Can I keep a tang in my tank?

[Droopyman]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I could keep a tang in my tank. I was thinking of getting a hippo tang or kole tang both around 1.5 inches and keeping them in my tank.

 

Tank information

40 gallon breeder

I have a lemon peel angelfish who I have had for a year and has barely grown more than two inches, two clown fish who are both about 2 inches a purple/orchid dotty back who is two inches, and a goby who is around two and a half inches as well. I have had all these fish for a year and they have all grown only about a half inch and that was in the first 6 months then, they stopped.

 

Please let me know if I could get either of these  tangs.

Thanks for any help.

[Rob22]

Tangs are big fish, messy eaters, and use a lot of oxygen. You may get away for a short time with a kohl tang but you will be trading it in soon. I would highly recommend staying away from the blue hippo. They are ich magnets, swim constantly and are seriously messy fish. They eat and poop a lot. Stress will make them ich out and in that small of a tank it will likely get aggressive. I have one in a 90 and it is moving to a 150 soon. 

[jservedio]

With the livestock you have in your tank, you are pretty much already filled up - those fish will all live a long time (like more than 10 years long time) and continue to grow. A Blue Hippo is a hard no in a 40g unless you've already got a 150 gallon tank or bigger set up (and not just "I plan to get a bigger tank in the next few years").

 

It would be possible to have a Kole tang in a 40 breeder if you were able to source a fully-grown adult fish (5 years old or older) that was a runt for it's size and only around 4-4.5" long and wouldn't be getting bigger. However, not in your 40 breeder since you are already basically at capacity.

[RedCrow]

Short answer no. Long answer any tang shouldn’t be kept in a tank with less than 5-6 feet of linear open water. I kept a couple tangs in a 55 in my early days of reefing, but after getting in to scuba and seeing tangs in their natural habitat, I’ll never keep them again unless I have a tank more than 8 feet in length. 

[hinnenkm]

56 minutes ago, RedCrow said:

Short answer no. Long answer any tang shouldn’t be kept in a tank with less than 5-6 feet of linear open water. I kept a couple tangs in a 55 in my early days of reefing, but after getting in to scuba and seeing tangs in their natural habitat, I’ll never keep them again unless I have a tank more than 8 feet in length. 

I completely agree with you - there is nothing like seeing them in the wild, knowing how far they swim on a daily basis.

[Tamberav]

I am not sure I am even adding one to my 80g because it's only 4 feet long. 

[Matteo]

Maybe a Foxface? 

[Humblefish]

1 hour ago, Matteo said:

Maybe a Foxface? 

Those get bigger than tangs. Blennies (especially Salarias fasciatus) are best for algae control in a smaller tank.

[Tired]

Your fish have stopped growing because they're about full size. The fact that they've stopped growing means nothing for a tang. If you got a small tang and it only grew an inch or so, it would mean that something was very, very wrong. 

 

Your tank is full, and both those fish you want, especially the hippo, get way too big. If you need algae control, get snails. 

[Droopyman]

Do you guys have any other recommendations for bright fish that could eat algae in my tank? If you guys do that would help a lot and for the lemon peel, all the research I did said that it would get at least 4 inches but, its barely got any bigger for the last year and for the past 4-5 months it hasn't grown at all but, it swims a lot and seems healthy, do you guys think there is a chance that could happen for the tang, if not what would be the best option for a bright fish that isn't yellow that I could get?

Also could I get another angel like a small flame angel, flameback, or coral beauty that is around 1.5-2 inches

[Tamberav]

Multiple dwarfs in that size tank will fight.

 

Different fish grow at different rates, tangs grow faster than dwarf angels and foxface grow faster then both.

 

How about a tuxedo urchin for algae? and an appropriate wrasse for color? 

 

 

[Tired]

If your fish is significantly smaller than it's supposed to be, most likely something is wrong with it. 

 

Fish DO NOT stop growing when a tank is too small. They stunt. Their outsides stop growing properly, but their organs keep growing, until the pressure kills them. All fish have an approximate maximum size they are supposed to reach, and only genetics, a hormone disorder, or very wrong conditions will keep them from reaching that size range. Baby fish do not stay baby-sized, no matter how small you get them. I repeat- BABY FISH ARE SUPPOSED TO GROW. IF THEY DO NOT GROW TO ADULT SIZE, SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THEM. A blue hippo tang should reach about 12 inches long. An especially small one might be more like 8-10 inches. Neither size is appropriate for your tank.

 

Get snails or a tuxedo urchin for algae, and one more SMALL fish, if you must. By small, I mean something that will STAY small. 

[Droopyman]

what are some specific wrasses that are bright I could get and are urchins super sensitive to water conditions because sometimes I'm not able to do water changes because I am very busy and how long do urchins live and how many should I get?i was thinking a gold Midas blenny maybe 2-3 inches and a tuxedo urchin or a wrasse and tuxedo urchin or a tang what do you guys think?

[jservedio]

21 hours ago, Tired said:

If your fish is significantly smaller than it's supposed to be, most likely something is wrong with it. 

 

Fish DO NOT stop growing when a tank is too small. They stunt. Their outsides stop growing properly, but their organs keep growing, until the pressure kills them. All fish have an approximate maximum size they are supposed to reach, and only genetics, a hormone disorder, or very wrong conditions will keep them from reaching that size range. Baby fish do not stay baby-sized, no matter how small you get them. I repeat- BABY FISH ARE SUPPOSED TO GROW. IF THEY DO NOT GROW TO ADULT SIZE, SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THEM. A blue hippo tang should reach about 12 inches long. An especially small one might be more like 8-10 inches. Neither size is appropriate for your tank.

 

Get snails or a tuxedo urchin for algae, and one more SMALL fish, if you must. By small, I mean something that will STAY small. 

If your fish is smaller than it's supposed to be, there isn't likely something wrong with it - there is a possibility that there might be something wrong with it. To start with, different species of fish have countless numbers of factors that will affect it's growth rate throughout it's life. Toss in the fact that we are removing substantial natural selection from the equation when we put fish into our aquariums and if they are captive bred, entirely removing natural selection...

 

An approximate fish size is just that - approximate.  They can be larger or smaller than that size, even significantly so, and still be perfectly healthy...

[Tired]

Well, it depends on what you mean by "smaller". Is it 7/8 of its expected size? Probably fine. But if it's half its expected size, something is wrong. That "something" may just be a genetic quirk or some form of dwarfism that's completely harmless, or may be an inadequate diet.

 

But for a hippo tang to remain small enough to be suitable for a 40gal? That's a lot more than natural variance in size. It's CERTAINLY not going to stay at 1.5" or slightly above.

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, Tired said:

Well, it depends on what you mean by "smaller". Is it 7/8 of its expected size? Probably fine. But if it's half its expected size, something is wrong. That "something" may just be a genetic quirk or some form of dwarfism that's completely harmless, or may be an inadequate diet.

 

But for a hippo tang to remain small enough to be suitable for a 40gal? That's a lot more than natural variance in size. It's CERTAINLY not going to stay at 1.5" or slightly above.

Of course a hippo tang isn't going to stay 1.5" and nobody suggested that. However, size distribution in any species is a bell curve, the top of the bell curve being the "expected size."

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, Droopyman said:

what are some specific wrasses that are bright I could get and are urchins super sensitive to water conditions because sometimes I'm not able to do water changes because I am very busy and how long do urchins live and how many should I get?i was thinking a gold Midas blenny maybe 2-3 inches and a tuxedo urchin or a wrasse and tuxedo urchin or a tang what do you guys think?

 

My urchin lives in about 25 Nitrates 

 

Melanurus wrasse can probably hold its own to your fish. 

 

 

[Droopyman]

Are urchins super sensitive to salinity? and any other options beside the melanurus because I'm not really liking it? I was thinking gold Midas blenny but, I already have a yellow fish so what are some other thoughts. It also says that the blue tuxedo urchins need trace supplements, and calcium magnesium and I was wondering if I need that or will it just be fine on the algae?

[jservedio]

 

12 minutes ago, Droopyman said:

Are urchins super sensitive to salinity? and any other options beside the melanurus because I'm not really liking it? I was thinking gold Midas blenny but, I already have a yellow fish so what are some other thoughts

Check out flasher wrasses or possum wrasses. Mystery wrasse is super cool too.

 

Edit: Also when you looked at a melanurus did you look at the terminal phase male or juvenile/female? They look wildly different.

 

This is what they look like terminal phase. Mine isn't even particularly colorful and fading from being ancient.

[Tired]

Urchins are okay with decent parameters. Water reasonably clean (I REALLY hope you mean that you just don't do many water changes, not that you do 0 water changes), decent brand of salt. If you don't have a ton of SPS, regular water changes should add in enough trace elements from your salt to keep the average crustacean healthy. 

 

Not much beats a yellow clown goby on color. 

[Tamberav]

30 minutes ago, Droopyman said:

Are urchins super sensitive to salinity? and any other options beside the melanurus because I'm not really liking it? I was thinking gold Midas blenny but, I already have a yellow fish so what are some other thoughts. It also says that the blue tuxedo urchins need trace supplements, and calcium magnesium and I was wondering if I need that or will it just be fine on the algae?

 

Lubbocks or other small fairies. 

 

Flashers but depends if your fish decide to be aggressive.