eiblii imitation tang

[jklaw]

Hi,
My local pet store has an eiblii imitation tang. It looks remarkable. The LFS says that they stay small. However, I have found that they often don't really know what they're talking about. Do you know how big these get and if they might be appropriate for a 125 gallon reef.
Thanks,
John Kim

[Anthony Calfo]

A very neat fish... although not that uncommon in the wild. This fish is Acanthurus pyroferus and has more than a few dwarf angels that it mimics. Always use fishbase.org for a good first pass at researching a new fish. See here for some of the mimcis in this species:

http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.cfm?ID=4742

See here for general info (note the main page pic is not an Eibli mimic):

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=4742&genusname=Acanthurus&speciesname=pyroferus

Nonetheless... this fish is a tang that gets tang sized. Burgess pegs them at 8" (20 cm) as an adult... while fishbase.org cites 10" (25 cm). This is not a small fish. The LFS is mistaken... do suggest kindly to them that they encourage their employees to use the above website as a reference if their store has 'Net access. A good thing for eveybody.

Relatively reef safe though. No worse than a Purple tang or the like. Some tangs simpy do nip coral. I think this group is at least as likely to do so... so if you absolutely do not or cannot catch the fish in the display if you have to... skip it IMO.

Kind regards,

Anthony

[jklaw]

sir,
you are a fish god and i bow before you. i will try to tactfully tell the lfs they are mistaken. they're actually a pretty good bunch, they just generalize too much i think. also thanks for the resource, i shall add it to my favorites asap.
john kim

[Anthony Calfo]

always welcome my friend :)

no god either... rather an imp at times :p though

no worries on the lfs either. It will be good to hear if they embrace such resources for the edification of their staff and customers, but not a problem for you if not.

Being an educated consumer and asking question/researching before you buy (not after :p ) as you have done here is the best you can do. Kudos to you for it, my friend.

In fact, if every consumer did that (voting with their dollars as educated buyers) then it would not matter which lfs were good and which were bad... the bad would change or fail by virtue of lost sales/revenue from innapropriate species/advice.

Best of luck!

PS- I'm can't wait to see what the reef hobby is like in Alaska! :)