Tank sizes for tangs: Help us create a list!

[dallas reefer]

I have no stance. I asked a question. Or sorry. It was an implied question

 

[Myka]

Subpar water quality and organics and hormones released by fish has a lot more to do with it.

My understanding is that saltwater fish do not release that growth inhbiting hormone. Freshwater fish release it to stunt growth in dry seasons where the fish are in shrinking water supplies. Fish in the ocean don't have to worry about that. I'd be interested to find out otherwise.

Otoh, I've never seen a tang achieve 14" in a 55-gallon tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

My understanding is that saltwater fish do not release that growth inhbiting hormone. Freshwater fish release it to stunt growth in dry seasons where the fish are in shrinking water supplies. Fish in the ocean don't have to worry about that. I'd be interested to find out otherwise.

Otoh, I've never seen a tang achieve 14" in a 55-gallon tank.

Marine fish produce and subsequently secrete cortisol, which inhibits growth.

 

[MichaelClark55]

I have a 4' long 75 gal bowfront. I was looking at a Tomini. I see on the list that it is recommended as 80 gal 4'. I am not going to have but 3 or 4 other fish with him. 2 blue green chromis, a bleeny and maybe a wrasse. Do you think he will be ok? He's about 2" right now.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I have a 4' long 75 gal bowfront. I was looking at a Tomini. I see on the list that it is recommended as 80 gal 4'. I am not going to have but 3 or 4 other fish with him. 2 blue green chromis, a bleeny and maybe a wrasse. Do you think he will be ok? He's about 2" right now.

He should be fine.

 

[gregcoyote]

It’s not the volume of the tank but it’s tank shape and the environment that tang evolved in. Some tangs are from the surge zone and require turbulent, highly oxygenated water. Some are long range browsers that fly over the reefs all day long. They all need hiding holes to escape aggression and to rest.
My tangs are up to 22 years old. To say you had one for a few years is not a success. The rule of thumb is not to put a fish that grows to 8-10” in anything less than a 6’ long tank, and that’s a minimum. Replacing them as they die without any attempts at longevity is what gets collection areas closed to reef keepers. Lots of fish do great in confined spaces, tangs are not one of those. Call me “tang police.” I know what I’m talking about.

 

[MichaelClark55]

He should be fine.

thank you

 

[Jesterrace]

He should be fine.

Agreed, a Tomini is the smallest of the Tangs and isn't quite as active of an open space swimmer as the others. The 4 foot length is the most important dimension (provided we aren't talking about a 55 gallon aka 4 foot skinny/shallow box).

As for the Purposes of this thread, I have a Yellow Tang in my 4 foot long 90 gallon tank that seems to do fairly well, although it is still fairly small and relatively new. Here he is feeding on seaweed with his buddies:

 

[gray808]

My tank is 34"x15.5"x16".
I'd like to get a Squaretooth Bristletooth Tang.
Too small of a tank?
Even for a young one (with the intent of re-homing when it gets larger)?

--Gray

 

[nereefpat]

Square tail, yes?

I would not. Personally, I'm of the opinion to buy fish for its forever home. Standard 75 gallon, minimum, for that fish.

 

[Zionas]

Are the Bristletooths less active for a Tang? Can they live in a 4’ tank 75 gallons and up for the duration of their lifespans?

 

[ca1ore]

Some of the bristles, like tomini, stay quite small and would be fine in a 75. Others, like the chevron, get too large.

 

[nereefpat]

Are the Bristletooths less active for a Tang? Can they live in a 4’ tank 75 gallons and up for the duration of their lifespans?

All except the Chevron.

My sources (especially Randall's Surgeonfishes of the World, where he collected all and named many of the species) have all the Ctenochaetus genus tangs as basically the same size, except Chevron.

 

[Bleigh]

I will say, I think it also depends on the age of the fish and upgrade/trade-in expectations.

No one would consider keeping a full grown alligator in a classroom, but when I taught high school, we'd get baby alligators from a rescue and trade them out once they got to a certain size.

 

[Michael White]

My tangs live in a 300 gallon, they average 7-8 years old. I have found over 30 years of keeping surgeonfish that managing stress is the key. That means decent swimming room, holes for sleeping and for escape when chased. All these things, plus good diet reduces stress and that in turn reduces or eliminates disease. This approach is far superior to UV sterilizers and other mechanical/chemical attempts folks make to try and keep tangs healthy.

I couldn’t agree more. With regard to swimming room, a 300 gal tank with an old school rock wall and 2-3 pounds live rock per gallon and 200 pounds of sand filled with corals really doesn’t have much more room than a 150 gal minimal aquascaped tank. Swimming space and territory “hiding areas”. Sometimes the valuable area of the tank for the fish is about the empty spaces it contains. I’ve seen a foot long hippo tang in an 8’ 240 gal that could barely turn around because of all of the rock and corals in it. So even though the tank was big enough,the fish would have been better off in a 120 or 180 with a more open aquascape.

 

[OrionN]

It’s not the volume of the tank but it’s tank shape and the environment that tang evolved in. Some tangs are from the surge zone and require turbulent, highly oxygenated water. Some are long range browsers that fly over the reefs all day long. They all need hiding holes to escape aggression and to rest.
My tangs are up to 22 years old. To say you had one for a few years is not a success. The rule of thumb is not to put a fish that grows to 8-10” in anything less than a 6’ long tank, and that’s a minimum. Replacing them as they die without any attempts at longevity is what gets collection areas closed to reef keepers. Lots of fish do great in confined spaces, tangs are not one of those. Call me “tang police.” I know what I’m talking about.

I agree. I have a 320 gal tank and the largest fish I am going to keep in it is a PBT and Purple tang. They grew fast and doing great.
I keep Sailfin in 8' 420 gal tank before. I was about to donate my tangs (Mimic tang and Sailfin) to Texas State Aquarium when my tank crashed in a hurricane. I have automatic full house generator now so I hope this will not happen again.

 

[Zionas]

Old thread but from the information I’ve gathered here from 10+ members, I don’t think the Zebrasomas have a different tank size requirement other than the Sailfins because many seem to say the smaller Zebrasoma rarely get past 6-7”, maybe some to 8”.

I would love to see what you guys think the minimum tank size is for the Mimic Lemonpeel / Eibli Tangs, Lavender Tang, Orange Shoulder, Vampire (Lieutenant) Tangs etc.

Also I think the minimum tank size for a couple are too small.

Would also love tank sizes for Foxfaces and Rabbitfish!

 

[Squidward]

All the Naso Variants should be in 8ft or bigger tanks.

 

[Zionas]

I don’t think there should be different size tank requirements for any Zebrasoma other than the Sailfins as from my surveys most don’t exceed 6-7” and seem to top out there. Not sure about the smaller Acanthurus so would love to have revised tank sizes for those.

Sailfins also need an 8ft or bigger tank IMO.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Thought I'd revive this thread. Thoughts on a squaretail bristletooth and a yellow tang together in a 90 gallon? The squaretail has been there for about a month and is sitting at just under 2 inches tip of snout to end of tail, so ~1.5 inches standard length. The yellow, if I do add it, would be about 3 inches standard length. I do have plans to upgrade, but that likely won't happen for at least 5 years, so for all intents and purposes let's pretend that the 90 would be their forever tank.