Tangs and 6 foot tanks. Come at me tang police!

[ironman187]

For almost a decade I've wanted a 180 gallon tank, it's a great size and can house some of the coolest tangs per live aquaria, tangs like the Blue Aquaria, Achilles, Naso, and more. I now have the funds for a large tank, unfortunately the only space that makes sense for a tank is a 62" long wall. I've found that an SC Aquariums 150 gallon tank fits the space, and is probably a more realistic size in terms of equipment costs, running cost, and maintenance cost than a 180 gallon. The tank is 60" x 24" x 24". So it's only a foot shorter than a 180, and 30 gallons less volume. What your your thoughts on putting one or two tangs that, per Live Aquaria, require a 180 minimum into the SCA tank? Give it to me straight! I can take it...kinda...

 

[sunken3]

i would say it depends on the type of tang. but lets be real.. those tangs are getting sold one way or another.. either to your 150g or someone else's 60g... we all want the best for these fish, but they have already been caught and are up for sale... to anyone.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Pictures > Words

 

[sunken3]

Pictures > Words

and.. what size is your tank?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

180 and tangs are all over 10 years old in this tank. Tang police have federal warrants out for me.

 

[sunken3]

ya.. i think people (tang police) need to realize that NONE of our tanks are the size of the ocean.

 

[ironman187]

180 and tangs are all over 10 years old in this tank. Tang police have federal warrants out for me.

They look remarkably small for being ten years old. I wouldn't feel at all hesitant to keep them in a 5 foot tank. Also, I realize I made a colossal error in the title. I meant to say 5 foot tank, no idea how to change that.

 

[sfin52]

180 and tangs are all over 10 years old in this tank. Tang police have federal warrants out for me.

Truth I've seen the warrants

 

[Grumblez]

For almost a decade I've wanted a 180 gallon tank, it's a great size and can house some of the coolest tangs per live aquaria, tangs like the Blue Aquaria, Achilles, Naso, and more. I now have the funds for a large tank, unfortunately the only space that makes sense for a tank is a 62" long wall. I've found that an SC Aquariums 150 gallon tank fits the space, and is probably a more realistic size in terms of equipment costs, running cost, and maintenance cost than a 180 gallon. The tank is 60" x 24" x 24". So it's only a foot shorter than a 180, and 30 gallons less volume. What your your thoughts on putting one or two tangs that, per Live Aquaria, require a 180 minimum into the SCA tank? Give it to me straight! I can take it...kinda...

I'm almost positive Live Aquaria puts outlandishly large requirements knowning that people will seee that and be like 100 gallon, well 75 gallon close enough

 

[Eagle_Steve]

They look remarkably small for being ten years old. I wouldn't feel at all hesitant to keep them in a 5 foot tank. Also, I realize I made a colossal error in the title. I meant to say 5 foot tank, no idea how to change that.

Vlamingi is 14” and now in a 7’ tank, as he was not getting along with the des. Des is about 12”. Angle of pic is deceiving lol. Total of 11 tangs in the tank currently. My trick is the back side of the rocks is a caulerpa prolifera garden, they get fed 6 small meals a day, nori morning/afternoon and other macros are fed to them. I figure as long as they can graze all day long in a 6’ tank there should be no issues. Tangs graze all day long in the wild, but a lot more competition out there than in my glass box.

Here is a better pic of the fishes.

 

[davidcalgary29]

What about building an aquascape island in the middle of the tank instead of stocking rocks near the back, as most of us do? It would allow your fish access to both sides of the aquascape, allow them to build individual territories, and -- perhaps -- give them more swimming space. 24" might be wide enough for that if you're creative with your design.

 

[MaxTremors]

180 and tangs are all over 10 years old in this tank. Tang police have federal warrants out for me.

I don’t think your tank is too small for the fish necessarily (from a health and ethics perspective) but I do think that fish that large look out of place in tanks smaller than around 400g. It’s like having something like an adult maroon clown in a 20 gallon, it just ruins the sense of scale and seems out of balance with the tank. Again, they look healthy and happy, I just think that aesthetically they’re too big for that size of tank.

 

[boacvh]

I say

 

[Tamberav]

I don’t think your tank is too small for the fish necessarily (from a health and ethics perspective) but I do think that fish that large look out of place in tanks smaller than around 400g. It’s like having something like an adult maroon clown in a 20 gallon, it just ruins the sense of scale and seems out of balance with the tank. Again, they look healthy and happy, I just think that aesthetically they’re too big for that size of tank.

This was going to be my comment. That large fish in small tanks take away from the overall display itself.

Professional aquascapers on the freshwater side have that all figured out.

Large colonies to corals and smaller fish makes it look less like a glass box.

 

[SDK]

To be fair, the Tang Police are more likely to come out for the “I have a sailfin in my Biocube 32. How many more tangs can I add?” crowd Lol….

If you have no plans to upgrade, maybe just stay away from the ultra large species, keep an eye on things and have fun with that big tank….

 

[maroun.c]

+1 on large fish not looking normal in smaller tanks. My 14 Years old Hippo looked way oversized in my 400G, so does my 7-8 years old purple.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

and.. what size is your tank?

6' 180 with end overflow

 

[Karen00]

Pictures > Words

Your tank is beautiful! Can I ask how you get that shadowing effect in your tank with your lights? It adds such depth! It looks like the sun over a lagoon. I still only have the crappy stock led lights over my little 5g and the lighting is so flat. Are yours LEDs with that shimmer effect or different lights entirely or is it the placement? I've seen other member tanks like this but it was only when I looked at yours I figured out why the tanks look so multidimensional and it's the shadows.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Your tank is beautiful! Can I ask how you get that shadowing effect in your tank with your lights? It adds such depth! It looks like the sun over a lagoon. I still only have the crappy stock led lights over my little 5g and the lighting is so flat. Are yours LEDs with that shimmer effect or different lights entirely or is it the placement? I've seen other member tanks like this but it was only when I looked at yours I figured out why the tanks look so multidimensional and it's the shadows.

Hey Karen, thanks for the kind words.

To be honest, I didn't do anything specific to achieve that. Just built the scape that looked good to my eyes, with the LR I had on hand.

This tank is running 3 RedSea Reef LED 90's.

The temporary light carriage up top does cut off a bit of light that would be bouncing off of the front and rear glass because the lense angle is so wide, it catches the carriage a bit.

 

[MaxTremors]

Your tank is beautiful! Can I ask how you get that shadowing effect in your tank with your lights? It adds such depth! It looks like the sun over a lagoon. I still only have the crappy stock led lights over my little 5g and the lighting is so flat. Are yours LEDs with that shimmer effect or different lights entirely or is it the placement? I've seen other member tanks like this but it was only when I looked at yours I figured out why the tanks look so multidimensional and it's the shadows.

It’s from using pendant style lights. You get more shadowing from single point light sources than you get from strip style lighting. Strip style lighting (including T5, VHO, and power compacts) flood the tank with light from many different angles so shadows are lessened or absent except in really deep overhangs or caves. Pendant or single point style lights (including metal halides) create more shadows, which can create depth in the tank, but can also make it difficult to really pack in corals and SPS can shade and even kill the lower parts of themselves due to higher limbs of the coral shading the lower parts. So a lot people will do hybrid lighting with both pedant style and strip or fluorescent lighting to get the benefits of both types of lighting (shimmer and coverage).