What tang for my 30G?

[SAT]

The moderators and staff of Reef Central are tired of squabbles about whether it's OK to put a tang in a small tank or whether it's OK to have multiple tangs in any tank. As a reminder:

Here at Reef Central, we believe that dialogs between participants should be conducted in a friendly and helpful manner. If you disagree with a posting, please express yourself in a way that is conducive to further constructive dialog. Conversely, when you post on any given subject, you must be willing to accept constructive criticism without posting a hostile or inflammatory response. Personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Please let’s work to insure that Reef Central remains a friendly and flame free site where everyone, especially newcomers, can feel free to post questions without fear of being unfairly criticized. Thank you for your cooperation.

If you think someone is getting out of line, please report the post to the moderators. Do not attempt to take matters into your own hands.

For newcomers we offer the following advice. This is not intended to be the last word in tang keeping, but we suggest you should challenge this advice only if you have a good basis for doing so:

1. Tangs are not good choices for newly set up aquaria. To thrive they need a stable environment with pristine water conditions. Anyone thinking their newly set up aquarium is stable is invited to read through the following thread:
Maturity Issues

2. Tangs are medium to large, active fish that need plenty of space. On the question of tank sizes, we defer to Scott W. Michael, who recommends the following minimum sizes in Marine Fishes, 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species, Microcosm Ltd., 1999:[list=a][*]Acanthurus achilles, Achilles Surgeonfish, 100 gal (380l).[*]Acanthurus coeruleus, Atlantic Blue Tang, 75 gal (285l).[*]Acanthurus japonicus, Powder Brown Tang, 75 gal (285l).[*]Acanthurus leucosternon, Powder Blue Tang, 100 gal (380l).[*]Acanthurus lineatus, Lined or Clown Surgeonfish, 180 gal (680l).[*]Acanthurus nigricans, Whitecheek Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).[*]Acanthurus olivaceus, Orangeshoulder Surgeonfish, 135 gal (510l).[*]Acanthurus pyroferus, Mimic Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).[*]Acanthurus sohal, Sohal Surgeonfish, 180 gal (680l).[*]Acanthurus tristegus, Convict Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).[*]Acanthurus tristis, Indian Mimic Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).[*]Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, Chevron Tang, 100 gal (380l).[*]Ctenochaetus strigosus, Kole's Tang, 75 gal (285l).[*]Naso brevirostris, Spotted Unicornfish, 180 gal (685l).[*]Naso lituratus, Orangespine Unicornfish or Naso Tang, 135 gal (510l).[*]Naso unicornis, Bluespine Unicornfish, 200 gal (760l).[*]Paracanthurus hepatus, Pacific Blue Tang, 100 gal (380l).[*]Zebrasoma desjardinii, Indian Ocean or Red Sea Sailfin Tang, 135 gal (510l).[*]Zebrasoma flavescens, Yellow Tang, 75 gal (285l).[*]Zebrasoma scopas, Brown Tang, 75 gal (285l).[*]Zebrasoma veliferum, Sailfin Tang, 135 gal (510l).[*]Zebrasoma xanthurum, Purple Tang, 100 gal (380l).[/list=a]
You will note that none of these minimum sizes are less than 75 gallons. If you have a tang in a smaller tank, you should expect that some people will give you a hard time about it. Expressing outrage about that could result in suspension of your posting privileges. We are not, BTW, giving a free pass to the self-styled "Tang Police" to be abusive.

3. The above sizes assume a standard rectangular shape with plenty of open swimming space. If your tank is full to the brim with coral, your tang won't be happy. Tanks 125G or larger are assumed to be at least six feet long (approx. two meters). Where possible, choose longer rather than deeper shapes. While smaller species may be OK in a four foot tank, they will probably do better in a five foot or longer tank.

4. We do not condone the practice of keeping more than one specimen of the same or very similar species together in the same aquarium, except possibly for Zebrasoma species in a very large tank.

5. If you wish to keep multiple dissimilar tangs in the same aquarium, we recommend you have an aquarium significantly larger than the sizes listed above.

If you are an experienced aquarist with something constructive to add, please feel free to comment on this topic. However, stating an inflamatory opinion just to get a reaction is considered a violation of the RC User Agreement.

[DrBDC]

[Swimfins]

I have a 65g tall (3 foot long) 24 inch tall tank. I just received a yellow tang that needed a place to live. I have about 30 pounds of lr and thus alot of swimming space and some low, small corals mushroom, polyps, zooas (for example). Is this ok? Or should I be looking for a better home for my yellow tang?[IMG]www.ImageShack.us" />[/IMG]

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Great thread!!
I want to add that this should apply to all large fish..Large Angels, Triggers , Butterflys etc....People have got to take into consideration the adult size of the fish they are placing in their tanks!
Research and learn about the fish you plan to keep and make sure you can provide these fish what they need to thrive!!
Again, great thread!

[DrBDC]

I think there are times you can get away with a slightly smaller tank depending on the species of tang. Yellow or Kole's come to mind. And even on those I don't think less than 55 if fair to the animal. And there are other times I think it can be ok. Such as if you are planning a larger tank and you have very very young/small ones. But it has to be a realistic upgrade plan and not some pie in the sky dream. In short, if you can't run out and get that bigger tank tomorrow don't do it. You can't be waiting on winning a lottery or hoping for a promotion before you can afford to buy it because it doesn't always happen. JMO

[Swimfins]

Well, nice thread ya.
My tang is doing fine, hunting and pecking and eating so I'll be my own judge here and say so far so good.
I expected more from this thread. Its easy to lay down laws, but not to make exceptions to the rule.
I don't think my zebrasoma flavescens gives a hoot that I short changed him 10g of water. I don not intend to add more fish. If I did: Hit me with a hammer, cause I deserve it.
Its a matter of common sense.
You can overstock on small fish (like those cheap and evil damsels ) as much as you can on large fish. Its a matter of common sense and good fishkeeping practices in the end.

[Confooseld]

Originally posted by Swimfins
Well, nice thread ya.
My tang is doing fine, hunting and pecking and eating so I'll be my own judge here and say so far so good.
I expected more from this thread. Its easy to lay down laws, but not to make exceptions to the rule.
I don't think my zebrasoma flavescens gives a hoot that I short changed him 10g of water. I don not intend to add more fish. If I did: Hit me with a hammer, cause I deserve it.
Its a matter of common sense.
You can overstock on small fish (like those cheap and evil damsels ) as much as you can on large fish. Its a matter of common sense and good fishkeeping practices in the end.

The whole thing is for now and yes you are right 10G of water doesn't make a difference it's the shape of the tank that does. Right now it's probably small and is doing fine your 3ft long tank but eventually it will grow and reach the point where it is either going to do one of two things neither of which are good.
a)stop at about 6inches stunted
b)keep going and die of stress
Basically yes you are right it will be fine so long as you use common sense. But you're wrong in my opinion if you think a 3ft tank is suitable for a future 8inch fish just because it has that useless height and comes close to being the min 75 gallons.(which is also too small in my opinion)

[Swimfins]

Some people say its fine and purists like to argue...no.
I just wanted to hear pro's and cons. The fish is not juvenile at already 6 inches.
I don't find the 'top space' useless as I see today that he swims at all levels and is all over the tank. Up and down and through and around the rocks. Maybe in a longer tank they are encouraged by the space to swim back and forth so I agree tank shape has alot of input.
As usual, when I bought the fish I asked about minimum tank size and was told 55g, but I figured that was incorrect. But of course he was just so darned pretty!

Many thanks, I was wanting a response to this before I left for work today, to ease my mind a bit,so excuse me for getting a bit snarky.

DrBDC: You've eased my mind to a degree, I will try awhile and see and if probs, I'll do whats best for him. I also will keep rock at low profile so to allow more swimming area. Thanks again.

[SAT]

Originally posted by Swimfins
I expected more from this thread. Its easy to lay down laws, but not to make exceptions to the rule.

The purpose of this thread is twofold. First is to try and head off some of the sqabbles that every tang thread seems to generate. We're tired of it and I'm sure you're tired of it too.

Second is to provide some guidance to newcomers on best practices when keeping tangs. There is no intent here to lay down laws and you are free to make your own decisions on how to keep your fish.

For the benefit of newcomers, I want to make one point clear: Regardless of how successful Swimfins might be on keeping his tang in a small tank, he does it without the endorsement of the moderators of this forum. Our recommendation remains that a yellow tang should be in at least a 4' long 75G tank.

[DrBDC]

That's probably a good point to close the thread on and sticky it.