Neptune Aquatics

Nanocrazed 2025 Budget Build! -- 5G Fluval

That is alot of fish for a 5 gallon tank. For reference in my 5.5 I only have 1 sexy shrimp and 1 maxima clam + A few corals.
Now it might be time for the "Clownfish Police" to show up :rolleyes:
Just a recommendation.
 
Mr. Seahorse said:
That is alot of fish for a 5 gallon tank. For reference in my 5.5 I only have 1 sexy shrimp and 1 maxima clam + A few corals.
Now it might be time for the "Clownfish Police" to show up :rolleyes:
Just a recommendation.
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The usual conventional guidelines are general rules of thumb / recommendations. But I think it's important to take things into context.

Usually guidelines on how much stock per gallon is to help general hobbyists manage their bioload and resulting water quality....followed by consideration on how much room certain fish should have to swim. In the latter case, if there are less active fish like clowns who just like to hover in one spot, then 2G or 5G or 150G doesn't really make a difference so as long as the water quality if maintained. Similarly, guideline is for some tangs to have 150G to swim in but if the tang is a juvie, does it really need to have that much room to start?

I used to keep fat mandarins successfully in a 12G, which is counter to conventional wisdom. However, I did create a pod hotel that was able to support the needs of those guys in almost a self-sustaining way. (eventually, the mandarins also decided they liked pellets too...)

On a related note, for new hobbyists, it's generally recommended to do regular water changes... but if the system is set up in the right way, water changes are practically never needed. Most of my tanks haven't had a water change in years for that matter...

Now, if I were keeping goldfish, I would have a very different stocking and water maintenance strategy as those guys are active and dirty beyond belief in terms of how much bioload they output.
 
NanoCrazed said:
Similarly, guideline is for some tangs to have 150G to swim in but if the tang is a juvie, does it really need to have that much room to start?
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I think a lot of people agree with this to an extent. Getting a smaller fish and starting with a smaller than needed tank and then upgrading when they’re larger. But a starting point for a purple tang shouldn’t be a 5 gallon tank. If you had a 40 gallon breeder I think there could be an argument made that it’s a grow out tank but 5 gallons is kinda crazy. I have a small 1.5-2” biota yellow tank in my 4’ 90 gallon tang and that guy swims all over the place. Just looking at your picture makes me claustrophobic
 
MarcosD said:
I think a lot of people agree with this to an extent. Getting a smaller fish and starting with a smaller than needed tank and then upgrading when they’re larger. But a starting point for a purple tang shouldn’t be a 5 gallon tank. If you had a 40 gallon breeder I think there could be an argument made that it’s a grow out tank but 5 gallons is kinda crazy. I have a small 1.5-2” biota yellow tank in my 4’ 90 gallon tang and that guy swims all over the place. Just looking at your picture makes me claustrophobic
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I've had this purple tang since it was about an inch... in order for me to monitor and care for it, I had to move it from a 50 G to a 2.5G so I can encourage it to eat, etc. As it got larger, I moved it up to slightly bigger tanks. And now to the 5G... it'll likely be ready soon to go into my 20G or 29G and then into my DT. I have 14 tanks running... so there are plenty of bigger tank options.

I've made the mistake before of moving small tangs into my bigger systems prematurely, only to lose them. My other tangs have bigger tangs and other fast moving fish that often will out compete smaller ones for food.

That said, some of my other tangs prefer to hover in a small area until feeding time. YMMV...
 
NanoCrazed said:
I've had this purple tang since it was about an inch... in order for me to monitor and care for it, I had to move it from a 50 G to a 2.5G so I can encourage it to eat, etc. As it got larger, I moved it up to slightly bigger tanks. And now to the 5G... it'll likely be ready soon to go into my 20G or 29G and then into my DT. I have 14 tanks running... so there are plenty of bigger tank options.

I've made the mistake before of moving small tangs into my bigger systems prematurely, only to lose them. My other tangs have bigger tangs and other fast moving fish that often will out compete smaller ones for food.

That said, some of my other tangs prefer to hover in a small area until feeding time. YMMV...
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Yeah I kinda get what you mean. I was starting my yellow tang in my 45 gallon frag tank but he got beat up by the clownfish in there so I had to move him to the 90 which I was worried was too new still but he’s doing good
 
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