When is the "tang" thing too big?
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Powder_Blue
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I have a 5-6" Powder Blue, 4-5" blue tang, and 3-4" yellow tang in my 60x24x18 Reef Savvy for about 3 years now and zero issues. I have had the all of fish for close to 8 years in various tanks. I hope I'm not one of the "cruel" reefkeepers. They are like the 3 amigos and I wouldn't have it any other way.
If it works it works. The Blue Tang could use a bigger tank imo. But if it's healthy and isn't stressed out, have hlle etc. then I don't see the problem keeping the three in there. A 6 foot would be better for the three but then so would an 8 foot lol and then a 10 foot and so on. To be honest, a healthy tang in a 5 foot is better than one in bad health in a 6 foot, 8 foot etc.
LJLKRL05
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Yes it is a hospital tank. Just temporary but allowed me to see how bigger fish react when placed in smaller tanks. They won’t be in it much longer
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Yup. That is an example of why I never tell people something can't work. Only if it is likely or unlikely to work. What you have is unlikely to be able to be duplicated by most hobbyists. But wow, when you can pull it off, it is a wonderful thing. I bet that tank looks amazing!
mcarroll
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As the saying goes: Knock on wood!
The yellow and powder could hypothetically be done growing...the blue is hypothetically still only half-grown.
What you're up against is stress. Everything counts. As long as the total stress is under the fish's threshold, then they won't suffer. They're tough and don't just succumb to the first bad thing that happens to them. Kinda like @Paul B!
But they do have their limits.
The trick for us all is being able to tell when they are stressed.....it's only obvious when it's pretty extreme...
How behaviorally complex are marine fish?
That might be a re-post, but it's a great article that deserves re-posting....not too many sources go into what stress means so well.
Sounds like you're doing a great job with them so far though!!!!
LagunaGlide
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IMO, any fish that cruises from reef to reef to reef in the course of a day probably has no chance of a naturalistic life in a tank where they are cramped onto a single micro-reef. That means stress. If it's their only stress – no problem, fish are really tough. But we're not usually that good and we very often have all manner of stresses on them.
A few tangs, such as the bristletooths, are more solitary and much more amenable to tank life.
Personally, a 72" tank is the smallest tank that I've been able to talk myself into putting a yellow or blue tang in.
How behaviorally complex are marine fish? and Why do the tang police exist? might be interesting while you're in this position.
2¢
Awesome articles. Enjoyed them both and informative
Nburg's Reef
High-Rise Reefer
I have dove a few times in Hawaii, I can see a yellow tang or a kole tang being 'okay' for a 75g. A lot of the yellows around kauai island are all pretty small, much smaller than some of the jumbo yellow tangs I have seen from elsewhere. They never ventured out in the open too much, and generally stuck to pecking the rocks. a 4ft tank might be slighty cramped but doable.
As for some of the other bristle tooth tangs (not often seen in hobby), orange shoulder, achilles and unicorn tang, I don't think they should be in any personal sized tank. For one they get HUGE. I have seen unicorn tangs greater than 2 feet in lenght and they usually school and swim a lot. same goes for some of the others, they get huge and swim long distances.
As for some of the other bristle tooth tangs (not often seen in hobby), orange shoulder, achilles and unicorn tang, I don't think they should be in any personal sized tank. For one they get HUGE. I have seen unicorn tangs greater than 2 feet in lenght and they usually school and swim a lot. same goes for some of the others, they get huge and swim long distances.
