Tang in a 55 gallon? Vote!

[Dave1993]

Also, would a Purple Tang be the same? It would work but not thrive? Thanks for all the great feedback!

why does it have to be 55 gallon just get a 75 gallon and get 1

 

[vetteguy53081]

Out of curiosity, how fast has the growth been?
Usually fish will get stunted growth in too small of a tank (My Naoko got stunted in my Nano but in my 4’ tank seems to have continued growing).

Having six yellows, took at least 2 years for me to notice size increase and they were in a 660 gallon tank

 

[Dave1993]

infact get 2 lol

 

[Pico bam]

Also, would a Purple Tang be the same? It would work but not thrive? Thanks for all the great feedback!

I voted against, would probably be good for a couple years if bought at a small size. Purple tang is a heck no just a bit larger and more active. I wouldn't have purple in anything short of a 120 long term even then likely wouldn't reach its full size and would likely be a bit deranged/pacified beyond what would be healthy. It's hard to tell how our fish feel but a purple tang in a 55 gallon would be similar to keeping a person in a 6x8 permanently. Witch some people do support. Not saying it's the end of the world just saying we can do better than a 55 for life witch is around 35years for a tang.

 

[i cant think]

Having six yellows, took at least 2 years for me to notice size increase and they were in a 660 gallon tank

That’s unusual as tangs are said to have a huge growth spurt when fed properly.

 

[Dave1993]

That’s unusual as tangs are said to have a huge growth spurt when fed properly.

my purple grew really fast to the size he is now once i added the powder blue he stopped growing dnu why

 

[Tamberav]

Also, would a Purple Tang be the same? It would work but not thrive? Thanks for all the great feedback!

no, purples tend to be more aggressive, grow faster, and larger. They are not equivalent fish.

 

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

Would say no unless you have an exit plan for a larger tank.

The tangs I noticed grew the fastest were:
Gem
Black
Yellow Bellied Blue

All the others I kept were slow growers.

The Black took off after I got the Gem, which in turn also took off.

Funny the three Yellows and Purple didn't budge.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I've been noticing a lot of different opinions on this topic, so I wanted to see what everyone thought!

It totally depends on the open water, lateral space in the tank. Here is a link to an article I posted on this topic:

Estimating the Need for Swimming Space for Aquarium Fishes

This article explores required aquarium sizes for marine fishes

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s unusual as tangs are said to have a huge growth spurt when fed properly.

Here are my yellows and are very well fed. Not sure about growth spurt opposed to growth rates

 

[vetteguy53081]

no, purples tend to be more aggressive, grow faster, and larger. They are not equivalent fish.

Purple is my tank jerk .

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

That’s unusual as tangs are said to have a huge growth spurt when fed properly.

Right. I have three yellows and can see monthly growth and I don't even have a list of 14 "Required" foods

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s unusual as tangs are said to have a huge growth spurt when fed properly.

Right. I have three yellows and can see monthly growth and I don't even have a list of 14 "Required" foods

Required or suggested? I have 21 tangs- I need that much variety in addition to 16 other fish.
Just answering your statement of if well fed

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Required or suggested? I have 21 tangs- I need that much variety in addition to 16 other fish.

I'm aware. I've been reading you telling everyone this for two years. Even when they have one or two tangs.

20 wet components and half a dozen dry components is not Needed because of the number of fish, with similar diets. Especially when many of the foods have a large overlap in composition/nutrition and you have many of the same tangs. 7 yellow tangs don't have 7 different dietary needs.

 

[danenelsen]

It totally depends on the open water, lateral space in the tank. Here is a link to an article I posted on this topic:

Estimating the Need for Swimming Space for Aquarium Fishes

This article explores required aquarium sizes for marine fishes

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thank you! That article is very helpful. I will definitely be saving it!

 

[areefer01]

Subject has been beat to death ten fold over. No one agrees and we all just have our own opinion. For QT purposes it would work. For captive bred and/or raised (Biota) it would be fine. However fish grow so you would need to rehome assuming it was growing at a natural pace.

Rehome nugget - just remember the fish will not want to be caught. Depending on ones success this could be a quick and painless or it could be such that you have to remove corals, rock, and stress both fish and hobbyist out to include draining most water...

So the TL; DR aspect is yes, a tang in that size tank "could" work for situations like observation, QT, or growing out captive bred and/or raised yellows. Anything else will fall into name calling, calling tang police, and other nasties that we don't need.

The question is not "if" you can but rather "should we". Hence why "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Mr. Fenner is utterly amazing sauce. Hope you, and yours, have an amazing evening! All the best.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Subject has been beat to death ten fold over. No one agrees and we all just have our own opinion. For QT purposes it would work. For captive bred and/or raised (Biota) it would be fine. However fish grow so you would need to rehome assuming it was growing at a natural pace.

Rehome nugget - just remember the fish will not want to be caught. Depending on ones success this could be a quick and painless or it could be such that you have to remove corals, rock, and stress both fish and hobbyist out to include draining most water...

So the TL; DR aspect is yes, a tang in that size tank "could" work for situations like observation, QT, or growing out captive bred and/or raised yellows. Anything else will fall into name calling, calling tang police, and other nasties that we don't need.

The question is not "if" you can but rather "should we". Hence why "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Mr. Fenner is utterly amazing sauce. Hope you, and yours, have an amazing evening! All the best.

At least you see this and as I just stated- Its a Forum. Forum is a discussion hub and you RESPECT one's theory and reasoning whether agreeable or not

 

[vtecintegra]

Go snorkeling or dive with tangs. You'll quickly see their proper environment. It's not a 55g tank..

 

[blazin'reefer]

i have a chocolate mimic tang in my 55. been in there for 7 months and seems happy so far.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So… Going by this, it’s also not a 80000G aquarium.
What you’re saying is that we shouldn’t keep any fish in captivity is what I’m getting from this.

I don’t intend to fuel the fire (I know this is a bad starter as… It may fuel it). However, I have been feeding my fish a mixed diet of 6-7 frozen cubes in total along side a variety of pellets and flakes. Here’s the main ones I keep in;
- Mixed Vegetables
- Mysis
- Brine
- Algae

And I have some I swap out when I need a refill in food, the ones that will likely be swapped out that I currently feed are;
- The type of algae
- Krill
- and one more I forget easily

Now, I’ve been doing this for coming up to a year, I used to only feed mysis and brine. None of my fish have grown faster, none of my fish have coloured up, and I’ve still lost several to diseases (my most recent being my Melanospilos hybrid).



And just a quick one on ‘English’
First off;
That is actually proper English, it’s just not in a form of what we usually see in the Modern days.
Shakespearean English (Sometimes called Old English) is still sometimes used today and that is a form of it. So before you join in and say ‘It’s not proper English’ I recommend researching a bit more (I only know this as I’m still in my GCSEs and this is a big thing we learn about).

This isn’t to say, I don’t disrespect you, I do respect your ways and actually you are the one that got me into the push for feeding more things to my fish.

I feed tangs strawberries lol