tangs in 55 gallon

BigJim · #1 09/13/2004, 01:47 PM

Are there any tangs that you can keep in a 55 gallon reef tank? I have 2 clowns, a flame angel, a royal gramma and plan on adding a 6 line wrasse.

JumboShrimp · #2 09/13/2004, 02:04 PM

No.

chevyII · #3 09/13/2004, 02:27 PM

No.

jiminy_crime · #4 09/13/2004, 02:49 PM

I had two juvenille tangs (yellow and regal) for a year but that was it. I would almost contend you tank is overloaded as it is without the tangs. Trust me, you will be very unhappy with your tank if you add much more to that small of a tank. I know from a hard lesson learned. There will be constant picking, bullying and fighting over food and territory. You will hate it, honest to God.

Stick with what you have for awhile and if you get restless and get the itch to change it up then take your fish and trade them in and go a whole different route. You will be much happier.

twriedel · #5 09/13/2004, 02:52 PM

YES I have a purple tang, with 2 clowns, a spotted cardinal, and a lawnmower blemmy in a 30 gal. reef for more than 6 mo. the are all verry helthy

chevyII · #6 09/13/2004, 02:56 PM

*sirens sirens sirens sirens sirens sirens sirens *

*alert alert alert*

*calling all tang police* *calling all tang police* *calling all tang police*

dendronepthya · #7 09/13/2004, 03:08 PM

No.

tdtiger · #8 09/13/2004, 03:13 PM

No.

wait....
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NO

speccialj922 · #9 09/13/2004, 03:20 PM

no. and anyone who tells you of thier "successes" is the exception, not the rule. this topic has been beaten to death, just check the search feature

esp read dgenr8's comments on the subject. no reputable author has/will ever say that a 55g is acceptable for any tang.

sjvl51 · #10 09/13/2004, 03:27 PM

The rule of thumb (that nobody likes to use but is still a good guide) is 1 inch of adult fish (without the tail) to 5 gallons of water. This does NOT take into account territory requirements and/or swimming requirements. This takes into account the amount of oxygen that the fish need. If you use a skimmer (increases the amount of oxygen in the water) or a sump (increases the amount of water in the system) you can push the limit.

Tangs are known as active fish. In other words they like to be swimming all the time. They need room to swim - for most a minimum of a 4 ft tank is recommended. Because they are active fish, they also have a higher oxygen requirement. Some tangs are territorial which means to be happy/relaxed they need more space without any other fish/competitors. All these factors are against you keeping a tang in a 55 gallon tank.

I have a flame angel with a powder brown tang. Both are not full grown and I have another tank that is in the process of being set up. The tang will stay in my 90 and the flame angel will move to the 60.

There are some territory issues that crop up now and then - the tang is bigger so usually comes out the boss. There are times when either or both will pace back and forth across the tank. Both signs that they are not happy.

It is your tank and you must make the decision. I would not recommend adding a tang (the power brown is considered one of the smaller ones) to your present tank.

JMO

Vickie

tanker · #11 09/13/2004, 03:44 PM

I would say no---but. My yellow was in a 100gal for 3 years before I moved. Had to put him in the 55 for about 8 months (but he was only fish in there (sorry and a flame angel). He is now in a 75. He looked and acted happy (swimming, eatting, comes out to see me) during that time. But I do recommend bigger tanks for tangs.

Aquaman · #12 09/13/2004, 03:49 PM

as you have no doubt figured out by this time the general consensus is that a 55 gallon tank is not large enough to house a tang. They need good swimming room that larger tanks provide.

dieselfish · #13 09/13/2004, 04:36 PM

I dont know if the problem is the size of the tank so much as it is allready overloaded.

So, No

If you had only the clowns , sure one tang is fine.

nyfireman3097 · #14 09/13/2004, 04:48 PM

yellow tangs are fine for 55 also with a light load a kole tang
Nick

JumboShrimp · #15 09/13/2004, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by twriedel
YES I have a purple tang, with 2 clowns, a spotted cardinal, and a lawnmower blemmy in a 30 gal. reef for more than 6 mo. the are all verry helthy

UHHHH i dont mean to flame but WHAT THE @*#(!!??? you cannot keep a tang in a 30 gallon tank!!!??? You relize this dont you???

JumboShrimp · #16 09/13/2004, 04:54 PM

srry that was out of place, but seriously... you cant keep him in a 30 gallon.

GoldenEel · #17 09/13/2004, 05:18 PM

I checked out a tank that a guy was selling on craigslist-16 bowfront- turned out he had a purple tang and a threadfin ion a 16gal the tang looked mean as hell--go kick his A@* --jumbo!

bulldog12 · #18 09/13/2004, 05:24 PM

NO

JumboShrimp · #19 09/13/2004, 05:32 PM

ugh god whats the world coming to?? poor fishys...

speccialj922 · #20 09/13/2004, 05:37 PM

"yellow tangs are fine for 55 also with a light load a kole tang"

where did you come across this info? the only place that will list a 55g or less as adequate for a tang is going to be a website that is trying to sell them. not to be any offense, but i see that you have been in this hobby since february, Scott Michael, who studies fish for a living, lists that the 2 tangs you mentioned need at least a 75g tank. now that may not seem like much of a difference (especially since they are both 4ft tanks), but 20g is nearly 1/3 of a 55g tank. it is much less confining.

back to the original post, a tang in your tank would be unwise due to its size as well as your bio load.

der_wille_zur_macht · #21 09/13/2004, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JumboShrimp
ugh god whats the world coming to??

From the looks of this thread, the world is coming to a big "jump on the tang police bandwagon" party.

onefin · #22 09/13/2004, 05:53 PM

Hi, i would have to go along with everyone on this and say no. i have a 75 gallon with a hippo tang i got it the size of a quarter very soon i have to find a good home for him and its hard saying goodby to a fish you had for a while, i won't do this again these fish grow fast and need lots of swimming room, my hippo has been a great fish and its hard saying goodby, so i won't put myself or the fish in this position again. good luck whatever you decide.

medicine · #23 09/13/2004, 06:02 PM

its your tank, if you would like a yellow tang in it i say go for it. your gonna hear mixed opinions from everyone. but it all comes down to what you want in your tank. if you like the fish and can care for it properly. go for it.

/insert tang police comments below

nyfireman3097 · #24 09/13/2004, 06:33 PM

sorry but if you read it it says this tank in feb i have been in the hobby for 5 years and have read tons of books and one of my marine fish book says 55 gallon like ur experince says 1+ so please reframe from that type of talk to people just because someone is in this hobby for x amount of time does not mean much now a days there are so many books and sites that people can read and learn from i find myself reading more on this hobby then i have read all together my whole life i have spent more money on books then my tank i print and read new stuff on corals fish parameters and whatnot everyday and read it once again if you do not think im right then DO NOT DO IT were all here to help and learn not to have sarcastic remarks towards people that might have diffrent opinoins on things thanx
Nick

speccialj922 · #25 09/13/2004, 06:54 PM

true, i dont have 10 years in the hobby, but i did quote a source... one that many believe to be quite reliable... i did not mean to offend. just trying to put out there,way more often than not that even in the most favorable of condtions most tangs will not fare well in a 55g (for any significant amount of time).