Cue the Tang Police! What is the minimum size tank you would keep a tang (surgeonfish) in?

[Emerdog]

Probably a 50g

 

[revhtree]

Bump for discussion and education!

 

[saltyhog]

I know many people say they have tangs in small tanks that are doing fine but for how long?

A friend of mine has the perfect example. He has a 6 foot 125 gallon. His Hippo was small when he got as were his corals. Fast forward a few years and his corals are filling his tank and his almost 1' Hippo is stressed to the max. He was smart enough to re-home it but not every one is.

Too often we let our desires for a certain fish over power our judgement.

 

[SkySoldier173]

My tang seems to be doing just fine. I'm gonna add an Achilles soon.

 

[Naiad]

I do believe that some of the bristle toothed tangs can be kept in smaller tanks, aka 50-100 gallons ( 4 ft tanks) if other conditions are correct. I currently have a purple tang who is in a four foot tank and I know he is stressed by the lack of space. There is a six foot tank in his near future. I also believe that their are tangs that need an eight foot tank minimum for a happy life.

 

[hatfielj]

You could always argue that any size aquarium is "wrong" for tangs or any fish for that matter. I mean, they come from the ocean. You can never give them the same quality of life in captivity no matter how big your tank. Its all personal feelings on the subject. To some its "cruel" to keep a tang of any size in a 4ft aquarium or smaller, where as others think its just fine. To me its silly to just come up with arbitrary rules like (1ft of tank for each 1" of fish). As long as you're doing your best to keep them healthy, there's a lot of variability in tank size that's perfectly acceptable in my opinion.

 

[tyler1503]

You could always argue that any size aquarium is "wrong" for tangs or any fish for that matter. I mean, they come from the ocean. You can never give them the same quality of life in captivity no matter how big your tank. Its all personal feelings on the subject. To some its "cruel" to keep a tang of any size in a 4ft aquarium or smaller, where as others think its just fine. To me its silly to just come up with arbitrary rules like (1ft of tank for each 1" of fish). As long as you're doing your best to keep them healthy, there's a lot of variability in tank size that's perfectly acceptable in my opinion.

+1.

There's so much more than tank volume or swimming space to keep a tang (or any fish) happy.
Going by the logic that swimming space is the most important thing they need to be happy, that means when I get my kole tang for my 120 and he has plenty of nori and dried seaweed to graze on all day and docile, nonaggressive tankmates to hang out with in a well looked after, clean, healthy tank, he will be LESS happy than in some guys 12 foot tank with aggressive triggers, eels and wrasses with stagnant, unfiltered, dirty water only being fed a cube of brine shrimp every other day.
Sure swimming space is an important factor, but it's definitely not the most important like most people seems to think.
The very best thing anyone can do for a stress free fish is keep up with basic husbandry and feed properly. Not get all stressed out because their tang is in a 120, not a 125.

 

[Bernardhny]

I have a 55g with lots of open areas in rock work. I have open sides, tunnels, caves, overhangs and arches. My yellow tang had a great appetite and coloring. I also have a hippo tang, doing fine. Let's face it, anytime you take a creature and cage it you are doing the wrong thing for the fish. Ocean vs tank. You pick.

 

[Kworker]

Responded to this Quote, than realized it was from 2013..

You guys at Reef2Reef like stirring the pot, huh?

 

[DragKnee]

I have a Blue Hippo in my 80g (4ft) tank.

She's still very young, had her for the last 6+ months now, I got her when she was just a baby, smaller than a dime. Poor thing had a rough life, came to me with ich and she was put in a 5g QT tank. But she was a fighter, there were issues with that QT tank that should've killed the healthiest of fish - things I did wrong, but she made it through and for the last 6 months, has been growing and eating very good in the 80g.

Yeah, I'm fully aware there will be a time she'll get too big, but that's a long ways away. She has a very funny personality.

 

[aleah88]

I don't understand why everyone bashes Petco. NOT ALL PETCO's are bad!!! My local Petco has a very knowledgable aquatic specialist who has 3 huge salt tanks at home. Their GM has 2 150g at home. Their tanks in the store are always spotless and fish are very healthy. They are so helpful and always have given me good advice. Whenever I bring in a water sample they always test it three times to make sure to get an accurate reading. NEVER recommends chemicals. Give them a break people I know there are some bad ones out there but it's like that everywhere.

 

[Kworker]

I don't understand why everyone bashes Petco. NOT ALL PETCO's are bad!!! My local Petco has a very knowledgable aquatic specialist who has 3 huge salt tanks at home. Their GM has 2 150g at home. Their tanks in the store are always spotless and fish are very healthy. They are so helpful and always have given me good advice. Whenever I bring in a water sample they always test it three times to make sure to get an accurate reading. NEVER recommends chemicals. Give them a break people I know there are some bad ones out there but it's like that everywhere.

People bash Petco because its the majority, not some of the stores that are awful. One can also argue that there is something Petco can do to help with that but don't care since they profit regardless. I have seen local owned stores that are just as bad, if not worse than a Petco. However, since Petco is large Corporation it obviously gets a lot of national negativity since they're essentially everywhere.

 

[DMan]

While I agree with the tank sizes for larger Tangs, heres an experience I had with a beautiful Blonde Naso Tang. I had him since before his colors even started showing for about 3 years in a 90gal (4 foot) tank. I started feeling guilty that he should be rehoused in a bigger tank so i found a good home for him in a 300 gal tank. He was dead within 6 months. The new owner had a power outage and didnt have any kind of back up and lost everything. It kinda irked me as I still wonder if I had kept him he might still be alive. But I still would have felt guilty keeping such a beauty cooped up in such a small(ish) tank. I also realize the irony that if I hadnt got him in the first place I would not have had to deal with this guilt and ultimate demise of my buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D6RzbVDuT8

some memories of Blondie.

 

[maroun.c]

I've had my Hippo, pair of yellows and a purple since 2007-2008. They were doing Ok in my 5ft 150G tank but I must say they're different in the 400G tank now.They're putting on more size now especially the Hippo as I allow myself to feed more in a larger more filtered tank. Their swimming patterns have changed and I enjoy seeing them swim the length of the tank much more. Territoriality is less pronounced as I was able to introduce an Achiles and there wasn't a single nip at him (got the video to prove it at Least to myself as I still can't believe it) have added a yellow eye kole tang and it swims much less as it jumps from a rock to another grazing so would agree in it not needing larger tanks.
I might still add a Naso but have my doubts if I can have a Sailfin as I have a very nice Red Sea one in the basement tank.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I'll bump this just for the sake of argument.