GKarshens

I do Paintless Dent Repair for money, and photography for fun. I make just about enough doing weddings and portraits to keep me in working equipment. Offroadodge we need to talk. We were just talking today about coming to see you guys. Charlie Mills works with us and I think he is friends with the owner or manager there. Our company name is Texas Dent Works.

I am sorry, but this is just plain bad advice. I would think your own experience with the Hippo would tell you otherwise. It is a common misconception that fish grow to the size of their tank. A Hippo Tang in the wild swims long distances. If we keep them in small tanks it is similar to keeping a horse in a small paddock and never exercising it. It gets stressed and eventually dies an early death. I have seen a 2" Yellow Tang pace nonstop in a 55g. Ever notice that the Tangs in the holding tanks at fish stores are constantly swimming back and forth? The fish doesn't know he is little and you plain to move him to a larger tank when he outgrows yours. There are so many other fish choices other than Tangs. I don't understand why everyone wants one no matter the size of their tank. I know this is a bit of a strong reply, but I am so tired of fish being needlessly put into systems that cannot support them long term.

The only Tangs that might work in a 75 would be of the Bristle Tooth variety (Kole Eyes, Tomini) I am a big fan of Fairy Wrasses, but if you are determined to get a Mandarin, they will compete for pods. Frogspawn is a good beginner coral. They are relatively easy and don't over grow like Xenia or mushrooms.

unfortunately a 75 is too small for a Hippo and a mandarin. The Tang needs at least a 6' tank. They get over a foot long. If you don't believe me go check out melevsreef.com and see the video of the Hippo he used to have in his 280g. The Mandarin will need at least 100 lbs of live rock unless you get very lucky and find one that will eat prepared food. Those are very rare though. I had one starve in a 125.

Moving to the group buy section.

Are you sure he was old? Most people in the hobby don't realize that many of these fish can live 30 years or more. Gallery of Pets had a pair of clowns at least 25 years old. The thing so many people overlook is the number of fish that die to get one to survive, especially when trying to push the boundaries of what it takes. I have even questioned getting out of the hobby after talking to LFS owners about how much loss there is even in the initial shipping. Then think about how many of us take home a fish and it dies in the first couple weeks. All I am trying to say in this post is please think about it before buying fish that have poor survival rates like, Copper banded butterflies, or putting fish like Tangs and Mandarins in tanks too small to house them healthily.

If a 20g is your largest tank as your profile suggests I would strongly advise against anything that relies on pods for food. A Mandarin needs a ton of rock to be able to hunt and find enough food to survive.

One whiff of the "nog" a GOOD skimmer pulls out of a tank and I know I don't want that in my reef. I have seen a couple nice tanks on RC that were skimmerless but it takes constant vigilance. All the tanks I have seen in person that were skimmerless left me very underwhelmed.

Here it is all clear again:

So I bought 2 40 lb bags, but after adding the first one I don't think I need the second one. I will post a pic in a little bit.

Didn't you go to China or something? Are you back? It is sad to me that a scientist wouldn't do research before setting up an experiment.

Those last 2 are unbelievable. I think somebody is injecting these things with ink!

Looks like it could be Rainbow Monti.

Beautiful piece! Hope you will be fragging soon.

You guys are all terrible guessers!

Who can guess what I added today?