Tang tank size?

[The River Reef]

I love the look of various tang fish. I have a 56 gallon tank and didn't buy a tang because I read the require allot of space to live healthy... I have seen several tanks on this and other sites with tangs in biocube 29 tanks. I recently noticed on the Oceanic website they show a small hippo tang in the 14 gallon system. And a yellow tang in the 29. Then I watched a video of a hippo and yellow tang in the same 29 gallon biocube. What gives? Isn't this very unhealthy for this type of fish?

 

[Turbosnail]

Yes tangs need space. I would say 75g up.

 

[BoArDwAxStYlE]

Ohh man did you open up a can of fish food.
Wait for the tang police to chime in and hand out justice on this one. hahaha
I have a yellow tang in a 72. However he is not huge and i dont have a massive amount of rockwork. Just a few piles and an arch. So lots of open space for swimming, yet plenty of rocks to hide it and around.
Most tangs do need lots of space though. I wouldnt put a tang in anything smaller than a 72. Even a tiny tang, will eventually become a large tang.Unless upgrades are planned in tank size I wouldnt do it.

 

[kingfish62]

Even though i am guilty of trying to keep a tang in a 55g. I would not recommend it I lost two on seperate occasions after about 6 months. When I think back I truely believe it was from the small tank size stressing them. Besides there are plenty of other cool fish that you can keep in your size tank.

 

[The River Reef]

I wouldn't try it, but was kinda upset to see Oceanic advertising them housed in their biocubes... It is a nice goal to have a large tank and go get my first tang.

 

[kingfish62]

LOL, I just saw that same ad recently and had to laugh !

 

[danzig]

a vietnamese nail spa in the mall near me has a tang about 7'' in a 50 gallon cylinder tank thats full of fake coral, the tank is small enough to begin with and then it has no swimming room because of the fake rock and coral, pretty sad actually

 

[snowmaker]

IMO, It's fine to have a SMALL tang in a 3' long tank. You'll just have to trade it in in 2 or 3 years. I think my yellow and hippo were about 1/2 dollar size and I've seen them even smaller.

 

[The River Reef]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

This is the video of the 2 tangs in the biocube... I started a comment war and he is actually defending what he did... lol - Oh well, at least we try to teach people to treat animals properly...

 

[Kungfukid]

it depends.

I had both the blue and the yellow tang in my 58g for years without any problem.
After I sold my 58g tank, I transferred them to a 20g and they been doing great since (tank upgrade is in progress though).

You should be okay with a tang in a 3 feet long tank in my opinion

 

[The River Reef]

While the subject is up... what other fish are known to need space and are sometimes misplaced in a small tank? I also love seahorses, but have read they are hard to care for with feeding and are not very compatible with other fish.

 

[frank180reef]

sea horses are slow or timid eaters I believe
non dwarf angels need more room

 

[Owen386]

I am guilty of this. I have a YT in my 55 he is from my understanding couple years old came from a 29 BC seems to be really happy had him 6 months. I just needed to have one somewhat big fish he's about 3-4" . The tanks four feet... fat eats great always swimming never seems stressed.

 

[dannyp02908]

Besides the swimming room, tangs require a lot of disolved oxygen. Hard to do in a small tank. I'd say for a yellow, they can be had in smaller gallon tanks if they are the right shape and have a sump (falling water helps oxygenate it). A biocube? Pushing it.

 

[JohnK]

Small tanks don't outright kill tangs, they just increase the stress level for the fish a LOT. 5 humans could live for years in an elevator, but we wouldn't be very happy......

 

[asing]

Besides the swimming room, tangs require a lot of disolved oxygen. Hard to do in a small tank. I'd say for a yellow, they can be had in smaller gallon tanks if they are the right shape and have a sump (falling water helps oxygenate it). A biocube? Pushing it.

not even close to pushing it, its been pushed up and then over a rockface cliff. I forget the exact dims of the biocube but, i even felt it was cramped for my 2" or so wrasse. i do agree that tangs can be kept in smaller tanks, but I would say a 4ft min legnth. granted, I have never owned a tang, but since they are "swimmers" they do need the room to properly assimilate into the home aquarium

 

[Dfrontiero89]

I would say go for it. Get a yellow or kole tang. I had a yellow in a 55 for 2 years and it was in perfect health. Then I went on vacation and my dad thought it would be okay to use tap water to top off he tank and they all got ick and started to die one by one!

 

[jarrodsanborn]

kole or even better a tomini tang would do well in smaller rig, but i would still aim for 75g.......maybe a 55g but that is risky and isnt taking happiness and quality of life into the mix....

if you are going to push the limits, open swimming space, and less fish will help.

 

[dannyp02908]

A 55 is a 4 foot tank but only 12 inches deep. I had a yellow in a 40 breeder but he was a baby. When he got a bit bigger he went back to lfs. I would say 75 min for a smaller tang if you plan to keep it. I have a 5ft by 18in tank and sometimes wonder abt my yellow.

 

[roy]

yes you can have tang such as yellow or hippo in small tank but not for long term, I had a small sailfin tang in my 29 biocube and he was just fine for a little over a year, I have moved him into my 75 now and he is still just fine, people on here think you shouldn't have a tang unless you have a tank the size of the ocean. Good luck on your hobby and dont always listen to what you hear on this board.