Roidan's Reef (I)

[ah^siao]

woh bro.. that's a damn nice black tang!!!!!!

ahhhhh.. hahaha...

where u got it from? bet it cost a bomb

[roidan]

Bro, how you tell the difference between the real tang and the scopas tang?

generally, if it is really pitch black....then more or less a real black tang liao...those darkish scopas tangs still can see abit of lines of their bodies from the scopas body natural marking...then again if u get a pitch black scopas tang...it's super rare also..worth the price also mah..hehe

and then....the snout, meaning the beak/mouth of the black tang is quite long compared to the rest from the zebrasoma family..ie...yellow tang, purple tang, scopas tang...if u notice, yellow tang's beak is quite short even at adulthood.... black tang has one of the longest snout in the family..very obvious at adulthood

lastly....when mature, you will see a greenish tinge at the dorsal fin of the black tang....the LARGE one swimming in CF's live rocks tank is the adult black tang....can see some whitish/greenish line between the dorsal fin and the body...

and the scapel end near the tail...should be white

but most black tangs we buy are juveniles...so....even if it is a pure black scopas..dun worry, probably rarer than the black tang itself...lol

[AlfaRomeo]

Will keep a lookout for 1.. but scared die in my 1 month old tank... hehehe

Whats the best combination of tangs that we can keep safely in our reefs? best combination meaning the widest variety/types without conflicts between the tangs...

[roidan]

this is the scopas tang...as you can see...the back portion is quite blackish....so if some genna born with more black portion..may be misIDed as black tangs...but then again...more or less you can see the lines if they are scopas misIDed as black tangs as it is very very rare for a scopas to be so black that all line markings are not visible....

and if u happen to get it..probably you can be happier than getting a real black tang itself..hehe

(pic from marinedepotlive.com)

[roidan]

Will keep a lookout for 1.. but scared die in my 1 month old tank... hehehe

Whats the best combination of tangs that we can keep safely in our reefs? best combination meaning the widest variety/types without conflicts between the tangs...

i think this is a very difficult question to answer even for tang experts out there...and i am not one....

tangs are very interesting individuals.....you may think that these 2 tangs dun get along well...but they do....and if u think they may be cordial when u put them in the tank....world war occurs in the tank...

it's a matter of luck and many here have success with distracting the fiercer tang using mirrors...food... and letting the newcomer have breathing space..

some infighting and quarreling may occur...but i think as most will say...put the fiercest one last....

tang experts wanna add?

[bwilly]

eh.. I am trying out my purple n yellow tang..

purple chasing the yellow ard abit.. but both are seasoned buggers.. each from different tanks previously..

also I rescape my whole tank, so its considered a new environment. the tangs got time to mark out their terrority.. of course in my case, purple tang almost mark all of the area..

In my case, there's no major "warfare" as my tangs

are seasoned. Indicated in books, drop in whole school of tangs at the same time....

[roidan]

yeah...in tat way no single tang can claim the whole tank as its territory....

but then again..how many of us drop all the tangs at the same time? hehehe

[AlfaRomeo]

Bwilly/Roidan and the rest of the experts..

I was thinking of inserting the following tangs all at once:

1 x Yellow Tang

1 x Purple Tang

1 x Powerblue Tang

1 x Blue Tang

Will insert in a Black Tang ad Chevron Tang if i can find it at the same time..

Do you forsee any Issues? (apart form a big hole in my pocket)...

Sorry Roidan, borrow your thread for a while

[bwilly]

yeah...in tat way no single tang can claim the whole tank as its territory....

but then again..how many of us drop all the tangs at the same time? hehehe

I rescape my tank this time, n thou to buy a school of tangs n drop them in.. but scare one of them got "problem", the rest get infected..

not as easy as it sound..

but u see those on tv.. school of tangs swimming ard.. so shiok hor..

n leave out the powder n blue tang.. ich bugger..!

n hor, tangs poo alot.. maybe marking out its own territory hor..

alfa.. it possible which usually works.. put a smaller tang in, then introduced a larger one later onz.. no problem.. I tried b4 tat too..

[roidan]

i suggest you omit the powder blue first....

coz it is one of the easiest tang to get ich amongst them...unless you are fortunate that there is totally no ich in the tank or brought together by the fishes..hehe

tat's my personal opinion

[bwilly]

i suggest you omit the powder blue first....

coz it is one of the easiest tang to get ich amongst them...unless you are fortunate that there is totally no ich in the tank or brought together by the fishes..hehe

tat's my personal opinion

doubt possible.. I totally rescape my tank hor..

seasoned fishes put in again (from fowlr), 1 or 2 fishes still got ich..

tik the parasites are lurkin in the corner to leech on the (weak) fishes..

[roidan]

yeah lor..takes alot of discipline, patience and even luck to have a totally ich free tank...possible...but very hard to achieve...

most tanks have a low level of ich infection that did not surface so most may think no more ich..and it just needs an event to spark off an outbreak

[bwilly]

yeah lor..takes alot of discipline, patience and even luck to have a totally ich free tank...possible...but very hard to achieve...

most tanks have a low level of ich infection that did not surface so most may think no more ich..and it just needs an event to spark off an outbreak

seasoned captive fishes will have higher chance of survival..

During rescape, my fishes were contained in the fowlr tank..

after rescape.. I just chop chop dump them back to the rescaped

tank..hehe..

now tank quite botak.. thou to dropby LFS Sunday to look c look c..

[AlfaRomeo]

In the event of ICH, the best remedy is to feed garlic soaked food like cyclops? Any other possible remedy excluding UV..?

[roidan]

yeah...maybe the socalled natural or acquired immunity may be at play here...

some fishes have natural immunity like mandarinfish coz of the slime coating....

and other fishes even tangs may have acquired immunity if they have gone through a bad infection and recover....hehe

[bwilly]

yeah...maybe the socalled natural or acquired immunity may be at play here...

some fishes have natural immunity like mandarinfish coz of the slime coating....

and other fishes even tangs may have acquired immunity if they have gone through a bad infection and recover....hehe

best way to test your tangs immune system is put them together with a ich infested Powder blue or Bluey tang.. haha..!!

IMO I think YT more resistant comparing tangs to tangs.. maybe also its colour, ich does not appear so prominent..

[roidan]

In the event of ICH, the best remedy is to feed garlic soaked food like cyclops? Any other possible remedy excluding UV..?

garlic soaked food only boosts the fish immunity ....but how severe the infection, sometimes even heightened immunity is not enough to fight off the infection...

having UV or ozone will kill off free floating ich parasites thus reducing the number that will eventually mutiply or attack the fish....

there is no single method to kill off an infection....especially in a reef tank where you find it hard to get all the fishes out and yet cannot dose medication right into the tank

but i believe a combination of methods can increase the chances of survival

[bwilly]

I think the fishes ability to settle down to its new environment plays a veri important part. especially timid fishes tends to take longer n feed too..

some just succumb to ich n dies..

my current PT, cover all over by ich twice over.. it settle nicely though attacked by ich parasites.. makan as greedy as next tank YT.. now healthy as purple as my V underwear..

[roidan]

yeah lor..as long as the tang is still eating ....still got chance to recover if the infection not too severe..only when it is so irritated that it stops eating...then one way road liao..

[Terryz_]

MY PBT eating very well what still go down the road...

[roidan]

MY PBT eating very well what still go down the road...

yeah lor..even eat well...can also go if infection is severe..

let alone one that does not even eat

[Terryz_]

Given up on tangs liao... except my sailfin tang... But your black tang is very tempting ler...

[roidan]

Given up on tangs liao... except my sailfin tang... But your black tang is very tempting ler...  

when u feel that ich no longer a threat..then u can add one later lor

black tang may be as strong as yellow tang or purple tang since from the same zebrasoma family..hehehe

henry's one is one fine example....quite strong fellow..even though power outage one day...the MI gone...but the black tang still tahan even though genna some ich

maybe the acaranthus family more susceptible

[Terryz_]

Wait till i setup my 4 ft... I will buy a black tang... From ML... Safer than other LFS...

[roidan]

Wait till i setup my 4 ft... I will buy a black tang... From ML... Safer than other LFS...

quite subjective lah...

cannot say other places not good lah...sensitive statement

but definitely can say ML is one of the better places around to get good fish