Who says I can't get a bunch of tang in my 42 gallon reef tank?

[Ballyhoo]

I mean this guy is done it. He's got a beautiful tank breaking all the rules and no sea gods or reef Gods are striking him dead.
Who can count the number of fish, I mean, good size fish not just tiny gobies and this is what some would consider a nano tank?

 

[kodak]

I mean this guy is done it. He's got a beautiful tank breaking all the rules and no sea gods or reef Gods are striking him dead.
Who can count the number of fish, I mean, good size fish not just tiny gobies and this is what some would consider a nano tank?

Is this a genuine question? Yeah, no "reef gods" are striking HIM dead but in a couple months that'll be the case for those tangs unless they get rehomed. I had a 5 inch tomini tang in a 65 gallon and it was incredibly stressed out from the lack of swimming space. A 42 gallon with a blue tang is just too little. They need at least double that size, preferably more.

Think about it practically --> Adult Blue tangs typically get a foot long. A usual 40 gallon breeder is 3-3.5 feet long. Tangs are known for being active, an extra two feet of swimming room is just going to kill the poor thing. Plus all that rock and coral.

 

[Ballyhoo]

so basically, he was just showcasing a tank but likely gonna re home those tangs. As a newbie I was thinking the impossible like that I would stuff my 42 gal w Tangs like him. just dreaming. but it doesn't actually matter there's so many beautiful things that could be done in the 42 gallon tank without tangs. It's just that when you have that size tank Of course you're always thinking about, well, Tangs.

 

[Hot2na]

in answer to your question : nobody..you can put whatever YOU like in there ..forget the tang police

 

[JayM]

Nobody says "you can't", but they do say "you shouldn't".

 

[Ballyhoo]

that is more livestock than I've ever been told I could put in mine which is essentially the same tank, but just a new newer model as this guy and the livestock in his tank seem to be happy as clams. IDK but he may be my reef hero.

 

[Dbichler]

All I see is tangs swimming into the glass which is not normal tang behavior

 

[mues]

that is more livestock than I've ever been told I could put in mine which is essentially the same tank, but just a new newer model as this guy and the livestock in his tank seem to be happy as clams. IDK but he may be my reef hero.

We are already taking fish out of a habitat and throwing them in glass cages... Making the cages that much smaller shouldn't be a reason to idolize somebody. Tangs are schooling fish that cover massive areas. I feel bad having the two I do in a 150g

 

[piranhaman00]

I’m beginning to hate this hobby.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Probably the Fromia is going to have a long healthy life in there too.

I remember when I was a kid, learning pretty early on that stuff on TV isn't real and the stuff that looks patently unreasonable shouldn't be attempted (those Dukes of Hazzard jumps, though...). Funny how this concept is so hard to understand when it is the TV called 'YouTube'.

I’m beginning to hate this hobby.

You might shop around a bit for a new one. There are other 'animals in glass boxes' hobbies that take animal health and well being a lot more seriously, and resist the 'how little can I do, and how quickly, and still get big thrills' attitude that reefing seems to encourage.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I’m beginning to hate this hobby.

so are people here willing to stipulate that that YouTuber is FOS? Because I'm new at this and just learning

 

[RockRash]

I thought that guy sounded familiar. He does the YouTube videos for one of our lfs. In any case I doubt they were in that tank for very long.
It also appears he hasn't posted a video in over a year and his last video for our lfs was 7 months ago.

 

[Ziggy17]

so are people here willing to stipulate that that YouTuber is FOS? Because I'm new at this and just learning

I’m pretty sure people here were just answering your question. Take from that what you like.

 

[mues]

so are people here willing to stipulate that that YouTuber is FOS? Because I'm new at this and just learning

YouTubers make hole in ones, hit trick shots in one try and time travel.

 

[mdpitts]

so basically, he was just showcasing a tank but likely gonna re home those tangs. As a newbie I was thinking the impossible like that I would stuff my 42 gal w Tangs like him. just dreaming. but it doesn't actually matter there's so many beautiful things that could be done in the 42 gallon tank without tangs. It's just that when you have that size tank Of course you're always thinking about, well, Tangs.

I feel you 100percent. I absolutely don't want to stress any animal out but I've been known to break some rules, I'm a newbie to saltwater but I'm fanatic about doing the maintenance and constant monitoring of how all inhabitants are doing. I am not exaggerating by saying I'm parked in front of my little Fluval Evo 13.5 at least 2 hours a day fascinated by everything in there. My corals have exploded so much I'm currently setting up a larger tank plus I want to give my clown more room because he always has the zoomies. I've got lps, sps, softies you name it. I did stick with smaller fish but in my 40 I might test the upper limits a bit and see how it goes. I am knocking on wood as I finish this... Also, pretty much any free time I have is spent researching and learning about reef tanks. My self-promoting reply is just to say - do no harm, do the work and test the limits.

 

[kodak]

that is more livestock than I've ever been told I could put in mine which is essentially the same tank, but just a new newer model as this guy and the livestock in his tank seem to be happy as clams. IDK but he may be my reef hero.

nobody's going to stop you, do what you want but the only result from all that is inevitable

 

[lbacha]

The question shouldn’t be can you put them in a 40g tank the question is how long can they stay in a 40g tank. If you are willing to swap them out as they get larger with smaller tangs then you will be ok. You need to overfeed as hunger can lead to aggression. Make sure there are plenty of hiding places so they don’t fight over sleeping spots. I would recommend you only attempt tangs in a smaller tank once you are experienced with tangs and can tell when they need rehomed. I’m currently building up my tang gang in prep of a 310g build I’m working on. As they come out of QT they will be homed in a 40 Breeder until the tank is ready (3-4 months) I will be over filtering, over feeding and will change the scape around each time a new fish gets added to reduce aggression. Even then I’m prepared that one or two may have to live in my big stock tank sump for a while if they just won’t get along.

I included a pic of the first two tangs to be added with a couple more in QT as we speak

 

[Malum Argenteum]

so are people here willing to stipulate that that YouTuber is FOS? Because I'm new at this and just learning

I would be willing to state that YouTube is FOS.

Folks on a hobby forum are, by and large, trying to share information and do so for the benefit of the hobby and for the object of the hobby (here, fish and corals and such). Forums are specifically designed to be structured to do this well -- everyone can contribute equally; claims can be rebutted; evidence from other sources (other forums, journal articles, reports of personal experiences, photos, etc) can be brought to bear on discussions; each and every claim can be tagged by any other forum user with a somewhat precise reaction (the emojis), and these individual and precise-ish tags are archived with the post they refer to. Forums are an information sharing network. The algorithm feeding users content on a forum is 'new content'; there is also a search tool that simply searches keywords (maybe ranked by some combination of post date/popularity/keyword frequency). Also, moderators keep out the majority of trolls and bots, and others are publicly if sometimes subtly flagged by regular users.

Folks posting videos on YouTube are, by and large, trying to get views. They do so for all sorts of reasons. Views come not only from accurate or wise information (and this only rarely, and not by design), but also from wild or contentious or flashy (high production values make patent BS a lot more palatable) or conspiracy-supporting or fashionable or generally 'clickbait-y' content. The specific claims in videos cannot, for all practical purposes, be rebutted -- because comments sections are chaotic in general, because video posters are not expected to reply, and because repliers don't have the same status as content posters . The extent of the archived tags that can be added are to the video as a whole, and not to specific claims, and these are only 'yea' or 'nay'. YouTube is not a network of users, it is a series of megaphones given only to certain people who use them to yell at the audience. The algorithm feeding users content is designed to play into the worst aspects of human psychology, and also to get the user to view more videos regardless of the merit of those videos. Trolls and bots are not removed from the comments.

Forums are for sharing information. YouTube is for entertainment.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I’m beginning to hate this hobby.

This. Or what it has devolved into.

That video ain't ok, what the OP is suggesting ain't ok.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

so are people here willing to stipulate that that YouTuber is FOS? Because I'm new at this and just learning

For the most part YouTube reefers are utter garbage. There is some good out there but it doesn't outweigh the bad. Everyone wants clicks these days.