65 gallons Yellow Tang
- Thread starter RDUB58
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Grigs
Active Member
You can run a small one for a while to help with algae control while young and do the trade in game with your LFS as it grows. I have a small yellow tang in my RS250 right now and he grazes constantly and is completely chill. When he gets a little bigger he will be moved to the 230, but until then he is awesome right where he is!
I originally got a small YT to put in my 58 gallon to help with some algae. It was clear that after a week it was a little stressed. It would hide every time I would walk up to the tank. I moved it to my 150 and it was a whole different fish. It started eating out of my hand and it extremely sociable. So... no I wouldn’t do it.
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2017
- Messages
- 3,518
- Reaction score
- 2,854
IMHO, Yes. I added one roughly 4 inches to my 90 gallon tank and after a month it tried to bully and intimidate the other fish in the tank, took a chunk out of my Coral Beauty's Dwarf Angel's lower fin and repeatedly slapped it with it's tail scalpel causing visible white cuts on the Coral Beauty. IMHO they need more room and other fish to help keep their attitudes in check.
Incidentally this was the butthead in question:
Last edited:
TexasReefer82
Active Member
Buy the smallest you can find. Petco sells the captive bred yellow tangs and they're very small, not much bigger than a quarter. It'll be prefectly happy in a 65 gallon tank for at least a year and probably longer.
They ultimately can get 8-9 inches long, so obviously he'll be a temporary inhabitant.
They ultimately can get 8-9 inches long, so obviously he'll be a temporary inhabitant.
PatW
2500 Club Member
The smaller the tank, the more aggression. A tang likes room. Tangs can be kept in smaller tanks just fine if they have a good long dimension. That is why you often see tangs in frag tanks because the tang as a nice long dimension to run in which is what they care about.
YankeeTankee
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2019
- Messages
- 481
- Reaction score
- 1,046
U
User1
Guest
You are going to get a lot of conflicting opinions on this mixed in with comments like Tang Police... Hit your favorite search engine and run a couple using tang with tank size. You will see what I mean. The long and short of it is this.
Does the person who is asking looking for answers they want to year (yes - it is ok) or are they actually asking the question as the Conscientious Marine Aquarist (great book btw). What I'm saying is that all opinions aside, and I'm giving you mine here, is that it really is not the right fish for that size aquarium. And to take it a step further so I'm not just saying no, don't do it let me provide some reasons why:
1. Fish size - they can reach 8" in size, maybe more. You put this in a smaller tank and it grows one or two things will happen. It will reach full size of 8" or it will be stunted due to lack of room and space. So, one strike for stunted growth risk.
2. Fish size part 2 - amount of rock for aquascape and corals will impact the fishes swimming space. Tangs are active. This is just a fact any any of us scuba divers will tell you they are active roamers in the worlds oceans. Granted all of our boxes limit this but 60 - 90 gallons is a lot less than 180 or 210 as an example. Now add in your rock and corals, well, you have just removed a lot of the open space the 60 gallon tank offered. What I'm saying is that it isn't just the size of the glass box. It is glass box plus rocks, power heads and substrate that equate to useable swimming space.
3. Aggression - hit or miss because every fish is different. However, if you have several fish that are competing for similar food types then one is going to become protective and possibly aggressive. Also back to the swimming space lack of it is going to drive them stir crazy upping the risk factor of it being a bad actor.
4. Buy small, remove later - yes, that is a option. If you check out BRStv videos you will see yellow and purple tangs in their 60 - 65 cubes. I'm not a fan but again just my opinion. Here is the thing with buying and adding small and trying to remove later. You may, or may not, be able to trap the fish. IF you can't successfully use a fish trap now you are left to try and net it. Going back to aquascape and coral grow this means removing rocks, corals, or everything to catch it. Doing this is going to stress everything else be it coral and fish. It is, for lack of a better word, disruptive and stressful for both fish and hobbyist.
5. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. This gets back treating fish as a pet and not a commodity.
I am not here to judge or say one way or another. However, I will answer and provide my opinion on the subject with some information as to why I wouldn't. I'll even go a step further to say that I have a 210 gallon tank and believe it is too small for the pair of tangs I have. I have a Scopas and Lavender tang in there but due to the overall width of it being 54" I think I could have done better in my design. I have 30" depth and width and it is great but the width is my only grip.
Lastly I'll leave you with this. There are other utility fish that are herbivores that do just as great of a job as the tang. And if you are looking for yellow there are also other choices although on a smaller size. In any case best of luck to you.
Does the person who is asking looking for answers they want to year (yes - it is ok) or are they actually asking the question as the Conscientious Marine Aquarist (great book btw). What I'm saying is that all opinions aside, and I'm giving you mine here, is that it really is not the right fish for that size aquarium. And to take it a step further so I'm not just saying no, don't do it let me provide some reasons why:
1. Fish size - they can reach 8" in size, maybe more. You put this in a smaller tank and it grows one or two things will happen. It will reach full size of 8" or it will be stunted due to lack of room and space. So, one strike for stunted growth risk.
2. Fish size part 2 - amount of rock for aquascape and corals will impact the fishes swimming space. Tangs are active. This is just a fact any any of us scuba divers will tell you they are active roamers in the worlds oceans. Granted all of our boxes limit this but 60 - 90 gallons is a lot less than 180 or 210 as an example. Now add in your rock and corals, well, you have just removed a lot of the open space the 60 gallon tank offered. What I'm saying is that it isn't just the size of the glass box. It is glass box plus rocks, power heads and substrate that equate to useable swimming space.
3. Aggression - hit or miss because every fish is different. However, if you have several fish that are competing for similar food types then one is going to become protective and possibly aggressive. Also back to the swimming space lack of it is going to drive them stir crazy upping the risk factor of it being a bad actor.
4. Buy small, remove later - yes, that is a option. If you check out BRStv videos you will see yellow and purple tangs in their 60 - 65 cubes. I'm not a fan but again just my opinion. Here is the thing with buying and adding small and trying to remove later. You may, or may not, be able to trap the fish. IF you can't successfully use a fish trap now you are left to try and net it. Going back to aquascape and coral grow this means removing rocks, corals, or everything to catch it. Doing this is going to stress everything else be it coral and fish. It is, for lack of a better word, disruptive and stressful for both fish and hobbyist.
5. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. This gets back treating fish as a pet and not a commodity.
I am not here to judge or say one way or another. However, I will answer and provide my opinion on the subject with some information as to why I wouldn't. I'll even go a step further to say that I have a 210 gallon tank and believe it is too small for the pair of tangs I have. I have a Scopas and Lavender tang in there but due to the overall width of it being 54" I think I could have done better in my design. I have 30" depth and width and it is great but the width is my only grip.
Lastly I'll leave you with this. There are other utility fish that are herbivores that do just as great of a job as the tang. And if you are looking for yellow there are also other choices although on a smaller size. In any case best of luck to you.
Flame2hawk
Valuable Member
Totally agree with all points. Very well said.
I appreciate this thoughtful response. As it turns out I decided to go against getting a Tang and ultimately will not. I decided that I didn't want to do an add to my tank that's temporary and then hope I can rehome to a respomsible aquarist down the road. I'll still just work to keep a peaceful community of smaller mixed reef fish and inverts.
U
User1
Guest
You are welcome. As I said I just do not want to say no but rather give you some other information that may be useful. At the end of the day we are all in this together.
Hope you have an amazing day! Stay safe.
