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I know lolIt was sarcasm. Lol
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I know lolIt was sarcasm. Lol
Exactly.I have a yellow tang. I always wanted tangs. I have 6 now. I got a 240 gallon tank.
I have a 100 pound dog. I always wanted a 100 pound dog. I got a large fenced yard and I have a 100 pound dog.
There are horses all over the place kept in tiny mud lots. It makes the news when they are taken.
If you want to do it I am fine with that. Don't expect me to say it is okay.
That the fish in his tank are suffering a cruel fate. In re reading I may have misunderstood which tank you were referring too.
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. I suspected that after I reread your post. My bad.Hey @jrill - i was referencing the 2 freshwater aquarium illustrated in S2Gs post.
Your making an incorrect assumption about me.
It wasn't a question of ethical treatment, happiness, nor JUSTIFICATION. It was health and in that regard yes it's true. A soul won't post pics anymore for obvious reasons but there was no shortage of healthy extra large fish in tanks with barely enough room to move. That's where a lot of complex filtration originated. Koi ponds were another area where that was going on. It took near constant water changes but people did it.
Here's another dirty secret. When a lot of those redtail cats got too big people ate them.
As for me i don't find that enjoyable but I've had a tank similar to the one below out of ignorance. I maintained water quality with a drip system, backflush capable bead filter, and nitrate eating plants. Most would consider the fish cramped but they reached adult size in record time with no illnesses so most would consider that healthy.
I wish you would have provided some evidence.... since you are a science based reefer. Note - this is not a 'slam' - but merely a question - I've read the science - I see little evidence for anything in science - expect for the fact that perhaps we should n't own reef tanks at all.
Hi @MnFish1 - it certainly seems like a slam - as the "question" you are posing does not exist. And, "wish"ing for evidence i eluded to is not there.
There is a lot of grey area in this discussion, but i hope you would agree (and not need evidence) that we can safely draw the "line" where fish are unable to swim without touching one another, or turn around in the Aquarium without touching the front and back of the Aquarium at the same time.
We've all read the post where folks go ballistic when someone shows a yellow tang in a tank they think is too small. I was just wondering if there have been any studies that have shown a decline in health or well being to a tang living in a well cared for smaller tank? Say a 20 long for example.
And no I'm not considering a tang purchase nor do I have a 20 long saltwater tank.
I’ve had a fairly large regal in a 90 gallon for 4 years. Seems happy and health.Hi, good question would also like to know if there is anyone out there that’s still or had a lipstick tang or hippo tang in a 400 litre (about 88 gallons) reef tank it measures 4ft x 22” x 2ft ( LxWxD) successful without going bigger, I hear that the minimum tank length would have to be 6ft. It would be a shame when they reach their full size you would have to replace them again.
most people here (I dont think) are talking about keeping tangs in an 20 gallon tank(long or not).As someone who owned a Yellow Tang that was roughly 4 inches in size (considered about half it's max potential size) I cannot fathom how it would be possible to keep a tang for even a year or more in a 20 gallon long as there are just too many things working against you no matter how well you care for the tank.
1) It's max size and height exceeds a 20 gallon long in every respect (as a fish even 6-8 inches in length would have no real swimming room in a 30 inch long tank) and it's actually taller than it is long.
2) Long before it reaches anywhere near that max size, it would be cramped due to the fact that it is a very active open water swimmer by nature. Unlike many other fish, they don't stake out a set turf on a reef and stick to it, they swim miles between reefs on a regular basis.
3) Yellow Tangs can be quite aggressive and if there aren't other fish of similar temperament and size to keep their attitude in check they can be nasty bullies to other fish, and given the extremely cramped size of the 20 Long, it is highly likely to be cramped and not have room for another fish to keep it's attitude in check
4) Tangs poop like crazy and even 1 would be a very high bioload for a tank that small. My 4 inch YT could fill an entire corner of my 90 gallon with poop 3-4x per day and my system has the benefit of a 29 gallon sump, large filter sock and good sized in sump protein skimmer to help deal with this. Unless you are adding a sump of roughly the same size as the 20 Long (or larger) you aren't going to get anywhere near that level of filtration to be able to deal with something as dirty as a Tang of any kind.
5) As mentioned I had a Yellow Tang about 4 inches in size in my 90 gallon tank and for the first month it was fine. After the first month however I noticed a torn fin on my coral beauty dwarf angel and periodic white "scratch" marks on the Coral Beauty. I couldn't figure out what was going on until one day I noticed my Yellow Tang back up to it and slap it with it's tail scalpel and BAM a new white scratch appeared on the Coral Beauty. I also observed it doing shadow and intimidation behavior on my Melanurus Wrasse (never dared slap the Melanurus though as the Melanurus was not afraid to go after it's tail). Was the Yellow Tang stressed? I can't be certain. Were it's tank mates stressed with it in there? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The point is that if was my experience with a Yellow Tang that wasn't especially large in a 90 gallon, how on earth is someone going to keep one of any size for even a year in a 20 gallon and hope that neither it or it's tank mates are going to be stressed?
Folks are going to justify in their minds that their tang(s) are happy in whatever size tank they have them in. You're not going to change their minds.
Tangs are open water fish and need the room to swim.
Here are two mini stories of my experiences that helped me realize:
1. A local reefer had a 12 foot tank, and I sat there in amazement watching the tangs zoom back and forth at full speed, and thought to myself, "there's a happy tang." Once you see tangs in open water (long tanks), you can appreciate their need and enjoyment to swim with speed.
2. I was involved in knocking down a 450 gallon tank that had a full grown sailfin (enormous) and three of the largest yellow tangs I ever saw. As we prepared to pull out the fish, I commented to the others there that that tank is too small for that sailfin....and we all agreed. The tank just looked small in comparison to the size of the fish.
His tank is still way too small for tangs.I agree. I wish we could all have a tank like @Hedgedrew !