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Tomini tang in my old 120 and I have one in my ext 170. Always on the move and a peaceful community fish.
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In my experience I find that Emperors and Bluefaces have the fastest growth rates among pomacanthus angels. A 2” juvenile Blueface will become an 8” adult in about 16 to 18 months. The great thing about the Blueface versus the Emperor is the Blueface will have adult colors at 3” where the Emperor won’t achieve adult colors until 4.5” to 5”. If you want a slower growing pomacanthus go with a Majestic. They grow so slow but they get their adult colors the fastest of all the pomacanthus angels.Very good responseThis is an unnecessarily controversial topic. IMHO the thing that makes this such a controversial topic is the lack of nuance in the comments. The “Tang Police” will look at the world in the most idealistic way, which is not wrong, but it is not looking at the reality of what happens in home aquariums such as growth rate, mortality, refining potential, etc.
Many people successfully keep a singular large tang in an aquarium that size. It is not ideal for the fish but it can work. It is like keeping a horse in a one bedroom apartment. You can do it but it will not be great for the animal.
The Tang with the biggest issue, no pun intended, is the Lipstick/ Naso Tang. A full grown Naso will be over 18” and will not be able to comfortably turn in an aquarium that size. It will be more likely to be stressed leading to disease. I have seen large tangs in cramped spaces develop spinal kinks which is sad. When the fish gets to around 10” is when the first of the problems will start to occur for most fish. It will take three to five years for a Naso tang to out grow that aquarium to the point it causes real problems (14”). I bet the medium length of time for most fish in aquariums is less than two years (this is an estimate from my time in the industry). We tend to remember our limited successes and forget the numerous failures. If you are lucky enough to have a fish that long you have truly succeeded.
The thing to look out for at any size fish is how territorial they see and your ability to give them enough territory to be a good citizen. If you avoid the genus Naso, acanthus, paracanthus, and most zebramosa tangs you will be fine for the most part. There are always exceptions but this is the rule of thumb. One exception is the chocolate tang.
If you have a rehoming strategy and do not plan on keeping any other large fish, then I would go ahead and get any of the fish on your list. It is not immoral to rehome a fish. You should enjoy your slice of the ocean and just be responsible.
do you have any advice on the growth rate of blue face angels?
Agree, they like to be in the rocks more than in open swimming room. My personal preference is minimum 6 feet but like you said they have different swimming behaviors so its a far better tang choice than any of the other speciesBristletooth tang will be perfectly fine in a 4ft especially with your gallonage IMO (sorry tang police). They just don’t have the erratic/fast swim pattern of Acanthurus that leads to the space requirements. A whitetail (C flavicauda) would be a nice centerpiece fish, just add it after less aggressive similarly shaped fish.
None of my tangs swim laps in my tanks. I have 8 in a 7ft tank and none of them pace the tank and I get nothing more than an occasional tail swipe between the yellows once in a while.
I have a two spot bristletooth and a yellow that have been in the 36x22x22" tank below for two years. No glass surfing pacing the tank or any other type of behavior that shows they are stressed. The rock work is key IMO.
Apologies for the long video but this is how they behave all day. I've never even seen a tail swipe from either toward the other. The only other tank mates are a sixline and electric blue damsel.

i'm just not a huge fan of the way they look
my fav tang is the black tang i like its big long face lol
Ya I stay away from the known tank pacers as beautiful as they are. I like to relax when I'm watching my tanks and I can't do that if fish are fighting.chill tangs cruising
i had a powder blue in a red sea reefer 350 had to rehome it cause it was just swimming backwards and foward fast across the front glass found it a 500 gallon went in the 500 gallon and beat his powder brown up![]()
Ya I stay away from the known tank pacers as beautiful as they are. I like to relax when I'm watching my tanks and I can't do that if fish are fighting.
Here's my gang in the 7ft tank
It's a vlamingiiwhat type of tangs the big dude? not the naso the other 1 ?
I wonder how much of that is a specimen specific thing. Mine is at least 3-4 and still jet black. Beautiful fish but MEGA territorial. He goes through phases of claiming 3ft of tank space to himself. This is an old, rubbish pic but he’s a looker.Have you seen the black tangs as adults? Just asking because adults don't usually show up in retail stores. They're actually a bit ugly IMO. There nice black color turns to a drab dark grey.
oh missed this didn't know that i have seen pretty big ones on videos and they look fine to me not sureHave you seen the black tangs as adults? Just asking because adults don't usually show up in retail stores. They're actually a bit ugly IMO. There nice black color turns to a drab dark grey.
does he pick at algae in the tank or just nori on the clip my tangs would not touch algae in the tank just nori lolI wonder how much of that is a specimen specific thing. Mine is at least 3-4 and still jet black. Beautiful fish but MEGA territorial. He goes through phases of claiming 3ft of tank space to himself. This is an old, rubbish pic but he’s a looker.
For a 4ft I wouldn’t get a fox face. I got mine as a juvey and it was bouncing off the walls within 6 months. They grow fast, get big, often just hang out in one spot and can be skittish. Mine accidentally impaled a mystery wrasse before moving to the 6ft.
For tangs you could do a small bristletooth + small acanthurus mimic. What they lack in vibrance they make up for in confidence, so will be out and about more, which means your other fish will be out and about more.
I've seen a few in person and they definitely were not black like the young ones I've seen. One was a fish that came onto my lfs who purchases from quality marine and I'm pretty sure it was a fish from the ocean so I don't think the loss of color is just something that may happen in captivity due to insufficient diet etc but I could be wrong.oh missed this didn't know that i have seen pretty big ones on videos and they look fine to me not sure
I wonder how much of that is a specimen specific thing. Mine is at least 3-4 and still jet black. Beautiful fish but MEGA territorial. He goes through phases of claiming 3ft of tank space to himself. This is an old, rubbish pic but he’s a looker.
Agree, my LFS had an old one for a while and it just looked sad and old, not shiny anymore at all. It got lighter each time I saw it until it passed of old ageHave you seen the black tangs as adults? Just asking because adults don't usually show up in retail stores. They're actually a bit ugly IMO. There nice black color turns to a drab dark grey.