Juvi Chevron Tang

gfox · May 11, 2015

At what size or age does a juvi chevron tang change to adult color?

cloak · May 11, 2015

Who knows... I've seen plenty of tangs at all sizes that were a mystery. GL.

4FordFamily · May 11, 2015

I would say in my experience (I've owned 4 over the years) that by 2.5-3" they are at their "most striking" red coloration. At 3.5-6" they lose it. This is a huge variance. I would add that very small juveniles are more whitish until about 1-2" sometimes. They actually can have 3 coloration stages. I've also seen 3.5" chevron that were nearly black (dark brown).

I think it depends more on age and genetics, more than size. A well-fed fish will grow faster, but their coloration is a function of their age, genes, and perhaps even their environment.

My current chevron is 3" and although beautiful, is a more dull red than it was even a few months ago. I've also seen some transition to blueish fins after their red starts to fade. Ive seen this a couple times in personal fish and friends/aquintences fish.

A lot of that is quite anecdotal, but trying to summarize my experience.

In short, who knows?

I will say though that a fully transitioned adult (no brown coloration anymore generally very large) is an absolutely stunning fish and highly underrated. Some full adult chevron tangs are absolutely gorgeous and every bit as beautiful as the most stunning "red/orange" juveniles.

I do find the brown transition between the two as not very attractive, however.

Just my .02

Humblefish · May 11, 2015

Ones I've had were beautiful 1-1/2" to 2" juveniles. They usually started turning within 12-18 months; by the time it has been 2 years all you're left with is one ugly 4"+ tang. :smile:

Definitely NOT worth the hefty price tag IMHO.

4FordFamily · May 11, 2015

Humblefish said:
Ones I've had were beautiful 1-1/2" to 2" juveniles. They usually started turning within 12-18 months; by the time it has been 2 years all you're left with is one ugly tang. :smile:

Definitely NOT worth the hefty price tag IMHO.

I've seen many really small chevron (one on dd now actually) that are washed out and turn red quickly.

And to be clear, you mean the brown tang is ugly, not the fully adult transitioned tang as ugly, right? There's no way you think this is ugly? (Although adults like this are very rare in the hobby and too large for most hobbyists tanks). I'll bet this tang is 8" or so

Humblefish · May 11, 2015

3fordfamily said:
And to be clear, you mean the brown tang is ugly, not the fully adult transitioned tang as ugly, right? There's no way you think this is ugly? (Although adults like this are very rare in the hobby and too large for most hobbyists tanks). I'll bet this tang is 8" or so

Below is the last one I had. I got it cheap because it already had HLLE. Once it grew up, it had a really nasty disposition as well. I'm only a fan of how the juveniles look - nothing beyond that. Of course, that is just my subjective opinion.

4FordFamily · May 11, 2015

Humblefish said:
Below is the last one I had. I got it cheap because it already had HLLE. Once it grew up, it had a really nasty disposition as well. I'm only a fan of how the juveniles look - nothing beyond that. Of course, that is just my subjective opinion.

That makes sense. I love the bottom coloration- particularly before they lose the yellow tail, I call it the "poor man's gem tang". I will never understand how people pay 800 for a solid black zebrasoma without patterns but that's just my subjective opinion.

I do love my black Achilles tang I paid 300 for with a little orange in there so what do I know

4FordFamily · May 11, 2015

I also just paid a pretty penny for a hybrid powder blue/goldrim which are usually not as attractive as PBT or even the goldrim- I just think it will be cool to house with my powder blue, powder brown, and Achilles tangs. Cool more for the group rather than standalone. It was probably also a stupid purchase by many people's standards..

gfox · May 11, 2015

Thanks everyone for your replys on the subject.I do love the color of the juvi chevrons over an adult.Just wondered how long i could enjoy the juvi color before adulthood.