4ft enough for full grown yellow tang?

[fryman]

I have a yellow tang I purchased in 2021 from biota. I remember when it was a very small, pale little fella. He was very expensive at the time and i remember feeling like this was a stupid purchase. It seemed like a lot of money for such a small, and unimpressive fish.

Time has a way of changing perspective.

Today my yellow tang is full grown and very impressive in both personality and utility. Looks great, eats great. Very pretty fish and no problems at all, but I have concerns.

I have a 4ft tank but I worry if he needs more space. I think maybe my tank is too small. I culture live ulva and red ogo for him and I have no concerns about his health. He's a very healthy fish. But is 4ft really enough for a full grown tang? It's an odd setup, only 60 gal but two levels so 120gallons total. The tang has only 60 gallons.

He seems very big for my tank and I worry that maybe I should rehome him to a bigger tank.

What do people think?

 

[Subsea]

“He seems very big for my tank and I worry that maybe I should rehome him to a bigger tank.“

I have two tangs in a 55G tank. Does the fish act like it’s confined?

Your worry may not be of any concern to the TANG.

 

[Dom]

I have a yellow tang I purchased in 2021 from biota. I remember when it was a very small, pale little fella. He was very expensive at the time and i remember feeling like this was a stupid purchase. It seemed like a lot of money for such a small, and unimpressive fish.

Time has a way of changing perspective.

Today my yellow tang is full grown and very impressive in both personality and utility. Looks great, eats great. Very pretty fish and no problems at all, but I have concerns.

I have a 4ft tank but I worry if he needs more space. I think maybe my tank is too small. I culture live ulva and red ogo for him and I have no concerns about his health. He's a very healthy fish. But is 4ft really enough for a full grown tang? It's an odd setup, only 60 gal but two levels so 120gallons total. The tang has only 60 gallons.

He seems very big for my tank and I worry that maybe I should rehome him to a bigger tank.

What do people think?

I think I'd like to see a picture of this guy and your setup.

 

[albano]

I doubt that your tang is anywhere near full grown, but regardless, I’d bet that the vast majority of captive YTs are in 4’ long tanks without problems.
I have had many of my YTs in 120g 4’ tanks over the past 50 years…
Many of my current YTs (7) are probably over 20 yrs old!

 

[Subsea]

I have two tangs in a 75G tank.
In my scenario, I rehomed a Hippo Tang that became a bully to a Convict Tang. It was easy to see that the aggression was effecting tranquility in 25 year mature tank. In your case; does tang seem confined, is he the apex predator in the tank. Social behavior in a mixed reef can change over time.

@fry-man
What does the behavior of your fish tell you? They have personalities; has it changed?

In my scenario, I had purchased a tiny hippo months earlier, in anticipation to the transfers necessary. The tiny hippo had doubled in size in a 55G seaweed growout tank, yet he was much smaller than the Convict and dealt with the aggression from the much larger tang. Now, one year later, Hippo is as big as Convict and everybody respects each other, most of the time. I had to laugh when observing each tang devouring the same seaweed branch from different ends. The Hippo broke off as they got tooo close in each others face.

 

[exnisstech]

I agree with those that are asking how the fish behaves. Not a recommendation but i keep a wild yellow and a 2 spot bristletooth in a 36x22x22 tank. When I scraped the tank I tried to do so with fish in mind. I like to provide a lot of rock with swim throughs and placed for fish to hide and feel safe. These two have been together for over 2 years. I see no tank lapping, glass surfing or any other swim patterns or behavior that indicate a fish is stressed. I've not even see any aggression between the two. They just swim around all day grazing on the rocks and cleaning my frag racks and plugs. I feed heavy several times a day. I believe giving fish plenty to eat helps reduce aggression.
This is the type of behavior I look for to decide if a fish is stressed.

Video is a year old but they still behave the same.

 

[Subsea]

I agree with those that are asking how the fish behaves. Not a recommendation but i keep a wild yellow and a 2 spot bristletooth in a 36x22x22 tank. When I scraped the tank I tried to do so with fish in mind. I like to provide a lot of rock with swim throughs and placed for fish to hide and feel safe. These two have been together for over 2 years. I see no tank lapping, glass surfing or any other swim patterns or behavior that indicate a fish is stressed. I've not even see any aggression between the two. They just swim around all day grazing on the rocks and cleaning my frag racks and plugs. I feed heavy several times a day. I believe giving fish plenty to eat helps reduce aggression.
This is the type of behavior I look for to decide if a fish is stressed.

Video is a year old but they still behave the same.

Outstanding! Beautiful & tranquil.

My display tank is my quiet space. I can turn off distractions and vicariously live in their world. Depending on my mood, I change background music from the “Blue Danube” to Pink Floods “Dark Side of the Moon”.