Inexperienced -- Can I keep a yellow box fish ?

[nail9394]

I saw a yellow box fish in the LFS

It is very cute, the staff tell me it will die easy... should I take the risk ?

I have a 35g with 40lb of live rock, CC, a protein skimmer and a hang on filter for circulation.

There is one yellow tang and a pair of percular clown already in the tank and the tank is 3 months old.

Please give me some advice on how to keep it.:eek1:

[pm_devin]

Fish can be toxic. Would not recommend.

[saltkreep]

the yellow box fish does eat corals. no! no!no!

[Spikehs]

hey,

Just to warn you...you'll prolly get flamed for having the yellow tang in a 35gal tank....75gal should be th bare minimum.

[Leopardshark]

that fish for a FO or a FOWLR is excellent, it is one of my favorite fish.
I don´t think they´re difficult to have, but they´re not reef safe at all.:mad:

[Angel*Fish]

But you should read up on them before you get one, because there are a number of considerations & things you should know before you get one - I think Fenner's book has some info on this... I think I've heard it is preferable not to net them, if possible and you really don't want one spending any time in your tank if it were to die - Some of them are supposed to be able to poison your system that way

You also might want to check into how big they get and how fast they grow...

[[I]ce]

I have a yellow tang in a 29 gal and he killed all my other fish i got to get rid of him im sorry i ever listened to the LFS. Hope they dident talk you into geting one.

[nail9394]

[I]ce,

??? what exactly do you mean by the yellow tang kill all fish in your tank. My yellow tang is the most gentle fish in the tank and I never saw it bothering anybody. I also don't understand that if a 35g cannot even occupy a yellow tank then this hobby is way too demanding.

When I buy this 35g I had tried to handle a 50g, but I found that I cannot handle it (I mean moving it) . It won't go in my car anyway..

[nail9394]

Thanks for the advice from all of you.

I got rid of the idea of getting a yellow box fish..... not until I talk my wife into having another tank set up... but to get a 75g for one fish only...mmmm my wife will think I am crazy???

[Spikehs]

The 75gal recomendation is what most (if not all) books will recommend. If you talk to people on this board most will say that is even too small. This fish can get very big (~5 inches), if yours is small, right know then in MAY be ok, but be prepared to upgrade in the future, or give it to someone with a bigger tank. JMO

Sean

[[I]ce]

The LFS sold me a yellow tang after only having the tank for 3 weeks they also sold me a powder blue tang and they did know how old and small my tank was when i bought it. I watched as the yellow tang beat the s*** out of a damsel those little white things on the back of the tail of a tang can be deadly. I recently found a home for the yellow tang and hope he will be happy there. I guess the tang just got to teritorial. When animals kill at 11 back to you clark.

[DgenR8]

It's not unusual for a Yellow Tang to be aggressive and territorial

[Periclimenes Lover]

When I first started this hobby (after my tank had been up about three months with live rock) I wanted a boxfish. So I bought a small one about 1 inch or so big. It was extremely cute but after about a day it started getting little white spots. I tried to treat it with copper (BAD thing to do with boxfish) and long story short it died. I bought a few others as well, three cowfish and two more ostracion cubicus (the spotted ones) and they have all died. Luckily I think they were too small to poison the tank... also I didn't really have anything besides a few snails and crabs to die (which they didn't). So my recommendations would be: if you were to buy a boxfish realize they do need a large tank (I would say 75 gallon to start minimum and realize you'll need to get a bigger one soon, I would guess at least 100 gallon), also fresh water dip the fish if it get's ick, they are VERY ick prone. Make sure the water is the same PH parameters as your regular tank and dip until you see preferably no white spots or until the fish seems bothered/stressed a little. Give it vitamin supplements, lotsa different food and never ever give it a copper treatment. Put a few cleaner shrimp in with it. Larger boxfish (more than a couple inches in length) I believe are easier/hardier (all of mine were very small). But realize if something happens to it, the tank it is in will be polluted. Just my experiences and opinion ;) But I've only been in this hobby about a year so... take it for what it's worth. :)

[nail9394]

[I]ce,

Oooo..... I think I am stuck now.

I set up a 35g because I use my friend's tank as reference
a 25g tank with 3 fishs, no LR, only CC.

With 3 fish.

1 yellow tang
1 blue hippo tang and 1 maroon clown.

I watch it closely for 3 months and nothing dies so I go for 35g with LR. Look like I am still very far off track :mad: :mad:

Now I can only pray that my lovely yellow tang will stay gentle