I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I personally love these tangs. I have one in my aquarium that I have had for 2 years that is in the process of changing from a juvenile to adult and is one of my favorite fish. I have seen some adults that are awesome looking. Can't wait to see how mine turns out
I've always gotten my "brown tang" fix elsewhere, but I do like orange shoulder. My future ten foot reef tank may sport one in addition to my other 14 tangs
Seen a few adult orange shoulder tangs when they come into Lfs near me very impressive and beautiful when fully grown but they get very big as u mentioned it feel you would need a really lg tank to have one full term
I have seen plenty of orange shoulder tangs in Hawaii. They actually looks quite stunning in the ocean, much better than in aquarium. I like them. I also like Lavender tangs due to their hardiness among Acanthurus species.