Orange ShoulderTang Experts ??

[skip0211]

Hi everyone...
l’ve had this Orange Shoulder Tang for over 2 years. I got him from another hobbyist that was getting out.. he had it for over a year.. my question is will he ever transition to his adult colors? He’s about 6” long.. great fish regardless..

 

[dbjonesjr]

What the heck! Is that actually that yellow in person?

 

[skip0211]

Actually more so .. it’s an iPad pic of a few minutes ago.. much brighter yellow in person..

skip

 

[Qasimja]

lol thats crazy ive never seen one as an adult that yellow before

 

[Gareth elliott]

@4FordFamily
I think its very dependent on the particular fish and the aggressiveness of its other tank mates. But i have never had one so tagged a tang expert

 

[vetteguy53081]

This may be a Hybrid.. . . especially at 6", it should have more than transitioned

 

[ScottR]

They can take years to change color. Not rare to see a 4 year old still with its juvenile colors.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I’ve also seen a thread where one reverted back to juvenile coloration when a more aggressive tang was introduced. Looks like you have a lot of tangs so it may be avoiding aggression by remaining immature

 

[skip0211]

I do have 5 tangs in my 265 gal SPS tank.. they All get along very peacefully.. the Shoulder, Powder Blue, Kole, Sailfin and a Yellow. They have 15 other tank mates and ( knock on wood) there has never been any aggression among them..

 

[Pbh-reef]

Not saying there is a lot of aggression so much as that it avoid threatening the hierarchy by remaining in juvenile coloration

 

[Pbh-reef]

Here’s the thread I mentioned

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/orange-shoulder-tang-changed-back-to-juvenile-color.259015/

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree, it’s often based on size, age, and aggression. If you feed heavily it may be growing faster than its juvenile coloration, so to speak. If it’s low on the totem pole, it can take longer to transition fully.

Within the next couple of years I imagine it’ll change. It could happen over the course of 30-90 days or be very slow over that time period.

 

[skip0211]

Thanks for all the information.. I feed heavily because of having 20 fish in the tank. Pbs, thanks for the thread link, it was really interesting..

lm hoping he’s just a late bloomer as I love the adult coloring... if he doesn’t change over I’m still a happy reefer.

 

[DaneGer21]

I missed the whole juvenile stage as i acquired mine from a local who needed to rehome to a bigger tank.

Beautiful! Sorry I don’t have any input, just thought I’d share my story.

 

[lion king]

I've seen them at 6" or more still in their juvi form. It now really depends on the tank dynamics, if you have other alpha tangs in the tank, it could still take a while. Even at 6" I've seen it take a few years, up to even 8". I am not really sure that size is the most relevant indicator of maturity, I have also seen them smaller sporting full adult colors.

 

[skip0211]

Looks like I could be in for a long wait

 

[artieg1]

Soon. I have one that size. Still mostly yellow during the day. But at night, or if it gets angry, colors go classic.

 

[skip0211]

That’s promising..

 

[AlexG]

My orange shoulder is ~6" started out in normal adult colors but over time has taken on a more yellow appearance.

 

[skip0211]

Wow... until I posted this thread, I had no idea these fish could revert back to their juvenile colors after they change to adult.