2 yellow tangs possable? (80g)

randomfishdude · Mar 30, 2023

Hello,
I wanted to see if anyone know if I could put 2 yellow tangs in my 80gallon tank?
It's a IM SR80 48x24x16.

If not the yellow tangs is it possable to have more than one tang or are there other alternatives to the yellow tang that I could still have multible of?
Or multible tangs of different types?

Anemone_Fanatic · Mar 30, 2023

I wouldn't recommend it. Some might say that your tank was too small for even one, and groups of yellow tangs in a tank smaller than 6 feet rarely work out. The 48 x 24 footprint might allow you to also keep another big fish (i.e. tomini tang, foxface) but I would avoid another yellow. If planning on putting another large fish in as well, I'd be sure to give the tang/tangs lots of nori and plenty of flow. Food and water current can reduce issues with aggression.

vtecintegra · Mar 30, 2023

No to two, and no to one.

i cant think · Mar 31, 2023

randomfishdude said:
Hello,
I wanted to see if anyone know if I could put 2 yellow tangs in my 80gallon tank?
It's a IM SR80 48x24x16.

If not the yellow tangs is it possable to have more than one tang or are there other alternatives to the yellow tang that I could still have multible of?
Or multible tangs of different types?

I personally wouldn’t even say a 4’x2’ tank is fit for one yellow after seeing how big they truly get. I know people say they generally max out at 3-4” but if you’re feeding the right amount that’s a similar nutrient intake to what they get in the wild you may be able to get 6-7” out of that yellow. I know I’ve seen a couple 6” Yellows recently going into LFSs due to a tank break down over here. And I’ve seen a few 7” yellows but it’s rarer.
So really, a 4’ tank limits you to the smallest of the Ctenochaetus genus. And even then, a 4’ tank won’t allow several tangs of that genus. I honestly find many of our ‘maxed out’ tangs aren’t maxed out and end up stunted in the long term. I know my Ctenochaetus is slowly growing but it’s not stunted whereas I’ve seen 4” yellows just stop growing in 4’-5’ tanks and in 6’ tanks they can truly gain some size.