Favorite Tang for Reef Cleanup Duties

[Sven The Elder]

20 years ago, The Chevron or Scopus Tangs were some of the most recommended fish to be added to a reef tank because of their skill at eating algae all day, everyday and probably at night while I was sleeping, and never ever guilty of committing any reef tank crimes. Are they still the go to favorite? or have some others taken the throne?

 

[vetteguy53081]

20 years ago, The Chevron or Scopus Tangs were some of the most recommended fish to be added to a reef tank because of their skill at eating algae all day, everyday and probably at night while I was sleeping, and never ever guilty of committing any reef tank crimes. Are they still the go to favorite? or have some others taken the throne?

Scopes or yellow eye kole

 

[LAReefer4Life]

yellow, purple or white tail are my favorites

 

[Gedxin]

Just bought a white and yellow, will report back in a month or so!

 

[Mattiejay6]

Biota Yellow Tang

 

[Blake423]

I never have too much luck having tang as clean up crew...

 

[Singspot]

No tang comes close to Quoyii Parrotfish.

The Quoyiis hard scrub off the algae all day and from everwhere.

I have some tangs, Algae Blenny and Quoyii and the answer is Quoyii.

 

[i cant think]

Magnificent foxface - Siganus magnificus.
Mine is excellent for personality which I find most tangs don’t have, colours, and best of all algae eating. If not fed properly they can go against your zoas, palys, yellow polyps and similar.

Unfortunately many tangs and other fish you used to be able to get you can’t get anymore due to Hawaii closing. This stops the chevron and yellow eye koles from coming into the hobby. Yellow tangs can still be found wild caught but the pricing on even Wild Caught specimens has risen along with CB (CB specimens are 300 or so for a 1-2 inch fish). I’d recommend the blue eye kole for a tang, these stay small, are one of the few tangs with personality and have many different changes in patterns all throughout the day.

Here’s my two;

 

[NickHolmes]

My bristletooth tang was a workhorse around the tank but also an butthole bully so had to sell

 

[i cant think]

My bristletooth tang was a workhorse around the tank but also an butthole bully so had to sell

What species of bristletooth was it?
The larger species (Chevron, Yellow Eye, Square Tail, Striatus ect) tend to be rather aggressive in comparison to the others.

 

[Dbichler]

Kole tang all that fish does is eat algae all day

 

[NickHolmes]

What species of bristletooth was it?
The larger species (Chevron, Yellow Eye, Square Tail, Striatus ect) tend to be rather aggressive in comparison to the others.

Square tail, C Truncatus

 

[DIYreefer]

Naso. Mine will devour anything that even resembles algae, including bubble algae. Very docile toward other fish as well.

 

[bnord]

All will be different.. have a Vlamingi who is a great fish, but never grazes (outgrew the tank and now lives at the LFS waiting for my next tank - someday) purple and 2 biota yellows who are low level players in grazing game.

Have 2 bristletooth (flame and blue eye) who graze non-stop - all day every day

now to fox faces - 2nd experience - first rehired due to slothfulness and replacement just as lazy. more worried about them eating zoas than not eating algae

multiple tanks represented above - not over crowding

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

No tang comes close to Quoyii Parrotfish.

The Quoyiis hard scrub off the algae all day and from everwhere.

I have some tangs, Algae Blenny and Quoyii and the answer is Quoyii.

I worry about parrotfish in a reef tank... at least from what I've read they're not really reef safe? I'd totally get one if I had a big enough tank and it wouldn't nom on coral, lol.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

My tomini tang is a lazy bum and only wants mysis, nori, and to steal the algae pellets I toss in for my conch, lol. Does not pick at the rocks hardly at all like I was HOPING. I thought bristletooth tangs were supposed to be good for that, lol.

I have a baby captive bred yellow on the way soon... time will tell if it does a better job.

Best algae eaters in my tank are not tangs, but actually my bicolor blenny and turbo snails. My melanurus wrasse picks at rocks more than any of them though!

 

[Singspot]

What snails do you have?

My quoyii scrapew the algaes of the rocks to turn them white!! Luckily he is not an algae eater at all ... but yes he needs at least 180G or more.