tang question

i wouldnt do a tang in anything less than a 75, thats just me tho i know many who keep them in 55's

 

A lot of people that have 55's have a small tank(mostly yellows but kole,flame fin, and purple tangs come up here and there)

 

But it's not long enough.
Tangs will go in and out of the rockwork AND swim the length of the tank. They don't just do one thing all day long.

That doesn't make it healthy for the fish. A lot of people do things they shouldn't all the time.

 

a purple tang should not be in anything less than a 90 period i believe. they are the same genus as a sailfin

 

i've seen 2 in 55's and yes they do need a bigger tank. one of them was in a reef with softies a pair of clowns and a cuc and the tang looked pretty happy but once it's a big adult it would need a much larger tank.

 

no, no purple in a 55 it will not be happy even at 2 inches. they swim a crapload. its not a matter of size

 

talk to the person who did that, not me.

 

I do agree that tangs should be in bigger tanks, but putting a small 2 inch tang into a full blown tank with other massive fish is likely to get it harassed and killed. I have seen it many times when people come in and out of the LFS. They buy a really small tang, come back the next day with it because the other tangs/fishes harassed it to death.

I think if you already have the means to move the fish later on, as in you already have a bigger tank set up and everything, and not upgrading when the fish gets bigger, is a much better than putting the tiny fish in a massive tank as fish food.

I think this thread has gotten out of hand with back and forth bickering. Everyone has their own opinion and I agree with everyone that tangs need big tanks. Tangs in tanks as low as 40 breeders have been done, I will admit I have a yellow tang in my 40 and he's been in there for a little over year and doing very well, very active swimmer, eats like there's unlimited food. Face it, things have been done, some more successful than others, for example it is now possible to house clams in picos and nanos, mandarins in tanks down to the 20 gallons, and the list goes on. It all comes down to good husbandry and how dedicated you are to keeping a successful tank.

 

very good post IMHO duoc9119

it would be fantastic if we could debate this subject as civilised people with respect for the opinions of others

I am confident in what you say about your Tang in your tank is true
I have no reason to doubt that whatsover
and I totally agree, throwing a tiny fish into any situation that puts it as risk from tank mates would be counter productive

although putting it in a bigger tank, without the potential for bullying would be an even better solution - thats just my opinion though I can be wrong, I have been before, I will be again.

there are naturally questions on my mind about it
1 - would the Tang be bigger now, if it was in a 6ft tank? I dont know
2- do fish housed in small tanks reach a certain size and then become stunted , in which case when they are given larger accomodation cannot take advantage of it in terms of increasing size? I honestly do not know


my feelings have always been
people who have made their choices and do not ask for my opinion on those choices = I have no business giving my opinion
and if others would do the same- we could debate this subject without the inevitable lock appearing on the thread.

people who ask a question on the site, about what size tank they need
well thats a different matter and as such, I feel giving my opinion is acceptable
and in situations like that my feelings are to err on the side of caution
After all - a dead tang in 8 weeks is not something I want people to be saying "Steve said it would be OK in there"

Steve

 

From my experiences, I have rarely had a fish that reached its natural max length. It is just what happens when fish become domesticated. You will get some here and there that will reach 1 foot but I think that is a rare occasion. On average I have found that yellow tangs (domesticated) will max around 5-6 inches.

Many that have large tanks have had it running for quite some time, which in turn have large fish. Unless the tank has just been established and there are no large fish, a 2 inch tang would not be a problem. But this isn't the case most the time.

I don't see why putting a tiny fish in a large tank is necessary. You will either end up with a dead fish, or you won't see it at all while it hides from large tank mates, then ends up dead.

We shouldn't be blamed for their lost because of our advice. It is just that, an advice. You post a question, we answer respectively with our experiences and not just regurgitating what we have read or come across in these tang posts. I can give you very detailed list of what I do for my tank and walk you through my process but I can't guarantee that it will work for everyone.

I got my tang some time last year at a small size, 24 hour cameras at 4 points on my tank for a few months to note the fish's behaviour and such, at least 5 pieces of nori sheets throughout the tank everyday that's equal to half a sheet on one clip, along with clips of dragons breath. Two rock islands for coral instead of a wall. For the first few months, I basically played marine biologist to make sure it is healthy, not ill or stressed, eating well. I knew that asking questions on the forums would get me nowhere because of the arguing and flaming, so I took it upon myself to house the yellow tang in a 40 breeder. Did all my research before hand, then studied my specific fish when I got it.

It isn't in the ideal tank size but I took the challenge and know what I put myself into and the tang is doing very well. Again, it comes down to what you are willing to put out to care for a tang.