Tang Growth Rates

[Zionas]

That’s amazing. How big is your Yellow Tang and Rabbitfish? I really hope to have my fish for as long as you do.

 

[ca1ore]

Wow, who dug this thread up LOL. None of my tangs have grown since I started it 2 1/2 years ago.

 

[Zionas]

It was me lol.

 

[Zionas]

@laverda I wish I had a 300 lol. How many fish do you have in there in total, and how do you manage to make them live for so long?

 

[laverda]

That’s amazing. How big is your Yellow Tang and Rabbitfish? I really hope to have my fish for as long as you do.

I will have to measure them in the day.

 

[laverda]

@laverda I wish I had a 300 lol. How many fish do you have in there in total, and how do you manage to make them live for so long?

I think about 30. Proper and varied diet. Tangs are herbavours, so they need greens primarily, not meaty foods(candy) Keep the tank stable. QT new additions. Try to select fish that are not to aggressive and provide lots of hiding places. I was not even able to look at my tank for almost a month due to coved. During that time one firefish seems to have disappeared. I lost a few corals as my N&P spiked and ALK dropped a bit.
I have 6 small fish that have been in QT for over 4 months that a ready to add when I recover from coved side affects enough. I also have the very first coral I ever got still. A devils hand leather about 24 years I am guessing. I wish I did as well with other corals.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks and thanks. Appreciate your detailed reply. Sorry to hear that you fell sick. I hope you have made a full recovery and wish you health and safety.

 

[Squidward]

I bought my juvenile Achilles in October 2019. He had just a small line in place of a tear drop. I was originally saddened thinking it wouldn't turn into a teardrop lol. He's grown pretty fast since. Currently I would say hes a good 5inches and has outgrown my Powder Blue who was slightly bigger when I first introduced him. Now the Powder Blue steers clear of him. I bought a small purple tang later that was smaller than the Powder Blue, and it also has outgrown the powder blue. My Fowleri was my first tang from August 2019. He was approximately 4.5" ish. Now he's a good 7" minimum.(eyeballing). My blonde Naso which I bought shortly after is about the same size as the Fowleri, just not quite as thick. My Blue hippo seems to be a slow grower but maybe being kind of skittish and shy may be a factor as to why she's a slow grower?

 

[Zionas]

How big do you expect your Tangs to get once they’re fully grown?

 

[Squidward]

How big do you expect your Tangs to get once they’re fully grown?

My Achilles...I would love to see how big it can grow. The biggest one I ever saw in person was about 10" and Thick at a LFS. 8 or 9 inches would be great. I would love to see how big my Blonde Naso and Fowleri can grow up to. would love to see some 15" monsters lol

 

[Zionas]

Lol yeah those would be some very big fish. What do you think the Purple will top out at?

 

[ca1ore]

Although tangs will certainly live in captivity for 20-25 years, it is an impressive achievement regardless. You have to be willing to stick it out for that long, and avoid the major tank crash. Latter is unlikely in any given year, but more likely in a 25 year span. Good planning and a bit of good luck. 15-17 is about the best I can claim, though a couple in my tank (though not all under my care) are approaching that. My sailfin does not look like it will get anywhere close to dinner plate size ..... but I've only had it for about 5 years.

 

[Zionas]

Still that’s what I will be aiming for. xD Which Tangs and / or other fish in your tank are approaching 15 years old? You had your last Purple for about 17 years and it topped out at just shy of 7” right?

 

[jaxteller007]

I don't know how old any of my tangs are. They were all juveniles (at least size wise, imo) when I got them and I've had them for about a year now.
Lt tang got late May 2020
Yellow tangs were early May 2020
Vlaminigi tang and flame tang were July 2020
Blue hippo tang was latest add Nov 2020.

Any idea what age ranges fish are considered juvenile? @4FordFamily @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal or any other experts? I'd like to estimate the age of these guys.

 

[vetteguy53081]

There are often max sizes posted but generally relates to the wild
Tang size and in my behalf will depend upon on tank size, overall diet and health and age of fish.
You will find it therefore varies with various aquarists.
I had a dussimieri reach max of 11”. I seen others have them 8” and 14” respectively

 

[4FordFamily]

IME this is all over the board and based on many different variables.

1) Food consumption (underfed vs overfed impact)
2) Dominance within the tank - I notice that less dominant fish tend to grow slower
3) Genetics/variance amongst individuals of a species
4) Environment -- a healthy environment likely fosters more growth -- SOME believe that larger tanks do this as well although others will refute this. I know that in my 500G tank my fish seem to grow MUCH faster -- but I also have larger species so that's a bit of a fallacy
5) Competition - It seems like fish grow to compete with their tankmates for food - if a small tang is with many large tangs it MAY grow faster to be able to compete

A LOT of this is scientifically supported, but others disagree with many of these contentions. I have some tangs that grow like weeds of one species and others that grow slower. I do notice my most dominant fish grow faster (holding everything else constant). I'd assume that's because they eat more, too.

Many tangs reach 4-7 inches and then slow their growth considerably. Obviously tangs with larger maximum sizes will grow faster to larger sizes than others. Some larger tangs may grow slowly, as some Naso tangs do -- even though they get very large.

I have a Dussumeiri tang I bought over a year ago which I expected to grow VERY fast as they get MASSIVE. It was 7 inches. I don't think it's grown AT ALL in that time period. I think this has a lot to do with dominance and food consumption. It is VERY LOW on the totem pole, and my large aggressive angels have QUICKLY outgrown it and therefor hog the food and chase it away on occasion. It's not thin, but it's never been "fat" as I see many others. It's colors are bland and it just overall doesn't seem to be thriving. I hope that changes someday, as large adults can be pretty stunning.

This is such a complex topic, and I know my answer is as clear as mud but hopefully it shed some light.

 

[ca1ore]

Still that’s what I will be aiming for. xD Which Tangs and / or other fish in your tank are approaching 15 years old? You had your last Purple for about 17 years and it topped out at just shy of 7” right?

That's true, I had my first purple for about 17 years. 6-7" in length. I have had my hippo and yellow since 2013, and the chap I got them from said he'd had them for about six years so leveraging my advanced math-E-matics skills that's 15 LOL. I also got a trio of PJ cardinals from the same guy, along with a whole bunch of clowns. PJ are about the same age, though they look terrible. Tangs look fine as do the clowns (I kept two pairs and gave the rest away to a young chap who was starting out in the hobby).

 

[Zionas]

Ahh would you say that Purple was done growing? Was it the dominant fish in the tank? How big are the Yellow and Blue Hippo?

Yeah I’ve given up on Pajama Cardinals lol. They don’t look so good after all. Have that worn out kind of look.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I don't know how old any of my tangs are. They were all juveniles (at least size wise, imo) when I got them and I've had them for about a year now.
Lt tang got late May 2020
Yellow tangs were early May 2020
Vlaminigi tang and flame tang were July 2020
Blue hippo tang was latest add Nov 2020.

Any idea what age ranges fish are considered juvenile? @4FordFamily @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal or any other experts? I'd like to estimate the age of these guys.

Fish age is not closely correlated to size, at least not in captivity. I’ve seen fish grow much larger or stay much smaller, than wild fish of the same age. Even color change from juvenile to adult can happen differently in captivity versus the wild.
One resource I use is www.fishbase.us for fish size. I generally figure that a given fish in captivity will grow about 70% of the maximum size they list .
Jay

 

[ca1ore]

Ahh would you say that Purple was done growing? Was it the dominant fish in the tank? How big are the Yellow and Blue Hippo?

Yeah I’ve given up on Pajama Cardinals lol. They don’t look so good after all. Have that worn out kind of look.

Yeah PJ get that ratty look after a while. Mine are the fish equivalent of the grumpy neighbor - hobbling around complaining that his back hurts ..... wait a second, that's me .... never mind. Current yellow is 5 1/2" and the hippo 7'.