is it true that blue tangs need a minimum of 70 gal??

i read on this site that blue tangs can live in a 70 gal tank minimum? but this is going by adult size ,is this true??


Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Blue Tang

 

I have in the past had a blue hippo/regal tang in a 55g = 4' wide tank.. got it small maybe 1.5" long and it grown to about 4" long and had it for 3 years I believe.. they just need alot of swimming room from left to right.. they are great fish.

 

how long did it take for your tang to grow from 1.5 inches to 4 inches??????

 

Coupling this with your other post, the answer is that there really is no 100% answer. People keep tangs in smaller tanks, usually when smaller or when planning to upgrade. You can keep a small tang in a smaller tank. The key to remember is that they grow to a fairly large size and that should be taken into consideration when stocking a tank. I knew somebody who kept a yellow tang in a 20gal long tank. Every body he told complained and pleaded to get it out of there. No body bothered to ask how big the fish was. It was extremely small, about the size of a quarter. Proportionately it had more room then my small YT in my 55. I am of the opinion that fish need room and larger fish need more room. I try to provide my fish with the best environment possible and taking their size and swimming tendencies into consideration is part of choosing a fish for my tank.

 

cant remember exactly but i'd say 2-3 years, all depends on how much you feed and if your overstocked it would probly prolong growth since stress is a factor.

 

It's not so much as Tangs size that requires the large tanks it's the fact that they swim so much and cover such a large area while doing so.

 

I wouldn't go lower than a 5x2x2 for an adult regal tang

 

I dunno...some places say 70 gallons, but the regal can possibly get over a foot long! 70 seems small to me - but I don't really know much about tangs.

 

remember most fish only grow as fast as the tank size their in.. a tang in a 55 g and the same identical tang in a 200g with the same water parms, food, etc.. the 200g tang should grow up faster..

 

The one in the smaller tank would have less swimming space and most likely more stress and it becomes stunted, rather than growing to the size of the tank. That almost sounds like the old goldfish myth, they will only grow as big as the bowl they are in.