smileyfish

I have a 40 gallon tank (20 gallon sump) that has a Kole Tang (juvenile), 3 Black and White occelaris clowns (not adult quite yet/ 1.5 inches), and a Royal Gramma. Territorial wise the clowns stay together, they do roam but they stay in generally the same 10 inches of the tank, the royal gramma has his little hole and really isnt all that territorial about it and the tang moves around a lot but does have his cave that he hangs out in. My question is could i get away with one more fish? I would love to get a coral beauty angel fish or pygmy angelfish (pretty small) but i do have lots of coral so that may not be the best idea. What options do i have for fish now? I was thinking if there is really very little space left then i might get an engineer goby or two or maybe another nano goby of some sort?

aquarist48

Hang on Smiley. Hopefully one of our experienced salt members will help you out today.
Ken

sgould

My only concern with your list is that a 40 gallon is a little small for the tang. Koles are recommended for 70 gallons or more. Other than that, a 40 gallon is plenty large for the other fish you have in here, and I think you could add another small fish. Dwarf angel would be cool, but you are right to worry about your corals. There are several varieties of goby that would do well in your tank if you are thinking that direction. Not sure about the engineer goby though...I have read that despite their small size they need quite large tanks because of all the burrowing they do. No personal experience with them, though.

smileyfish

I went out and bought a pygmy angelfish (about less than 1 inch right now) and hes right at home in a little cave. I was completely aware of the size limitations of having a tang in this size tank. I bought the kole whereas it was generally the smallest i could find. Im going to let him grow out and enjoy him while hes small and happy. If my relative goes for it he might take the tang when hes too big or maybe ill just have to give him to an LFS. Coming from freshwater the idea of how many fish being almost completely territorial rather than biological is a weird feeling whereas i had about 20 fish in this same tank and everything was fine. I am more into coral but still like having fish to look at and enjoy.

nemo addict

Hi I 2nd what SGOULD has to say about the kole tang beware not to put one in a small reef tank, as it can do a lot of damage if you have delicate plants and algae growth that you want to keep. In a very large reef tank the plant growth can recover, as the Kole has so much to pick from, Tangs also being ICH magnets you will have a problem when he grows a little larger as he will get stressed out with the lack of swimming space , which could wipe out your tank if not caught in time, they are aslo prone to black spot (Tang Disease) which is harder to see due to there colouration , but fortnatly is not as bad as white spot ,,

smileyfish

I was fully aware of all the potential problems in purchasing a tang in general. Everythings fine, hes little and when he gets big ill give him away and get a small one to let grow and etc. I have a refugium seperate from the tank so him eating all the macro algae isnt an issue.