 10 gal. i think that is tank bread

 

[Bomber]

"at my LFS they have a hippo in a 10 gal. i think that is tank bread "

no thats still not right! they need alot of rock work (you can only put some much LR in a 8/ 10 gl..wich i don't think is ennouf for them) and as boshank23 said they need alot or room to move around because they are very active fish!

i wanted to get one for my 30 gl but even my tank is to small i'am wating to get my new 60 gl befor i get one!

IMO your best bet its just a pair of small clown's..i think that's prity much it for having more then one fish (unless you find one that's good with a clown that can have a small tank) ....8 gl is so small...i know you got to start some where but 8 gl is really to small for 2 or more fish..

here is a link to a great sight..it's a 1-2 inc hippo tang and it still has a min of 40 gl tank size..

http/www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/pr...oot_parent_id=4

look at some of the fish on the sight you may be lucky ennof to find one other small fish??

 

[crazyelece]

The problem is tangs are open water swimmers. Meaning they swim in long straight lines in the wild. This is why they need larger tanks to keep them. Minimum for all tangs is 4 ft long tank. Also there is (to my knowledge) no tangs capable of being bred in captivity. They way they mate, the ritual they perform would never easily be able to be accomplished in an aquarium setting.

The reason an LFS keeps the animals in a small tank is that they are there for sale. They are just holding them and they aren't preparing to keep them for the rest of their lives. They just need to keep them healthy until someone purchases them. Never stock your tank like it is a holding tank in a LFS. Its also the reason there is little to no rockwork in the store's tanks as they don't want fish to hide.