Blonde Naso Tang growth rate?

[born2chill]

Ok I'm not saying I did this, but I know someone who did. Let's say everytime he goes into his lfs he feels like buying something. Ok he has a 75 gallon tank with a royal gramma basslet, yellow watchman goby, perc. clown, yellow tang, 2 pep shrimp, about 7 turbo snails, 10 nas. snails, and 10 or so hermits. So this fellow goes into his lfs tonight and falls in love with a 2" kole tang and a 3" Naso blonde tang. Now this fellow has a coralife 36 watt UV sterilizer and the kole tang looked very healthy and active at the lfs, so he throws it into his 75 gallon without qt. (I know that was a dumb move, but some people take risks) He puts the blonde naso tang in his 30 gal qt tank by itself to give him the proper qt time he deserves. Now this fellow, again not me, but my close friend, is wondering how long before the blonde naso would outgrow his 75 gal main tank. He knows that he will be overcrowded when he adds the naso to his main and promises not to add any more fish to it. TIA

 

[IfoundNemo]

Naso tang needs plenty of swimming room. The minimum size tank for it is 125 gal.
3 tangs in a 75 gal are way too many. I once had a kole tang, sailfin tang,and a yellow tang in a 75 gal as well. I had to return them all back to the lfs due to over crowed situation. Now i only have a PBT, and he seems more happy w/o the other tangs.

 

[lando]

Now this fellow, again not me, but my close friend, is wondering how long before the blonde naso would outgrow his 75 gal main tank.

Wow, "your friend" sounds a lot like me, I sure love to buy stuff at the LFS! So it is certainly not an ideal situation, but I am sure there is a few nasos swimming around in smaller tanks. The naso tang does require a tank of about twice the size of "your friends's" tank. I am not sure if the naso will really "out grow" the 75. Chances are it iwll die before you need to up-grade. I do not mean this to sound malitious. If a fish in put into an inappropriate envirornment it will become stressed. This stress will simply reduce it's life expectency. A good option would be for "your friend" to enjoy this fish for a while them take it back to the LFS once it starts to grow a bit.

 

[born2chill]

That is some good advice lando. I'm going to have him spend a good month in my 30 gal QT, I mean my friend's qt. lol. He seems very scared and did not eat much today, so hopefully he will get over his fear soon. The kole tang, on the other hand, appears to be a beacon of good health. He has become good friends with my yellow tang in less than a day and the two swim around together happily around the tank. The Kole seems to like the hair algae on my mag3 pump so he is helping with the cleanup. I'll keep you updated. Pics to come soon as well.

 

[juskeepswiming]

Let's say everytime he goes into his lfs he feels like buying something

I know the feeling (read my signature)

 

[born2chill]

dammit I think I just found out why my naso might be tentative to eat. I was going through all my regular tests and I found a trace of nitrates. I removed some rock when I netted my yellow tang and clown out of QT the other night. I guess some of the bacteria on there died off causing a trace of nitrates. I guess another water change is in order.

 

[Phyl]

A trace of nitrates isn't hurting you any. Up to 40 is "acceptable" but with corals I try to keep mine around 7. My fish have never had an issue with my trates. My kenya is the canary in the coal mine. If that isn't happy I start running tests like a mad woman!

He's probably just hesitant because he's new. It took my PT a good week to eat and he'd only do it if I was out of sight of him. Give him some time to get comfortable and hang some nori in the tank where he can pick at it at his leisure. He'll come around!