Whitecheek Tang

Hello!

I'm looking into buying a Whitecheek tang (Acanthurus nigricans, Goldrim Tang, whatever you want to call it)

I have been looking into getting one tang/Surgeonfish for some time and I would like this fish, but I want some opinions.

I have a 90 gallon tall (48" long, 18 wide, 24" tall) with a 20 long sump. I have an Eshopps PSK-150 protein skimmer and a HOB filter. I currently have 2 clownfish, 3 chromis, 1 yellowtail damsel, 1 firefish, and 1 sixline wrasse.

Now LiveAquaria as well as many other sites state that the minimum tank size is 70 gallons, but I do not want to stress the fish by pushing its limits. Now in the future (Couple years) I will be upgradeing to larger tank, but I do not want to bank on that...

Websites argue whether these fish are easy to care for or moderately difficult. I'm not new to fish tanks, but I'm somewhat new to saltwater. I've been keeping freshwater fish for years, but my saltwater tank is only about 4-5 months old.

I want to hear some info from people with experiance with this fish. How ich prone are they? I dont have a quarantine tank, and I'd rather not stress a large fish in a small tank for 2-4 weeks (not to mention buying the equiptment). The whitecheck I'm looking at is sold by an online dealer that lives close to me. I found his ad on craigslist.


Craigslist ad - saltwater fish and coral
Info - http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?c=720&pCatId=391

Thanks!
-Jossmalo :guitarist

 

I had a powder brown in my 125, and he paced up and down the tank almost freaking out when lights went out. I later read that this was because instinctively the fish felt as it was trapped in a tidal pool and in the morning would be easy prey for a bird (read that on wet web). I guess my 35x turnover wasn't enough to keep him happy combined with a tank that was apparently too small.

Maybe it varies fish by fish, but after seeing this first hand I would never keep any Acanthuridae in anything smaller than a 180 with ample swimming space and flow.

~Will.

 

Thanks for the response will!

Of all the research I've done, I have not read that and I find that to be a very interesting fact. I don't want to keep a fish if I know it's not happy.

 

From all the homework I did before I brought my powder brown home everything said my 125 would be great for it, especially if it wasn't fully grown. You might have better luck than I did, just make sure you have a TON of flow, open swimming space and appropriate tank mates.

~Will.

 

My achilles paced the 1st month I had him, added another PowerHead and he stopped pacing. My tangs have been more happy since having more flow in the tank. Currently have about a 32x turnover.

 

My whitecheek Tang. He seems very happy and healthy never had problems with Ich. I got him from liveaquaria he is my favorite fish. He is very keen to Jack Sprung's Purple Seaweed but he goes for the flake and brine as well. My 125 is the longer style though 6' wide and I put the rockwork kinda centered so the fish can swim in front, behind, and through

 

Thanks for the responses! I also have my rockwork set up to allow maximum swim space, but I surely need more powerheads if I decide to get the whitecheek. Thanks for the picture bluetang09! Definitly a beautiful fish! Since this is a local guy, I imgaine I could talk to him to learn more about the specific fish I would be getting but as of now I am still a little on the edge.

It's great to hear personal experiances instead of reading generalized fact charts trying to sell you the fish.

 

If I was you I would grab that Moseleya latistellata, absolutely beautiful piece! Not very common either.

 

Yea, it sure is beautiful, but unfortunalty I have PC lighting over my 90. As of now I don't really mind the look of PC, but I just make sure I get less light dependant corals. (Untill I can afford either MH or T5)

 

I have a white cheek tang in my 120 (48" tank) and it is doing great. It eats well, and really likes to swim in the rock work. I have about 160 lbs of rock in the tank, and lots of space for the fish to swim around. I also have a lot of flow in the tank, and he really seems to like that. the fish grazes a lot, so I would make sure there is plenty of rock for it to pick at. Overall it is a good eater. I feed it emerald entree, algea sheets, formula 2 pellets, and honestly, it even eats flake food.

One thing I noticed out there, and you may have as well, is that some sites call the white cheeked tang a powder brown tang. There is another fish, that looks very simmilar, that is also called a powder brown tang. It looks like you are paying attention to the scientific name, which is smart, but I wanted to point that out to be safe. When I was doing some searching on it...a lot of articles said that powder brown tangs are hard to keep...but when I searched based on scientific name, they say that the white cheek tang is not too bad. That has been my experience as well. I have had mine for about 4 months now, and it is doing great.