Jump to content
Top Shelf Aquatics

Tang in a 45 gallon (us) tank?


Wobach

Recommended Posts

Hey ho, okay okay so loads and loads of people have told me no to keeping a yellow tang in a 30 gallon tank, but ive just realised that you guys are mainly americans lol!! so infact, i have a 45 gallon tank, i found a size conversion on another fish website. Now, you say a 75 gallon is need for a yellow tang, but do you think i could get away with one in a 45 gallon, provided there is plenty of open swimming space..?

Link to comment

Also, thinking abotu it, its gonna take heck of a long time to fully grow if i was to purchase a younger specimen? lol, god you can tell i really want to keep one... sigh if only i could persuade my parents to allow me to keep another tank! haha

Link to comment

I dont know alot about tangs, but i have a regal tang and a yellow tang in a 70g it is only 3 feet wide but my yellow doesent seem to mind it at all, I almost never see him swimmin the length of the tank he just spends his time weaving in and out of my rockwork. He seems to love going sideways and such gong through all my caves, but not much in the open. I dont know how related they are in behavior and needs but my regal (blue) tang just loves to go infront of my powerhead and swim against the current. I dont know though if a 45 is ok, but i woud think that it is more about the dimentions rather that the actual volume. Also my tank has lots of flow from one side and when they do go out they swim into the current so maybie that would keep it happy, assuming water quality is ok. but I am no expert and as such please dont relly on what i've said.

Link to comment

thanks kayakrob, ive got loads of current, three power heads that cycle more than twice the tank each lol, hmmm, its kinda more square at the base really... theres plenty of caves etc mind.

Link to comment

Hmm...Well a yellow tang in a 45G? That's kind of risky. The rule that people have placed for the tang is that they should be placed in at least 70 Gallons. But I guess 1 in a 45 Gallon shouyld be alright. Man I hope we dont get flamed. LOL. I dont know peple should answer to this better than me.

Link to comment

I had one thrive in a 45 long for 2 years before I sold it. He was a little guy when I got him and grew to almost 4 1/2 inches.

 

I think I might have posted this before but its not just swimming room that makes tangs happy. Its stability too. Tangs require more food that most reef tank fish do. This causes the bioload to go up. Higher nitrates etc...... Also, tangs get ick really easy. Quick temperature swings will add stress to a tang and therefore will aid in the ick process due to stress. Nano's or tanks under 40 gallons have a hard time handling all of the above requirements.

Link to comment

Twenty years ago, before the days of LR, live sand and bright lights, I kept a happy medium-sized yellow tang in a 30 gal community tank for four years. The tank ran on undergravel filtration, frequent water changes, and mostly flake food. Nitrates were always through the roof in a tank like this but the tang just kept chuggin'. Maybe just luck or I happened upon a genetically-tough specimen!

Good luck!

Link to comment

i have a yellow tang in a 40g tank (well actully hes in quanitine at the mo all the tank came down with ich exept him???) hes fine in their triveing and doesent swim much and only 1 .5" big

Link to comment

I have kept one in both of my 40 gallons reef tanks without any problems, even thought they both only about 3 inches. If plan on keeping full grown tangs I wouldn't keep them in anything smaller than a 75 gallon for each adult tang, and also making sure they are quanitine for about 4 weeks before placing the tang into the display tank.

Link to comment

I had a yellow tang in my 30 for over a year. Eventually he got big so I traded him in. I no I will catch hell for this, but I dont see what all the fuss is about 70 gallon minimum tank size as long as the tang is small. Just about every fish in the stores came from a very large ocean where they could swim. Placing any fish in a tank, no matter what the size has its disadvantages. A well-established fairly fish-free 30 gallon reef sounds much better than the overcrowded 15 gallon tank at the pet store. Of course as it grows, it will need to be moved. But I dont see the problem with a tang starting out in a smaller tank as long as it has somewhere to go eventually...

Link to comment

The whole tang thing getting old? this subject is gay let people do what they want if they kill something oh well! and the whole "Rules" like fish inches to gallon ratio and watts to gallon are crap its been proven so lets stop using them......

Bottom line fish were created to be in a huge vast ocean living wild not in my living room in any size tank so unless you are going to empty your tank in the ocean and stop keeping tanks shut up about what others keep in thier tanks cause you are a hipocrate (spelling?)

Link to comment

In this hobby it's best to think of things like inches per gallon, minimum tank sizes and such as precautionary rules and suggestions. I recommend that you stick to the rules and do lots of research on them, but in the end, it's your tank, your money, and as long as you have thoroughly researched, it's your job to see to it that you give your fish the best conditions you possibly can, and not a group of people busting down your front door and arresting you for keeping a tang. Learn from other people on the forum and then go to it.

Link to comment

due to what i have read in this post i can disagree.....

i have a yellow tang in a 20 gal reef and its been in that tank for over a year.

and also in this tank i have a spotted grouper, V-Tail grouper, Yellow grouper, saddle back clow,Eyleash bleeny, Domino damsel, and a sandsifter star all in the same tank for more then a year. the key is to have a great filtration system. i have a 10 gal algae system with 2 millenniums and a powerhead. im gonna post a pic so everyone can see the

"miracle tank"

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...