Tang grow out tank question

Fishn28 · Apr 30, 2023

Hey everyone, I’m planning on getting a 125 gallon tank in a few months. I currently have a 40 Breeder and wanted to know if I could have a small young tang in there until my larger tank is ready for it. If so what kind would be suitable?

current 40 stocking
2 clownfish
1 long nose hawk fish
1 yellow watchman
1 Pygmy angel
1 flametail blenny

if I am unable to add a small tang what other fish would be a good addition to the tank?

blaxsun · Apr 30, 2023

Yes. The smallest possible tang you can get would be ideal - so something like a tomini, etc. (so you don't have to re-home once you get your 125-gallon).

@vetteguy53081 may have some great tang suggestions for you,

Dave1993 · Apr 30, 2023

you can have any tang in a 40 if its small i would so go for it a 1-2" tang is going to be fine in a 40

Fishn28 · Apr 30, 2023

Dave1993 said:
you can have any tang in a 40 if its small i would so go for it a 1-2" tang is going to be fine in a 40

Have you had any experience with a tang in a 40?

Fishn28 · Apr 30, 2023

Dave1993 said:
you can have any tang in a 40 if its small i would so go for it a 1-2" tang is going to be fine in a 40

Have you had had experience with a tang in a 40?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 30, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Hey everyone, I’m planning on getting a 125 gallon tank in a few months. I currently have a 40 Breeder and wanted to know if I could have a small young tang in there until my larger tank is ready for it. If so what kind would be suitable?

current 40 stocking
2 clownfish
1 long nose hawk fish
1 yellow watchman
1 Pygmy angel
1 flametail blenny

if I am unable to add a small tang what other fish would be a good addition to the tank?

You can add most tangs such as Hepatus, tomini, white tail bristletooth, gem, chocolate, gem and Lavender.
Sailfin, clown, purple, naso get big fairly quickly.

Fishn28 · Apr 30, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
You can add most tangs such as Hepatus, tomini, white tail bristletooth, gem, chocolate, gem and Lavender.
Sailfin, clown, purple, naso get big fairly quickly.

How long could they stay in there? Would I be able to keep any in there forever?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 30, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Have you had had experience with a tang in a 40?

I had both a yellow and Tomini in my 50 cube for several months

Fishn28 · Apr 30, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
I had both a yellow and Tomini in my 50 cube for several months

Was there any aggression toward other fish?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 30, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Was there any aggression toward other fish?

No. Obviouly place any fish who can be aggressive last - Not first

Dave1993 · May 1, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Have you had had experience with a tang in a 40?

i had a 1" purple in a 200xl for like 2-3 month he was fine abit shy but he showed no signs of stress didn't seem to mind just hid a lot due to his size i guess

Dave1993 · May 1, 2023

he might have been abit better than 1" here he is in the 200xl

Paul B · May 1, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Have you had any experience with a tang in a 40?

I have. My first tank in 1971 was a 40 gallon and I had hippo tangs and (stupidly) a moorish Idol. The tang lived for years in there and stayed small. Then I upgraded to a 100 gallon tank where he grew larger.

I also had a French angel in there.

This is from my log book. (my fish had a lot of diseases then including like on this page "HLLE" which we didn't know anything about then or even have a name for)

dmsc2fs · May 1, 2023

I had a terrible run of Yellow tangs. I lost one in my DT so I ordered another one QTd. It arrived and was tiny! As soon as I put it in my DT my Rusty Angel killed it.

I ordered another and grew it for months in a 40 breeder for months without issue. It got bigger and fatter and Rusty didn't consider it when it was time to put it in my DT.

o2manyfish · May 1, 2023

I gave my Dad a cute lil 1.5" yellow tang for his 50g AIO reef tank. 14 years later when we broke down his tank for a home remodel I brought from his house to my house a 2" yellow tang. Which went into a 400g tank a grew up to be a big healthy fish.

Groupers, and the Larger Tangs (Vlamingi, Unicorns, Dussimeri) will outgrow their tanks. But I have yet to see zebrasomas outgrow a tank.

If you goto public aquariums you can find 14" long Hippo tangs, always with exacerbated HLLE. But they are monsters (albeit ugly monsters). I had a pair of Hippo tangs in a 400g tank for 9 years and they never got bigger than 7.5 to 8".

You'll be fine till your future upgrade. And should something happen in the upcoming months that postpones the upgrade to the bigger tank - You're not going to cause irreparable harm to your little tang.

Dave B

littlefoxx · May 2, 2023

Fishn28 said:
Hey everyone, I’m planning on getting a 125 gallon tank in a few months. I currently have a 40 Breeder and wanted to know if I could have a small young tang in there until my larger tank is ready for it. If so what kind would be suitable?

current 40 stocking
2 clownfish
1 long nose hawk fish
1 yellow watchman
1 Pygmy angel
1 flametail blenny

if I am unable to add a small tang what other fish would be a good addition to the tank?

Ive got a purple tang and baby naso in my 70 for a few weeks until my 125 ready and they dont have any issues at the moment. I also have a nori clip which my purple loves!! I also have a baby blue in a 32 biocube for the moment as he needed to be in his own tank to heal from his previous home. He is 2 inches though and will move in a week to the bigger one. I would say a tiny baby would be fine for a few weeks based on my experience. Just get them in there as soon as possible!

littlefoxx · May 2, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Ive got a purple tang and baby naso in my 70 for a few weeks until my 125 ready and they dont have any issues at the moment. I also have a nori clip which my purple loves!! I also have a baby blue in a 32 biocube for the moment as he needed to be in his own tank to heal from his previous home. He is 2 inches though and will move in a week to the bigger one. I would say a tiny baby would be fine for a few weeks based on my experience. Just get them in there as soon as possible!

Also only had the blue in the biocube a month and can tell he is ready to be in a bigger tank now that he is all healed up! A few months may be too long depending on the kind of tang and size

zheka757 · May 2, 2023

Paul B said:
I have. My first tank in 1971 was a 40 gallon and I had hippo tangs and (stupidly) a moorish Idol. The tang lived for years in there and stayed small. Then I upgraded to a 100 gallon tank where he grew larger.

I also had a French angel in there.

This is from my log book. (my fish had a lot of diseases then including like on this page "HLLE" which we didn't know anything about then or even have a name for)

wow, this is cool you did log book.
couldn't look up on internet how to treat your fish? lol

Thumbster · May 22, 2023

I do not understand how this works.

If I’m understanding you correctly, the fish was an inch long and grew to be two inches after fourteen years? Then you put it in a bigger tank and it grew to be full size’ish?

You're the second person on this thread that has said this but I don’t understand it and have never heard of it.

Can someone explain to me how this works? I understand being stunted due to water parameters but how does the continuing to grow after such a long time work?