Ugh... help, Tang died in under 24 hours?

You'll always see people saying that tangs will not work in a 55g and the reason they say that is because they have the tangs best interest in mind. You'll get away with it in a 55g, possibly for years, but one day the fish will die and it will be a lot sooner than necessary. You might not be able to keep it for so long if it gets stressed out from not having enough room to swim.

If these things don't bother you then you could do it. If you see yourself getting a much larger tank within a couple years then I say go for it. If then plans fall through then you can just take the fish back to the LFS or sell it third party.

Edit: When I say "go for it" I don't mean go out and get a tang that truly does need 100+ gallons.

 

Just to clarify, do you take the fish out of the water?

 

Just because some people do it doesn't mean it is ok. Some people have dog fights, that doesn't mean that is ok either.

The tang you bought gets a foot long, there is no way it would be ok in a 55, if it even got that big before dying of stress. There are plenty of colorful, interesting fish that would do great in a 55 or even a 29 for that matter.

 

My LFS does an autopsy for 6 bucks
You shud see if yours does.

 

fish autopsy lol? That's a easy way to steal money.

 

Hahahaha, what could they possibly figure out? That's funny.

 

they tell you how they died.......

 

well my LFS is run by marine biologists at the University of tennessee so maybe yours isnt....