Which Tang?

[PRC]

I've got 3 Tangs in my tank.

1. Orange Shoulder
2. Sailfin
3. Yellow.

They bicker now and again (with their tails). But nothing that I'm concerned about. My yellow is my favorite because it's so bright. The sailfin can just kinda' blend into the background, but I do like him. They both have nice personalities.

My Orange Shoulder can be a jerk, especially toward my foxface for some reason, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have bought him. He's much more aggressive than the other two.

I like the Pacific Blue Tangs alot. I don't know anything about them, but I like the way they look.

 

[Pwny]

i like the way convict tangs look :P

 

[andersoned14]

I would go with the sailfin my self.

 

[yote]

I'd go with either an Atlantic Blue or a Tomini Tang.I have both in my tank with no problems.

 

[d2mini]

Let me ask something else.
When talking about how many "gallons" is appropriate for certain fish, I assume we are generally talking about the typically proportioned tank. But being that mine is a cube, even though it is around 130g, it's only 36" long in either direction. Will this affect my choices?

 

[andysgirl8800]

Depends on the fish. For most tangs, they really prefer lateral swimming room, not necessarily volume, which is why the lieutenant may be a better choice because it isn't as big as some other tangs.

 

[OhNoNemo]

In all honesty i think any tang would just be bouncing off the walls like a ping pong ball in a 36" square....JMO

 

[andysgirl8800]

Dennis, how is your Kole tang in that space?

 

[d2mini]

Depends on the fish. For most tangs, they really prefer lateral swimming room, not necessarily volume

This is what i thought, hence my question.

Dennis, how is your Kole tang in that space?

Seems ok to me. Live Aquaria rates him for 70g.

 

[BL1]

It's a 36" square but, there's room for them to swim corner to corner right? Which it's been forever since I've done geometry but should be about 50" of space.

 

[andysgirl8800]

In that case Dennis, may I recommend the Powder Brown Tang?

Also rated for 70 gallons, very different coloration from your resident Kole, very pretty fish, IMO, and under $100.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I understand what your saying and i'm not trying to be jerky or anything,but like andysgirl said,its been noted alot ,that tangs prefer unobstructed lateral swimming...i watch my purple just coast from end to end,and i'm already thinking he needs more length...this is why i'm working on my crazy build:mrgreen:
This topic will be debated forever:lol:
IMO ,those minimum tank sizes are a bunch of nonsense

 

[ccCapt]

Being that I'm probably the most conservative reefer here, I'm of the opinion that 1 tang is plenty for your tank. Now Dennis, your tank is awesome looking and a great setup, but IMO it's not a good setup for multiple tangs. Out of curiousity, did you ever see anyone's home tank, in person, with multiple fully grown tangs? A fully grown Kole tang is not a small fish but it's fine in your tank. I really debated hard about adding a 2nd tang to my 6' 125. I have an Atlantic blue and when I saw a full grown 1 in person I was shocked. Stack about 5 dinner plates on top of each other and you have it's full grown size. My new tang is a Striped bristletooth, which is in the same family as your Kole and gets to be around the same size.

I guess what I'm trying to say is when I buy a fish I plan on keeping it for many, many years. My yellow watchman goby lived 13 yrs. My clowns are around 7. When I plan on buying a big fish, I try to plan for what will happen when it's full grown. I still don't feel 100% confortable with the 2 tangs I have now, but they get along since they are both small (around 5") and have room.

If you are set on another, I would suggest either try another yellow or a scopas (zebrasoma.sp). I would stay away from any acanthurus.sp. They pretty much are either hard to keep (disease prone), get too big or get to aggressive with age and size. To give you an idea of how big an 8" tang is, take a piece of copy paper and fold it in 1/2. Hold it up to your tank and check how small it is. ;)

 

[ltljoker]

Being that I'm probably the most conservative reefer here, I'm of the opinion that 1 tang is plenty for your tank. Now Dennis, your tank is awesome looking and a great setup, but IMO it's not a good setup for multiple tangs. Out of curiousity, did you ever see anyone's home tank, in person, with multiple fully grown tangs? A fully grown Kole tang is not a small fish but it's fine in your tank. I really debated hard about adding a 2nd tang to my 6' 125. I have an Atlantic blue and when I saw a full grown 1 in person I was shocked. Stack about 5 dinner plates on top of each other and you have it's full grown size. My new tang is a Striped bristletooth, which is in the same family as your Kole and gets to be around the same size.

I guess what I'm trying to say is when I buy a fish I plan on keeping it for many, many years. My yellow watchman goby lived 13 yrs. My clowns are around 7. When I plan on buying a big fish, I try to plan for what will happen when it's full grown. I still don't feel 100% confortable with the 2 tangs I have now, but they get along since they are both small (around 5") and have room.

If you are set on another, I would suggest either try another yellow or a scopas (zebrasoma.sp). I would stay away from any acanthurus.sp. They pretty much are either hard to keep (disease prone), get too big or get to aggressive with age and size. To give you an idea of how big an 8" tang is, take a piece of copy paper and fold it in 1/2. Hold it up to your tank and check how small it is. ;)

Thanks cccapt for that great reality check....:shock: Most people in our hobby dont realize how big a fish will get, even goby's or small angels. To put it in perspective a folded piece of paper against your aquirum is a perfect scale. It really does show you after time how much room a certain size fish will really have in a tank even if it does take a year or two. It still will be unhappy eventually.:Cheers:

 

[d2mini]

Ya, understood.
I mean really... ALL our tanks are too small when you compare them to where the fish came from. No matter how big your tank is, it's still a small cage.

 

[ltljoker]

you can always try a convict tang cause they dont get big at all

 

[Bifferwine]

I've had my yellow tang for nearly 10 years now. He was one of the first fish I ever got. And he's still small! He must be a midget tang.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I've had my yellow tang for nearly 10 years now. He was one of the first fish I ever got. And he's still small! He must be a midget tang.

Yeah,i have always wondered just how and why fish grow or don't grow..I have seen others with older tangs and they are still small...The purple i just got however ,is the biggest i've ever seen.The guy said he's about 5 or 6 years old..

 

[yote]

Just my thoughts.But it seems that the yellow tangs just grow slower than the others.

 

[reeffreak]

My purple tang has also grown slow over the past three years.I don't know why some fish grows slow while other grow fast.Maybe fish with long lives tend to grow at a slower rate,I dunno.There is one theory I don't buy into-in that a fish growth depends on the size of an aquarium.