Shout Out: Smallest Tank, Biggest Tang and YOU!

What's the smallest tank you think is suitable for a tang (surgeonfish)?

  • Nano up to 50g (don't choose this option unless you want to be arrested)

    Votes: 107 7.2%
  • 50g or larger

    Votes: 213 14.4%
  • 75g or larger

    Votes: 500 33.8%
  • 100g or larger

    Votes: 312 21.1%
  • 150g or larger

    Votes: 123 8.3%
  • 200g+

    Votes: 45 3.0%
  • Gallons don't matter it's the length (swimming room) that matters.

    Votes: 181 12.2%

  • Total voters
    1,481

Utubereefer

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Looks healthy!

Thanks! After reading the posts on this thread seems like we’re the minority. Apparently people think I’m cruel for having a yellow tang in my 65 gallon tank. Wish I could afford/fit an 8 foot long tank. Guess I better start saving my pennies
 

BellaD

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@RtomKinMad I had him about 4 years. He was only about 3-4 inches when I first got him. They say that they are one of the more aggressive tangs, but mine was pretty docile as well. And sooo much personality. I wasn't planning on getting him, but while I was browsing the tanks at my LFS, he kept following me back and forth every time I went past his tank and coming right up to the glass while all the other fish hid. Was love at first sight lol
 
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amoore311

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I agree with your philosophy - except that there is research that tangs (at least MOST of them) which was already posted that say tangs don't swim miles a day - but instead that they have a range of .5-1 km - the same as angels and triggers. Where does Elliott stand on that information? I can only say - that if you use 'natural range' to decide which fish to have in an aquarium we wouldn't have many fish in our tanks. BTW I'm not advocating for keeping a tang in x length or gallon tank (I posted put them in as big a tank as possible).

First off, everyone is referencing all these studies..... without referencing or linking the actual studies lol. The only study I know of referencing tang range being closer to .5-1KM was done in Hawaii with Yellow Tangs, so hardly encompassing of ALL tangs. Literally 1 species was studied.... not even an entire Genus. These studies have been referenced 6-7 times in this thread alone, not a single link to the actual study. I wonder who actually read it, and who is just parroting info about this study they heard about, that happens to reinforce their preconceived ideas about stocking? I'd venture the latter part of my previous statement is the vast majority.

Secondly, as I specifically mentioned, Elliot's statement is specifically regarding Acanthurus Tangs who have been known to have ranges of multiple miles. He is really referencing Achilles Tangs, but acanthurus tangs in general tend to require similar amounts of room and have similar temperaments in captivity. But the general principals regarding keeping them applies to all of them in my opinion.
 

RtomKinMad

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Thanks! After reading the posts on this thread seems like we’re the minority. Apparently people think I’m cruel for having a yellow tang in my 65 gallon tank. Wish I could afford/fit an 8 foot long tank. Guess I better start saving my pennies
Your tank looks lightly stocked and not too much rock to crowd the space. And no other tangs. I think it looks fine if no signs of stress. I have purple in 93 cube seems happy to me! Good color, good breathing, swims all day but does not pace or erratic. Picks at the rocks and no aggression. Comes out to see me. If mine gets too big to swim in and out of the center hallow structure I’ll consider a new home. No one has addressed the issue that I have a zebrasoma in a cube. What’s the difference of swimming length wise versus in circles and thru the rock work? My damsel is actually bigger than the other fish in the tank and was .5” when I got it! My tomini hasn’t grown in 2 years and was in a 300gal tank for a year. It appears much happier in the cube. I can tell by its color, social behavior swimming patterns. I also had my yellow tang in a 75 gal for three years and when Dori outgrew the 75 gal be moved everyone to the 300gal which we bought in pieces over 1.5 yrs to afford it. A light here and a pump there first the tank and stand but made payments on layaway to LFS. Anyway, my yellow has not really grown at all since moving it to the 300gal 2 years ago. But the hippo Dori got a little bigger. I also haven’t noticed my dejardini growing much or the blue eyed kole. The chevron doubled in size but was a juvenile when I put it in the 300. I feed frozen foods x2/day plus nori. Thought they would get huge but they haven’t. Healthy thickness just not long. So we’ll see.
I think you are fine for the time being just have a back plan of yellow looks stressed. Good luck!
 

RtomKinMad

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Your tank looks lightly stocked and not too much rock to crowd the space. And no other tangs. I think it looks fine if no signs of stress. I have purple in 93 cube seems happy to me! Good color, good breathing, swims all day but does not pace or erratic. Picks at the rocks and no aggression. Comes out to see me. If mine gets too big to swim in and out of the center hallow structure I’ll consider a new home. No one has addressed the issue that I have a zebrasoma in a cube. What’s the difference of swimming length wise versus in circles and thru the rock work? My damsel is actually bigger than the other fish in the tank and was .5” when I got it! My tomini hasn’t grown in 2 years and was in a 300gal tank for a year. It appears much happier in the cube. I can tell by its color, social behavior swimming patterns. I also had my yellow tang in a 75 gal for three years and when Dori outgrew the 75 gal be moved everyone to the 300gal which we bought in pieces over 1.5 yrs to afford it. A light here and a pump there first the tank and stand but made payments on layaway to LFS. Anyway, my yellow has not really grown at all since moving it to the 300gal 2 years ago. But the hippo Dori got a little bigger. I also haven’t noticed my dejardini growing much or the blue eyed kole. The chevron doubled in size but was a juvenile when I put it in the 300. I feed frozen foods x2/day plus nori. Thought they would get huge but they haven’t. Healthy thickness just not long. So we’ll see.
I think you are fine for the time being just have a back plan of yellow looks stressed. Good luck!
 

RtomKinMad

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@RtomKinMad I had him about 4 years. He was only about 3-4 inches when I first got him. They say that they are one of the more aggressive tangs, but mine was pretty docile as well. And sooo much personality. I wasn't planning on getting him, but while I was browsing the tanks at my LFS, he kept following me back and forth every time I went past his tank and coming right up to the glass while all the other fish hid. Was love at first sight lol
Sorry you had to rehome it but was probably for the best. They are awesome fish! I really think our fish recognize us. And have personalities.One of my triggers swims up to my husband’s hand and will let him touch it and even pick it up. It had a wound we were watching and I think it knew we were helping it. But it will not let me hold it. We also trained a Scott’s fairy wrasse with swim bladder to let my husband pick it up and hand feed it from a syringe and it was calm as can be in his hand and ate from the syringe. Unfortunately never recovered from the swim bladder and died from injury from a tang, but we tried. Like I said my Sohal was in 100gal tank for ten years with previous owners. It was healthy when we got her. Hope you found another fish you like as much.
 

laverda

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I first had my sailfin tang in a 29 gallon when I got it. It was very small then. With in a year I moved my sailfin to a 240 gallon tank. 24 years latter it is in a 300 gallon. I would not think of keeping it in a smaller tank at this point.
I said nano is ok for this reason. The problem is when people get a small tang and expect to keep them long term in a small tank.
 

webmanny

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I don't know what the issue is with small tanks and tangs. I have this little Blue Hippo Tang in my biocube without problems for years now. They don't even grow that much. ;-)

YellowtailBlueDamselWMD_194Wc.jpg
 

GK3

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I don't know what the issue is with small tanks and tangs. I have this little Blue Hippo Tang in my biocube without problems for years now. They don't even grow that much. ;-)

YellowtailBlueDamselWMD_194Wc.jpg

Pretty sure that’s a blue lightning clown fish, hence the anemone hosting him in the background.
 

MSB123

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I think that gallons+ dimensions matter.
As an example, I have a new tank coming- 6’x3’x30”.
300 gallons.
I am planning 6 tangs. I feel that it is a good home for them due to the width. On the other hand, I would only put 1-2 tangs in a 6’x1.5’x1.5’
 

AquaLifeStudio

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I currently have a Blonde Naso, Blue Regal, Yellow Eye Kole, Achilles, Goldrim and a Moorish Idol in a 6' x 2' x 30" tall peninsula tank with other tankmates, both small and "large".

There is a lot of open space for swimming and they do tend to tolerate one another. As they are all relatively young and far from their adult sizes they seem to be doing well. If that changes I will either have to rehome or upgrade as I care for their longterm well being.
 

laverda

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I currently have a Blonde Naso, Blue Regal, Yellow Eye Kole, Achilles, Goldrim and a Moorish Idol in a 6' x 2' x 30" tall peninsula tank with other tankmates, both small and "large".

There is a lot of open space for swimming and they do tend to tolerate one another. As they are all relatively young and far from their adult sizes they seem to be doing well. If that changes I will either have to rehome or upgrade as I care for their longterm well being.
That’s a good plan. The problem is as they grow larger, one may just disappear suddenly, then another.
 

AcroFarmerRWB

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In my opinion you really can't gauge tank size and fish.... If the fish health is the most important thing.

If the fish is swimming room is that big of a red flag then I would advise not getting into this hobby. You're talkin about fish that are collected from an endless ocean and put in a small closed system, and then argue that a 6 foot tank will make a fish much happier than a 4 foot.....
The truth of the matter is no despite what tang or tank you have your tanks too small or going to be too small one day.
 

ca1ore

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Pretty sure that’s a blue lightning clown fish, hence the anemone hosting him in the background.

Pretty sure it was a joke …….
 

Bossman

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I have a Tomini tang in a Red Sea Reefer 170. That's about 35 gallons. The tang is nearly 4 inches. Hard to see in the pic, but the rock work has lots of openings and allows the tang to swim throughout which is what it does all day. Along with picking at the rock, glass and gravel for algae. I feed frozen food and put nori in the tank every other day. The large lawnmower blenny gets along great with his tang buddy and enjoys the nori with him.

I had meant to rehome this tang in my Reefer 425xl which I recently set up. I can't do it. He's soooo happy!! LOL. This is his home. Or, it has become his home.

Like has been said, keeping a fish in an aquarium is not natural. We try our best to emulate the natural environment of our marine life, but NO one has an ocean in their house. Yeah, I understand a 6' tank might be more natural in someone's opinion. Not everyone has the space or money.

The single most irritating thing on this forum is a member lecturing about the proper size of tank for a particular fish. I know there are guidelines. And certain species definitely need space. But when someone asks if they can keep a bristletooth in a 4' tank and members are saying it needs to be 6' is ridiculous IMO. And the 6' tank is your opinion too. Don't tell me my fish is not happy.

I hesitate to post pictures dreading the police are going to jump on me for crowding my tank. I'm sure there are others too.

Tomini tang.jpg
 

Bossman

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Nice looking GSP

TY, the GSP that won't stop. Do they ever?

In the 170, on the right mid tank, is a hairy mushroom that kinda looks like GSP in the pic. That was just 3 small heads when we put it in and it's grown like crazy. The left is GSP we took from our red sea 260. We put that GSP in the 260 from a small plug less then a year ago and of course it grew and grew.

The glass needs scraping, but you can see it in this pic I just took of the 260.
260.jpg
 

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