Help choosing tang. Is it a good fit for my tank?

[HingleMcCringleberry]

Hi all. I have had a 20 gal nano tank for a while now and have also added a new 32 gal bio cube that has been up and running for years with the previous owner and about a month since I moved it to my apartment. (I kept filter material live rock etc.) tank parameters are all excellent (haven’t checked calcium/alkalinity though). And it has been very stable for weeks. 

 

I am planning what what fish I will add to this tank and was hoping I might add a juvenile tang. Before everyone attacks me for the idea of a tang in a tank that size I do plan to rehome the tang when it outgrows the tank. 

 

My questions are these:

can a juvenile tang be housed in my tank?

is my tank mature enough for a tang?

what species is recommended?

what species grows slowest and needs the least swimming room so I can house it the longest?

what tangs are less aggressive?

what tangs are best at controlling algae?

is my tank mature enough to add fish like this/when will it be ready?

what size is too big/when to rehome tang?

 

i hope some experienced reefers can weigh in. Ting into account all those questions what tangs would you recommend if at all? I want something that I can buy small, will stay small for longer, is able to grow largest before needing a new home, and is a decent community fish with other semi aggressive species (damsels wrasses dwarf angels hawk fishes etc.)?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all that and can offer advice. I really appreciate it. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

17 minutes ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

Hi all. I have had a 20 gal nano tank for a while now and have also added a new 32 gal bio cube that has been up and running for years with the previous owner and about a month since I moved it to my apartment. (I kept filter material live rock etc.) tank parameters are all excellent (haven’t checked calcium/alkalinity though). And it has been very stable for weeks. 

 

I am planning what what fish I will add to this tank and was hoping I might add a juvenile tang. Before everyone attacks me for the idea of a tang in a tank that size I do plan to rehome the tang when it outgrows the tank. 

 

My questions are these:

can a juvenile tang be housed in my tank?

is my tank mature enough for a tang?

what species is recommended?

what species grows slowest and needs the least swimming room so I can house it the longest?

what tangs are less aggressive?

what tangs are best at controlling algae?

is my tank mature enough to add fish like this/when will it be ready?

what size is too big/when to rehome tang?

 

i hope some experienced reefers can weigh in. Ting into account all those questions what tangs would you recommend if at all? I want something that I can buy small, will stay small for longer, is able to grow largest before needing a new home, and is a decent community fish with other semi aggressive species (damsels wrasses dwarf angels hawk fishes etc.)?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all that and can offer advice. I really appreciate it. 

You could probably keep a small juvenile for a little bit, but you would definitely have to either get rid of it or get a bigger tank.

Within a year he will outgrow the tank

I would not recommend it

[WV Reefer]

16 minutes ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

Hi all. I have had a 20 gal nano tank for a while now and have also added a new 32 gal bio cube that has been up and running for years with the previous owner and about a month since I moved it to my apartment. (I kept filter material live rock etc.) tank parameters are all excellent (haven’t checked calcium/alkalinity though). And it has been very stable for weeks. 

 

I am planning what what fish I will add to this tank and was hoping I might add a juvenile tang. Before everyone attacks me for the idea of a tang in a tank that size I do plan to rehome the tang when it outgrows the tank. 

 

My questions are these:

can a juvenile tang be housed in my tank?

is my tank mature enough for a tang?

what species is recommended?

what species grows slowest and needs the least swimming room so I can house it the longest?

what tangs are less aggressive?

what tangs are best at controlling algae?

is my tank mature enough to add fish like this/when will it be ready?

what size is too big/when to rehome tang?

 

i hope some experienced reefers can weigh in. Ting into account all those questions what tangs would you recommend if at all? I want something that I can buy small, will stay small for longer, is able to grow largest before needing a new home, and is a decent community fish with other semi aggressive species (damsels wrasses dwarf angels hawk fishes etc.)?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all that and can offer advice. I really appreciate it. 

I would say no tangs in that small of a tank ever.......  even a small tang needs plenty of room to swim and they are fast growers.

 

why not set yourself up for success and pick a nice fish that can live in your tank forever?

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

^agree

[mitten_reef]

25 minutes ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

and is a decent community fish with other semi aggressive species (damsels wrasses dwarf angels hawk fishes etc.)?

eh, I wouldn't do a tang in such a small tank to begin with.  everyone is probably aware of that one guy on instagram that keep the hippo tang in a 25 lagoon.  So before you say, people have done it on the internet (edit: people do a lot of stupid things on internet, doesn't mean you should) , I choose to NOT FOLLOW him for that reason - no matter how nice his tank looks.  

But with the added list of friends that you provided here? I'd say way too much conflicts in a tiny 20-in cube.  You probably shouldn't keep all that you listed (even without a tang) together in a biocube.  

Unless you have had good history on fishkeeping, and this is your second go-round, and you plan on expanding, blah blah you know the rest, (only said that, cuz looks like you just joined NR), I'd highly caution against such ambitious fish list in a nano.  Saying "re-homing" is equivalent to kicking the can down the road to me...

 

[HingleMcCringleberry]

16 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

eh, I wouldn't do a tang in such a small tank to begin with.  everyone is probably aware of that one guy on instagram that keep the hippo tang in a 25 lagoon.  So before you say, people have done it on the internet (edit: people do a lot of stupid things on internet, doesn't mean you should) , I choose to NOT FOLLOW him for that reason - no matter how nice his tank looks.  

But with the added list of friends that you provided here? I'd say way too much conflicts in a tiny 20-in cube.  You probably shouldn't keep all that you listed (even without a tang) together in a biocube.  

Unless you have had good history on fishkeeping, and this is your second go-round, and you plan on expanding, blah blah you know the rest, (only said that, cuz looks like you just joined NR), I'd highly caution against such ambitious fish list in a nano.  Saying "re-homing" is equivalent to kicking the can down the road to me...

 

Hmmm. I am taking this all in. And yes this is my third tank. Second tank recently though. Funny enough I am keeping a yellow coris wrasse, hawkfish, coral beauty (small, moving to the 32 gal soon), and a pair of tiny clowns in the 20 gallon. I only listed those fish as examples to show I’m not planning on adding the tang in with fire fish or other very passive fish like that. 

 

It does sound like a tang may be off the table. My LFS was recommending a small yellow tang for my setup. I have set up my rock work to have lots of open space in preparation that I could one day house a tang. I guess maybe I should rethink that. 

 

[HingleMcCringleberry]

I keep trying to find some showpiece fish for my 32 gal that I can build my tank around. First it was a red coris wrasse. Gave that up because I can’t keep a cleanup crew. Tangs seem to be just a little too big I suppose. I was considering a leopard wrasse but online it says they’re hard to keep. Is that true? Anyone have alternative recommendations for showpiece fishes?

[mitten_reef]

4 minutes ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

I keep trying to find some showpiece fish for my 32 gal that I can build my tank around. First it was a red coris wrasse. Gave that up because I can’t keep a cleanup crew. Tangs seem to be just a little too big I suppose. I was considering a leopard wrasse but online it says they’re hard to keep. Is that true? Anyone have alternative recommendations for showpiece fishes?

That transplanted coral beauty will be your showpiece fish - very active, rich coloration.  if you have already made open-rock scapes, it should be darting around throughout rockworks, picking at every nooks and crannies.     

[Lognor]

For a tank that size, it's going to be hard to have a "show piece" fish in the way you're describing it.  Why not go with all small species of fish, but have a number of them to give the tank an active, lively look to it.  Clown's, gobies, and a slew of others I don't even know about.  I have a 29 AIO cube with 2 picasso clowns, a purple firefish goby and a yellow coris wrasse, a cleaner shrimp, CUC and a bunch of LPS and soft corals.  There's a lot to look at and lots of activity.  But, it all depends on what you like and what look you're going for.  There's literally a million different ways you can go.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

Just now, Lognor said:

For a tank that size, it's going to be hard to have a "show piece" fish in the way you're describing it.  Why not go with all small species of fish, but have a number of them to give the tank an active, lively look to it.  Clown's, gobies, and a slew of others I don't even know about.  I have a 29 AIO cube with 2 picasso clowns, a purple firefish goby and a yellow coris wrasse, a cleaner shrimp, CUC and a bunch of LPS and soft corals.  There's a lot to look at and lots of activity.  But, it all depends on what you like and what look you're going for.  There's literally a million different ways you can go.

I appreciate the advice. I may have to go that direction by default but I feel like I’ve already done that version of a reef tank before. I was hoping with my new slightly larger tank I might be able to do 2-3 fish with larger specimens than a community of smaller fish. 

 

I get that I can’t just force something into being. But if there are ways to make sacrifices to create something that truly works then I’m very interested in giving it a try. 

 

Like me packing a car for a long trip. If you bring the dog you’ll lose a lot of space for clothes food trincuts etc. and have to leave some stuff behind. but it’s worth it. Ahaha 

[Perthreefer]

Have a flame angel as my ‘showpiece’ fish in my 30 gallon shallow cube. They can be a bit hit and miss with corals in a smaller tank but I’ve been lucky with mine so far. 

[Jesterrace]

On 3/19/2019 at 7:54 AM, WV Reefer said:

I would say no tangs in that small of a tank ever.......  even a small tang needs plenty of room to swim and they are fast growers.

 

why not set yourself up for success and pick a nice fish that can live in your tank forever?

Agreed.  A 20 gallon or 32 gallon biocube is basically nothing more than a temporary holding tank (ie a few weeks) for even the smallest Tang (ie Tomini aka Flame Fin Tang).  You are talking about an open water swimming fish that swims miles between reefs rather than having a small set territory.  That's one of the reasons why for folks seeking smaller capacity tanks, I recommend any tank that maximizes length for it's capacity as it greatly increases your stocking options for fish.  

[Tamberav]

On 3/19/2019 at 8:35 AM, HingleMcCringleberry said:

Hi all. I have had a 20 gal nano tank for a while now and have also added a new 32 gal bio cube that has been up and running for years with the previous owner and about a month since I moved it to my apartment. (I kept filter material live rock etc.) tank parameters are all excellent (haven’t checked calcium/alkalinity though). And it has been very stable for weeks. 

 

I am planning what what fish I will add to this tank and was hoping I might add a juvenile tang. Before everyone attacks me for the idea of a tang in a tank that size I do plan to rehome the tang when it outgrows the tank. 

 

My questions are these:

can a juvenile tang be housed in my tank?

is my tank mature enough for a tang?

what species is recommended?

what species grows slowest and needs the least swimming room so I can house it the longest?

what tangs are less aggressive?

what tangs are best at controlling algae?

is my tank mature enough to add fish like this/when will it be ready?

what size is too big/when to rehome tang?

 

i hope some experienced reefers can weigh in. Ting into account all those questions what tangs would you recommend if at all? I want something that I can buy small, will stay small for longer, is able to grow largest before needing a new home, and is a decent community fish with other semi aggressive species (damsels wrasses dwarf angels hawk fishes etc.)?

 

thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all that and can offer advice. I really appreciate it. 

 

Children are small but they still need exercise and space. Size of a tang doesn't change their behavior. They are schooling fish that travel great distances in the wild. A 20g provides nothing of a normal home. A biocube is an absolutely terrible footprint for a tang.

 

There is nothing showpeice about a tang in a small tank, it is obnoxious to see them bumping around in a corner. Also honestly, showpiece fish seems like a fresh water thing to me, in reef, every fish is a showpiece.

 

Sorry, I do not mean to come off offensive but I feel people don't think about this enough.

 

BTW tangs are disease magnets so if you swap them for small ones every year, you prob eventually get velvet and wipe out your tank. Not worth.

 

[Tamberav]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:23 AM, HingleMcCringleberry said:

I was considering a leopard wrasse but online it says they’re hard to keep. Is that true? 

They are poor shippers, can be difficult to get eating frozen foods... anywhere from just days to months so you will need pods and live foods until they take frozen, they usually start out with their days and nights mixed up so some times they end up in the sand for a few weeks starting out, and they are prone to internal parasites which can be the cause of them not eating.

 

However, once established and eating well, they are very hardy. 

 

If you can find one at the LFS eating frozen like a beast, treat it for internal parasites and then you will probably be fine. Females are easier than males.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

42 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

They are poor shippers, can be difficult to get eating frozen foods... anywhere from just days to months so you will need pods and live foods until they take frozen, they usually start out with their days and nights mixed up so some times they end up in the sand for a few weeks starting out, and they are prone to internal parasites which can be the cause of them not eating.

 

However, once established and eating well, they are very hardy. 

 

If you can find one at the LFS eating frozen like a beast, treat it for internal parasites and then you will probably be fine. Females are easier than males.

Thanks for the advice. And yeah I’m definitely not getting a tang. But in my defense I was referring to the 32 gallon tank not the 20 so not quite as ridiculous as I must have sounded . I realize my original post was ambiguous. 

[richnyc]

I have a reefer 250, 55G and had a purple tang.  Once I sold him, since I have a not too aggressive tank, his tank mates are much happier and swim around more.  I didnt realize how scared the other tank mates were even though he wasnt aggressive.  Him just swimming back and forth kept my other fish from coming out to swim a lot

 

[Jesterrace]

7 hours ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

Thanks for the advice. And yeah I’m definitely not getting a tang. But in my defense I was referring to the 32 gallon tank not the 20 so not quite as ridiculous as I must have sounded . I realize my original post was ambiguous. 

One of the things to learn about the hobby though is that the Gallons don't matter as much as the dimensions.  For example there are a number of fish I would feel comfortable recommending for a 30 gallon Long tank that I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending for a 32 gallon Biocube.  Length is crucial when you want to open up your options for fish stocking in a given tank.  For this reason I am not a fan of the cube tanks as they severely limit the fish's horizontal swimming room (and believe me Wrasses other than Possum or Pink Streaked definitely make use of it).  So it's not as simple as simply having a tank that holds more gallons than another.  In point of fact I actually think even the 20 Long is a better footprint than a 32 gallon Biocube in terms of options for fish.  

[748S911]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:54 AM, WV Reefer said:

I would say no tangs in that small of a tank ever.......  even a small tang needs plenty of room to swim and they are fast growers.

 

why not set yourself up for success and pick a nice fish that can live in your tank forever?

I agree, any tang needs lots of swim room to be happy and healthy. You don't want the tang to get stressed out, then sick, then die.  

[Jesterrace]

On 3/21/2019 at 4:35 AM, Tamberav said:

They are poor shippers, can be difficult to get eating frozen foods... anywhere from just days to months so you will need pods and live foods until they take frozen, they usually start out with their days and nights mixed up so some times they end up in the sand for a few weeks starting out, and they are prone to internal parasites which can be the cause of them not eating.

 

However, once established and eating well, they are very hardy. 

 

If you can find one at the LFS eating frozen like a beast, treat it for internal parasites and then you will probably be fine. Females are easier than males.

They are definitely poor shippers and it is a case of literally picking the right fish.  As for the Females vs Males?  Wrasses actually have the ability to switch genders and in captivity most revert to male at some point.  What it is is that Juvies and Females generally have similar color schemes, so people often confuse a Juvie with a Female.  It's the 2-3 inch juvies that seem to do best in terms of their ability to adapt.  I got a Blue Star Leopard Wrasse in this size range and observed it a couple of weeks before buying (it was part of a bulk order by my LFS) and it was very active and eating well.  The ones that were more lethargic were all dead within a few weeks.  Personally though I feel that Leopard Wrasses ARE NOT suited for Nano Tanks.  They get 5-6 inches in length and are very active.  My Blue Star Leopard is about 3 inches long and it makes full use of the 90 gallon tank that I have it in (as does my Melanurus Wrasse).  Wrasses of this genus really need 4 feet of length to do well long term.  For Nanos Possum or Pygmy Wrasses are best suited.  For 3 foot long tanks (ie 30 Long, 40 breeder) then my go to wrasse is the Lubbock's/Tri-Color/Multi-Colored Fairy Wrasse or a Carpenter's or McCosker's Flasher Wrasse.