Shout Out: Smallest Tank, Biggest Tang and YOU!

[JoshO]

It is actually interesting - there have been several studies - concerning 'ranges' of various fish in the wild. Tangs are not the most 'wide ranging' (at least most of them). The studies were done to determine the boundaries for 'marine reserves' I wish @Jay Hemdal would weigh in - since he has written on this a bit...

This would be super interesting to hear!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It is actually interesting - there have been several studies - concerning 'ranges' of various fish in the wild. Tangs are not the most 'wide ranging' (at least most of them). The studies were done to determine the boundaries for 'marine reserves' I wish @Jay Hemdal would weigh in - since he has written on this a bit...

Oh! I need to sit on hands for this one! I got hit with the “ban stick” on another forum a decade ago over this topic!
But.....I can’t resist. Parrotfish surely range farther across a reef than to Zebrasoma. I’m convinced that swimming room is more important than tank volume. A 300 gallon full of structure isn’t any better than a 100 gallon with just some rubble on the bottom. Also, volume and swimming space has some weird math associated with it, that I don’t fully understand: a 90,000 gallon tank is 30 feet across, where a 150,000 gallon may only be 35 feet across.
Jay

 

[Metalhead670]

125+ for small tangs and 200+ for tangs like Nasos, Unicorn Surgeeons, and Hippos...

i know i have no room to speak but giving tangs the best home possible is a good thing u can do for them. Nasos in the right home can be big enough and have streamers on their tails which is absolutely beautiful

 

[MnFish1]

Oh! I need to sit on hands for this one! I got hit with the “ban stick” on another forum a decade ago over this topic!
But.....I can’t resist. Parrotfish surely range farther across a reef than to Zebrasoma. I’m convinced that swimming room is more important than tank volume. A 300 gallon full of structure isn’t any better than a 100 gallon with just some rubble on the bottom. Also, volume and swimming space has some weird math associated with it, that I don’t fully understand: a 90,000 gallon tank is 30 feet across, where a 150,000 gallon may only be 35 feet across.
Jay

Thanks

 

[MnFish1]

This would be super interesting to hear!

Fish with Chips: Tracking Reef Fish Movements to Evaluate Size and Connectivity of Caribbean Marine Protected Areas

Coral reefs and associated fish populations have experienced rapid decline in the Caribbean region and marine protected areas (MPAs) have been widely implemented to address this decline. The performance of no-take MPAs (i.e., marine reserves) for protecting ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[JoshO]

125+ for small tangs and 200+ for tangs like Nasos, Unicorn Surgeeons, and Hippos...

i know i have no room to speak but giving tangs the best home possible is a good thing u can do for them. Nasos in the right home can be big enough and have streamers on their tails which is absolutely beautiful

As was previously mentioned, surely swimming space is more important than a certain amount of gallons? A tank with a huge footprint area but relatively shallow is surely better than a very deep tank with the same volume but half the length and width? And what about the scaping?

 

[JoshO]

Oh! I need to sit on hands for this one! I got hit with the “ban stick” on another forum a decade ago over this topic!
But.....I can’t resist. Parrotfish surely range farther across a reef than to Zebrasoma. I’m convinced that swimming room is more important than tank volume. A 300 gallon full of structure isn’t any better than a 100 gallon with just some rubble on the bottom. Also, volume and swimming space has some weird math associated with it, that I don’t fully understand: a 90,000 gallon tank is 30 feet across, where a 150,000 gallon may only be 35 feet across.
Jay

Thanks for the input! I'm also very much of the opinion that a tanks footprint is far more important than its volume!

 

[Metalhead670]

As was previously mentioned, surely swimming space is more important than a certain amount of gallons? A tank with a huge footprint area but relatively shallow is surely better than a very deep tank with the same volume but half the length and width? And what about the scaping?

yes, swimming space is more important than gallons. big tanks with not so much fish in it would be best for tangs and other active swimmers, to kinda recreate the ocean for them in a way.

 

[JoshO]

yes, swimming space is more important than gallons. big tanks with not so much fish in it would be best for tangs and other active swimmers, to kinda recreate the ocean for them in a way.

I do love the idea of giving fish as much space as possible, regardless of the type! Ultimately a tank is never as big as the ocean, so all species are cramped in!

 

[Stigigemla]

I am not so certain.
When my fishes come from the wild I first have them in an totally clean quarantine followed by the sales tanks with just a few stones in each tank. The fishes are very nervous in the quarantine so I have to keep a distance of 5 or 10 feet to see many of them eat.
Then they come to the sell tanks where they very seldom get panicked but just get behind a stone so I cant see them and usually come to eat even if I have the nose 1 inch from the tank.
But then in a reef tank with a lot of stones I can even put my hands in the tank and they just keep a distance of a foot or so. (Different for different species) Most fishes dont even panic if I put a net in the tank. They just keep the distance and swim in between the stones if the net gets closer than about that foot.
A few species as for instance the Chromis virides prefer to hide in a coral as birdsnest but most fishes prefer to go in small crevices between the stones.
When I had very few stones in my 10 foot tank (because of working with a Protopalythoa infection) the fishes were almost always in the half of the tank with the stones. Many fishes almost never left the half of the tank with the stones. Some did not even go to the open part if I fed there.

 

[SaltISlife]

125+ for small tangs and 200+ for tangs like Nasos, Unicorn Surgeeons, and Hippos...

i know i have no room to speak but giving tangs the best home possible is a good thing u can do for them. Nasos in the right home can be big enough and have streamers on their tails which is absolutely beautiful

Streamers is male and female thing. Also not all fish get as big as whats listed in natural habitats. I have a yellow tang and sailfin tang that came from a 350g tank that was 8 feet long and like 3 feet wide. And they are 6 years old and the sailfin is maybe 7-8 inchs long. Tops. My yellow is also 6 years old and is maybe 6 inchs.

I have a blond naso as well and its 2 years old and about 7 inchs long.

All of then are in my 135g tank. They are all doing just fine. Lol.

I wouldnt put larger tangs in a 4ft tank. But honestly any 6 foot long tank is fine imo.

If some of you practiced what you preach. You wouldnt even have fish in this hobby.. you know fish that came from tens of thousands of miles of ocean and put them in your little 200g tank

 

[Espino963]

I have a powder blue tang and a blue tang along with a pair of clowns inside my 35g 36” tank. I got my blue the size of a quarter a year and a half ago and they’re both doing just fine.

They both have a rock to sleep under, and eat Nori, pallet food and frozen food regularly. No signs of stress and plenty of caves to swim through, they are also not aggressive towards each other and hang out together from time to time. They’re both probably about 2-3 inches big.

where is the science that proves tangs have to be kept in 4’ + tanks and does depth really matter? Im totally lost and still waiting for the tang police to arrest me.

 

[SaltISlife]

My mom has a 36 inch long 30g with a yellow tang in it. And a foxface i rescued that was on its death bed. Actually the yellow tang was on its death bed as well. Riddled with thousand of ich spots. Skinny. Had red patchs from infection.

The foxface was cut up. Skinny. Bullied. So weak it was sitting on the overflow just getting sucked in on it.

Now theyre both fat. Healthy. But i will admit they need more tank now. I wanted to convert my 60g hex to fresh and get like 40 neon tetras. But my mom wants to convert he tank to fresh as well. So i guess the best option is put them in my bigger 60g hexagon. Its only 30 inchs wide on all 6 points. Compared to 36 long on her 30g. But her tank is like 16 tall and 12 wide. My hex is 24 tall and again 30 inch wide all around ina circle. So much bigger

 

[MichaelReefer]

I think it definitely has to do with the kind of Tang. I have one Yellow tang in my 525XL and he seems pretty happy. But I dont think I would put another one in there. I would say at least a 100 gallon system.

 

[JoshO]

There are plenty of cases where people have kept HEALTHY tangs in tanks many consider too small, there is no proof to say they are more or less happy than in a 6ft system. I'll go back to my original point of swimming distance/body length is a good measure of a tanks suitability, but even then it's just an assumption!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There are plenty of cases where people have kept HEALTHY tangs in tanks many consider too small, there is no proof to say they are more or less happy than in a 6ft system. I'll go back to my original point of swimming distance/body length is a good measure of a tanks suitability, but even then it's just an assumption!

Just putting this out there, I certainly don't know who wrote this (grin)

Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess! - CORAL Magazine

For those who haven’t heard the term, it will help to define the phrase “Tang Police.” The best way to identify an officer in this force is by hearing him LOUDLY express his opinions regarding the amount of swimming space required by tangs (or other species).

www.reef2rainforest.com

Jay

 

[Autonomy]

What has always fascinated and confused me at the same time is when a reefer shares an image of their 7cm (2.7in) yellow tang, which has been homed in a 150L (39.62G) tank, many from the reefing community are quick to point out the errors of doing so and how it is detrimental to the fish as they are an open water swimmer and that for one tang an aquarium of at least 378.5L (100G) with plenty of room to swim, as well as hiding places needs to be provided or it is merely considered a prison.

However, when another reefer shares their 1699L (448.8G), which houses 10 adult tangs (9 yellow and 1 black tang), each approx. 12-15cm (4.7- 5.9in), yes, this tank really does exist here in Australia, yet nobody seems to bat an eyelid, and all I see are words of praise?

I would very much appreciate it if somebody could explain this to me, as it's always one of those things within reefing that has confused me greatly for so many years.

 

[Autonomy]

Just putting this out there, I certainly don't know who wrote this (grin)

Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess! - CORAL Magazine

For those who haven’t heard the term, it will help to define the phrase “Tang Police.” The best way to identify an officer in this force is by hearing him LOUDLY express his opinions regarding the amount of swimming space required by tangs (or other species).

www.reef2rainforest.com

Jay

Loved the article, what a great read! Thanks!

 

[JoshO]

Just putting this out there, I certainly don't know who wrote this (grin)

Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess! - CORAL Magazine

For those who haven’t heard the term, it will help to define the phrase “Tang Police.” The best way to identify an officer in this force is by hearing him LOUDLY express his opinions regarding the amount of swimming space required by tangs (or other species).

www.reef2rainforest.com

Jay

This needs to be a sticky at the top of the fish forum

 

[Uncle99]

Thats interesting - I have a purple tang (that I bought 3 years ago) - you can see him in some of my build thread. He is well fed, healthy - and has hardly grown at all. I have a pair (yes - a pair) - of yellow tangs - for 3-4 years that are about 4 inches - that have not grown appreciably since about year 2. Again - based on multiple studies I've read - it takes decades for tangs to get to the 'maximum' sizes listed on various websites. (PS - I have a 5 foot tank - with basically room for the fish to swim the entire length on the top, middle and bottom (my rock work is mounted on 2 table corals which allow for a lot of swimming room - perhaps that why I have been successful in keeping them. The yellow tangs basically sit around one of the rock -pillars picking for food all day - they are certainly not neurotically pacing the tank.

While my YT has not grown as fast, my blue has grown at a 1-1/2” yearly rate, he’s 4 years old now and almost 6”. No way you keep a 6” fish in a 65g tank.

Upgraded months ago from 65g to 180g, he fits better now.
Maybe his grow will slow now, but he got big, fast.