125 Stocking Ideas

[i cant think]

Blues get pretty big for a 125. I would pick one of the yellow or purple, and wouldn't try both together.

I agree with this, I have seen 1’ long blues so it’s not uncommon to get one that gets to that max size they’ve been seen at. I think many people with blues have even said their 8’ tanks look too small for them (Same with the desjardini sailfins). I would pick the purple due to yellow being in so many other fish and that “royal” purple is seen in so few fish, I mean you could get a YLB for 3 quarters the price of a YT (Both wild and captive breds - Yes, they are still wild caught but very rarely, and when they are WC they are from Indonesia most of the time).

 

[ApoIsland]

OP - unless you buy it that big, no tang will get close to 12 inches in your tank. So don't worry about that.

All these stories about large tangs rarely, if ever, come from the people who have actually grown them from small to that large in their home aquarium.

Most likely it will live for many years and never get past 6 inches. I have had mine for 7 or 8 years and still has not passed 6 inches. It's a fairly popular fish and I have seen many tanks over the years and never seen one bigger than 7-8 inches. And even that fish was doing fine in a 6' tank. A tang would probably be poisoned to death from the amount of food required before it ever outgrew the 6' tank.

 

[i cant think]

OP - unless you buy it that big, no tang will get close to 12 inches in your tank. So don't worry about that.

All these stories about large tangs rarely, if ever, come from the people who have actually grown them from small to that large in their home aquarium.

Most likely it will live for many years and never get past 6 inches. I have had mine for 7 or 8 years and still has not passed 6 inches. It's a fairly popular fish and I have seen many tanks over the years and never seen one bigger than 7-8 inches. And even that fish was doing fine in a 6' tank. A tang would probably be poisoned to death from the amount of food required before it ever outgrew the 6' tank.

Still a bad idea… These tangs are not peaceful and especially aren’t in 6’ tanks, a tang does have the chance to get 10-12” so you can’t wipe that out of the idea and the speed these fish grow is not like a Pomacanthus angelfish.

 

[ApoIsland]

Still a bad idea… These tangs are not peaceful and especially aren’t in 6’ tanks, a tang does have the chance to get 10-12” so you can’t wipe that out of the idea and the speed these fish grow is not like a Pomacanthus angelfish.

You have about the same chance of winning the lottery as you do growing a small tang to greater than 8 inches in a 125g tank.

My blue has been in a 4’ tank for years with no aggression issues.

have you personally kept the blue tang in your home aquarium?

 

[i cant think]

You have about the same chance of winning the lottery as you do growing a small tang to greater than 8 inches in a 125g tank.

My blue has been in a 4’ tank for years with no aggression issues.

have you personally kept the blue tang in your home aquarium?

Yes I have, kept one however if I was to do one in 4’ of tank… it would be the only fish in the tank. These guys are never a good idea, they NEED that 8’ of space eventually and if yours has stopped growing there’s a high chance that being in too small of an aquarium has stunted it.

 

[ApoIsland]

Yes I have, kept one however if I was to do one in 4’ of tank… it would be the only fish in the tank. These guys are never a good idea, they NEED that 8’ of space eventually and if yours has stopped growing there’s a high chance that being in too small of an aquarium has stunted it.

And how long did you have yours and what happened to it?

I will put the health of my smaller blue that has been in the tank for 7-8 years, up against the health of anyone else’s any day. Would bet this fish will go for 20 more years if I want to continue to tolerate his zoa nipping.

I think you are confusing a need with a want. A fish that stays under 12 inches definitely doesn’t NEED anything more than 4 feet. And they definitely WANT more than 8 or 10 feet but they rarely ever get it and still manage to live long healthy lives in a lot of smaller tanks. Taking a fish from the ocean and then claiming the difference between 4,6,8 foot tanks has any significance is pure comedy. Water quality is what matters the most in those cases. That’s like ripping the queen out of the castle and putting her in a 1 bedroom condo, then saying she will be much healthier if you upgraded her to a 2 bedroom. Still going to be just as ticked, but alive and well as long as you can get the old bag eating and avoid polluting the air.

Now if you are talking a 2 foot tank I can see your point of a problem as the fish would likely go insane if it can’t go a couple body lengths without turning around. Where that cutoff is from unacceptable to acceptable I’m not sure. But it’s definitely not the difference between 4,6, or 8.

It would be an easy thing to test. 5 small blue tangs in different tanks ranging from 4’ to 8’ with the same rock or pvc formation allowing the combo of good swimming space plus good hiding spaces. all plumbed together within a larger commercial store so you don’t have to worry about water quality. You put the exact same amount of food in all tanks. You think there will be a significant size difference after 2 years in the 4/6/8 sizes? I think they will be relatively the same adult size give or take a half inch as every fish is different.

who is going to run this test?

 

[i cant think]

And how long did you have yours and what happened to it?

I will put the health of my smaller blue that has been in the tank for 7-8 years, up against the health of anyone else’s any day. Would bet this fish will go for 20 more years if I want to continue to tolerate his zoa nipping.

I think you are confusing a need with a want. A fish that stays under 12 inches definitely doesn’t NEED anything more than 4 feet. And they definitely WANT more than 8 or 10 feet but they rarely ever get it and still manage to live long healthy lives in a lot of smaller tanks. Taking a fish from the ocean and then claiming the difference between 4,6,8 foot tanks has any significance is pure comedy. Water quality is what matters the most in those cases. That’s like ripping the queen out of the castle and putting her in a 1 bedroom condo, then saying she will be much healthier if you upgraded her to a 2 bedroom. Still going to be just as ticked, but alive and well as long as you can get the old bag eating and avoid polluting the air.

Now if you are talking a 2 foot tank I can see your point of a problem as the fish would likely go insane if it can’t go a couple body lengths without turning around. Where that cutoff is from unacceptable to acceptable I’m not sure. But it’s definitely not the difference between 4,6, or 8.

It would be an easy thing to test. 5 small blue tangs in different tanks ranging from 4’ to 8’ with the same rock or pvc formation allowing the combo of good swimming space plus good hiding spaces. all plumbed together within a larger commercial store so you don’t have to worry about water quality. You put the exact same amount of food in all tanks. You think there will be a significant size difference after 2 years in the 4/6/8 sizes? I think they will be relatively the same adult size give or take a half inch as every fish is different.

who is going to run this test?

So, going off of your information I could dump a 6” palegic swimmer in an 18” cube. I don’t mean to start a fight however it’s pure BS if you think any other tang except the Ctenochaetus tangs would do well in a 4’ tank. 7-8 years is nothing compared to the 40+ years they usually live in the wild, they don’t want 8’ of swim room they need it. I owned min 2 years and it died due to ammonia (Learn more about it in my 4’ tank thread), I never again will own one because it used every inch of swim room. I have seen ones 12” and close to it that werent WC near to that size so it’s not impossible. Just watch them in the ocean and then you’ll see how much this fish uses room and what a happy tang looks like.

 

[ApoIsland]

So, going off of your information I could dump a 6” palegic swimmer in an 18” cube. I don’t mean to start a fight however it’s pure BS if you think any other tang except the Ctenochaetus tangs would do well in a 4’ tank. 7-8 years is nothing compared to the 40+ years they usually live in the wild, they don’t want 8’ of swim room they need it. I owned min 2 years and it died due to ammonia (Learn more about it in my 4’ tank thread), I never again will own one because it used every inch of swim room. I have seen ones 12” and close to it that werent WC near to that size so it’s not impossible. Just watch them in the ocean and then you’ll see how much this fish uses room and what a happy tang looks like.

I’ve seen plenty of tangs in the ocean as I have spent plenty of time in the waters off Hawaii, Australia, and SE Asia. I have no idea how you can rationalize comparing the behavior in the ocean to the difference between 4’ and 8’.

its too bad you failed with your fish but that doesn’t mean a lot of people don’t have success.

 

[nereefpat]

I think you are confusing a need with a want. A fish that stays under 12 inches definitely doesn’t NEED anything more than 4 feet.

Most of us will disagree that a tang near 12" doesn't need more than a 4 foot tank.

 

[ApoIsland]

Most of us will disagree that a tang near 12" doesn't need more than a 4 foot tank.

What I was trying to say is that a species of fish whose full grown size in nature is around 12’’ can easily be kept in a 4’ tank as they will not reach near that size in the home aquarium.

of course it would be idiotic to put a 12” fish in a 4’ tank.

It is just as idiotic to go with the assumption that a small tang which maxes out at 12’’ in the ocean, will grow from small to close to adult ocean size in a 4 or 6’ home aquarium. It just doesn’t happen in those size tanks for a multitude of reasons.

I guess ill give you a one in a million chance they reach max ocean size in a 8’ tank. So possible? Yes. At all probable? No.

 

[Chris’s fish]

Ok I might

Blues get pretty big for a 125. I would pick one of the yellow or purple, and wouldn't try both together.

Ok, I might just get the purple by itself l. Thanks!

 

[nereefpat]

What I was trying to say is that a species of fish whose full grown size in nature is around 12’’ can easily be kept in a 4’ tank

I disagree with that too. Most of us that have kept big tangs (regal, sailfins, any Naso, bigger Acanthurus) would not recommend them for 4 foot tanks.

It is just as idiotic to go with the assumption that a small tang which maxes out at 12’’ in the ocean, will grow from small to close to adult ocean size in a 4 or 6’ home aquarium. It just doesn’t happen in those size tanks for a multitude of reasons.

I guess ill give you a one in a million chance they reach max ocean size in a 8’ tank. So possible? Yes. At all probable? No.

The 12" max from fishbase is likely the biggest that they catch or observe. Randall says common max length of regals at 10".

Conventional wisdom is that most fish reach about 3/4ths that size in our tanks. 7-8" regal tang in our tanks is pretty common and likely.

Mine outgrew my 6' 125. It still 'fit'. But the behavior was all wrong. It's also pretty common for that species to develop health problems when not given the right care. My advice would be that they should be in a 240 long term.

That's likely all I'll say on regal tangs.

 

[ApoIsland]

I disagree with that too. Most of us that have kept big tangs (regal, sailfins, any Naso, bigger Acanthurus) would not recommend them for 4 foot tanks.
The 12" max from fishbase is likely the biggest that they catch or observe. Randall says common max length of regals at 10".

Conventional wisdom is that most fish reach about 3/4ths that size in our tanks. 7-8" regal tang in our tanks is pretty common and likely.

Mine outgrew my 6' 125. It still 'fit'. But the behavior was all wrong. It's also pretty common for that species to develop health problems when not given the right care. My advice would be that they should be in a 240 long term.

That's likely all I'll say on regal tangs.

You are correct, it is very common for them I develop health problems when not in the proper environment. The fact that plenty of people can keep them in 4’ and 6’ tanks without health problems is indicative that the size tank is appropriate.

When the summer comes and Life takes over I put little to no effort into water quality for a couple months and the tangs inevitably get a little aggressive and have their annual ich outbreak at some point during the summer. Do a large water change, make a better effort to feed more and keep up with maintenance and the ich goes away, the fighting stops and all is well until next June. Been that way for 9-10 years with the yellow tang and 7-8 years with the blue.

i believe water quality plays a much bigger role than tank size.