Smallest tang?

[phiber_optikx]

To start with YES! I used the search button and after 7 pages of crap I decided not to look at the other 30. So, what is the smallest possible tang tank? I know most species require at LEAST a 75 but most recomend a 120 or more. Are there smaller species that would do well in say, a 55? Thanks.

I will save you all the trouble.....

[abe]

i keep a blue tang in a 65. had it for a year. grew like crazy at first, but stays at size in proportion to your tank. gonna move it to a 285g soon though.

EDIT: you can see it compared to the tank in my sig

[Withers]

This is a subjective issue and nobody will ever agree on it.

 

To safely keep a tang (not an adult), I would say a 75 would be the minimum, and it would absolutely depend on the tang species and would also need a very open rock structure (but with spaces to hide when frightened).

 

But as far as keeping a healthy, stress-free tang, I'd vote for 75, provided you know that when it gets full grown it will need something much larger.

 

i keep a blue tang in a 65. had it for a year. grew like crazy at first, but stays at size in proportion to your tank. gonna move it to a 285g soon though.

EDIT: you can see it compared to the tank in my sig

 

This is absolutely an urban legend. Tangs (and all fish) will continue to grow to their adult size in any sized aquarium. A year is not nearly long enough to say that your fish has stopped growing.

[phiber_optikx]

I am wanting to keep it permanently. Not much for buying something I know I will have to return. I bet some shops could make good money "leasing" fish So there is no species of tang small enough to keep permanently in a 55?

[glennr1978]

I have a yellow tang that has been living happily in my 40 breeder for about 6 months now. He won't stay there forever though. I'm planning on upgrading to atleast a 90g (but seriously considering a 150g) in about 6 more months or so.

[h3llc4t]

It's not just the physical size of the fish but the room that they need to feel comfortable and swim around sufficiently. Tangs like lots of current and lots of room. With rock and such added in if you're doing a FOWLR tank, there's not much room in a 55. I don't know of any tang species that would be happy for its lifetime in a tank of that size. Offhand, I don't know the smallest tang species, as I've never seriously considered them until recently; maybe it's the Scopas?

[Lalani]

grew like crazy at first, but stays at size in proportion to your tank.

Thats called stunting.....

[abe]

This is absolutely an urban legend. Tangs (and all fish) will continue to grow to their adult size in any sized aquarium. A year is not nearly long enough to say that your fish has stopped growing.

 

i guess... doesn't really matter to me, since it is going into a 285g. want it to be big. also planning so sohal tangs, chevron tangs, and achilles tangs to go into that tank.

[StevieT]

did you ask for permission to use my picture.

 

 

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read the disclaimer!

 

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[phiber_optikx]

did you ask for permission to use my picture.

 

 

Expressed written consent must be given to repost any of my work"

 

 

 

Did you not get the memo....? I just figured it was coming anyway Next time I will send 2 memos so I know you get at least one.

[abe]

Thats called stunting.....

its still growing, just not as fast. its gonna b the last thing in the 285g though... its impossible to catch with the LR. if i could catch it, it would have been in the LFS a few months ago.

[Withers]

Thats called stunting.....

 

Also part of the urban legend.

 

As far as a tang that will be permanently fine in a 55 gallon tank? If you were going to try any tang I would recommend a Kole Tang just because they stay on the smaller side for tangs but still get quite large (larger than a 55 gallon can really handle) and don't seem to use the water column as much as most tangs would.

 

Edit: To be honest, the chance of you not upgrading to a larger tank eventually is pretty small, statistically speaking.

[StevieT]

Did you not get the memo....? I just figured it was coming anyway Next time I will send 2 memos so I know you get at least one.

 

 

Missed the memo, must be with the red stapler

[Lalani]

Vic, are you saying that stunting is an urban legend or stunting with tangs is an urban legend?

 

Edit: I don't want to sound like I'm starting anything, I really don't know!

And sorry for distracting the thread phiber_optikx.

[phiber_optikx]

Ok but if you find an envelope full of money it is mine! Kole tang is actually what I had in mind. But I would want to be sure it would really be fine before adding it. I do agree that I will probably upgrade. But not for a while. I am getting the 55 in a few weeks and that will be my 2nd upgrade in 5 months So I think the Mrs. is putting her foot down for a while. But I would like to know that I don't HAVE to upgrade to keep it healthy. If it can't really be done then I just won't get it. But I would think a 7" fish would be fairly happy for a good while. I would start with a small 2"-3" fish anyway. What about a powder brown? Are they much different?

[Matty1124]

did you not read what others have written... why dont you look into some dwarf angles... they are pretty and swim around a ton, and can be kept in smaller tanks like your talking... tang=100+g tank

[phiber_optikx]

did you not read what others have written... why dont you look into some dwarf angles... they are pretty and swim around a ton, and can be kept in smaller tanks like your talking... tang=100+g tank

Did you? "If it can't really be done then I just won't get it."

[Matty1124]

"What about a powder brown? Are they much different?"

 

you keep asking about tangs... hasnt everyone on here said a 55g is too small... i just offered a diffrent varity of fish that swims in the open and stays small(ish) and can be kept in a 55g

[Withers]

Vic, are you saying that stunting is an urban legend or stunting with tangs is an urban legend?

 

Edit: I don't want to sound like I'm starting anything, I really don't know!

And sorry for distracting the thread phiber_optikx.

 

Stunting is real, but stunting because of a space constraint isn't. Fish never reach their full potential in home aquaria but it isn't because of a lack of space. It probably has more to do with malnutrition than anything, which also leads fish to lead shorter lives in home aquaria than they could in the wild.

 

Regardless, a fish that would grow to 12+ inches in the wild will not all of a sudden only grow to be 3" because it's stuck in a 10 gallon tank, which is what the myth claims would happen, that a fish will only grow to a size that its space will allow.

[dakar652]

why is everyone so Bit##y all the time...LoL. BTW...plagarism of anyones hard work (be it amateur photoshopping or not) is NOT cool at all...unless of course with expressed consent. otherwise...that's rape...and it's no laughing matter...

 

but that TANG POLIZIA PIC IS SOOOOO FU$%!%G FUNNY!!!!!!! that should be on the NR main page somewhere to warn people of the atmosphere they are considering becoming a part of! i think it would probably shy a few 'tang abusers' from even bothering to post rediculous questions.

 

why can't anyone understand the basic rule of 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons in saltwater...i have a 30 gallon system with two false perculas...and i have hopes of maybe, MAYBE adding a firefish some day (SOME DAY). i'm not saying you can't make a tang work in a 20 gallon for a while...but it's just cruel...use common sense...and ALWAYS buy fish for the tank you have NOW...don't buy fish for a tank you will have or hope to have...because it might not happen.

[Withers]

why can't anyone understand the basic rule of 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons in saltwater...i have a 30 gallon system with two false perculas...and i have hopes of maybe, MAYBE adding a firefish some day (SOME DAY). i'm not saying you can't make a tang work in a 20 gallon for a while...but it's just cruel...use common sense...and ALWAYS buy fish for the tank you have NOW...don't buy fish for a tank you will have or hope to have...because it might not happen.

 

Because that rule is retarded. Different fish behave differently in the wild. Clownfish rarely travel more than 3 feet from their host anemone and are therefore ideally suited to home aquaria. Tangs, on the other hand, are schooling free-swimming fish that do not have a specific territory that they occupy and defend and are much less suited to aquariums, hence why people say they need such long tanks to thrive.

 

Whether or not its a "cruel" practice is subjective, but common sense would tell you that these are fish, not humans, and therefore don't give a ###### what size tank they're in because they don't have the mental capacity to process the thought. Whether or not a tang can be safely kept in a certain sized tank should be based on whether or not it can be kept stress free (and therefore disease free), but that is not usually the case.

[dakar652]

vicskimr, i was speaking to newbs like myself when i stated that rule as gospel. obviously with more experience much more complex setups are doable...but when deciding on a full grown size of a fish, the rule is generally a good guideline...not retarded...retarded is as retarded does...

 

i meant no offense to people that don't follow the afforementioned guideline...but simply stated it as an obvious starting point until a good comfort level is acheived with a less complex system.

[yardboy]

With 6 years experience keeping tangs, and a yellow tang that I've had all that time, IN MY OPINION, tangs are overrated and boring. I've got two smallish ones, a yellow (who by the way hasn't grown much in those 6 years) and a sailfin in a 150, and they don't behave the way they do in the wild. They tend to run back and forth across the front of the glass, which to me indicates they are somewhat bored. On the reef, they run like that in schools for miles. The thing is, if they behaved somewhat naturally they'd be more enjoyable to me.

My damsel, coral beauty, and blennies seem to act much more "natural" than the tangs ever do.

I've also found that small fish in a big tank make the tank look even bigger.

[Withers]

I know, and the rule should be a minimum for sure, but its the same as all generalized rules, they don't really hold up in such a complex hobby. They work fine for freshwater, but they just can't be adapted to saltwater.

 

Nobody will ever agree on this stuff anyway because everybody uses different criteria. It seems like most people who keep tangs always conveniently recommend their own tank size as the minimum tank size required, regardless if its a 75 gallon tank or a 350 gallon tank. To take it even further, there are all sorts of 75 gallon tanks and some are obviously less suited to a tang than others. A standard 55 gallon tank is just a couple of inches different than a standard 75 and a standard 90 is only a couple inches different than a 75.

[abe]

forgot to add this. my lfs has had a powder blue in a 300 gallon tank for 9 years, and the tand is still smaller than my blue tang. just something for you to think on.