20+ year old tangs

[Timfish]

Short videos of 3 Zebrasoma sp tangs purchased in 1994.

Sailfin Tang, Z. veliferum http://youtu.be/x-Ycbwc7xnA
Yellow Tang, Z. flavescens http://youtu.be/eb9MbmygdjY
Purple Tang, Z. xanthurum http://youtu.be/GClHNbmDQiU

 

[GQuinn]

I take it these are your fish. They all look fat and healthy. Good Job. What size tank are they in?

 

[whosurcaddie]

Dude that is amazing! Must be very rewarding for you.

 

[tarl1089]

Outstanding. This is what I aspire to.

 

[Timfish]

Thank you ya'all! FYI they get fed New Life Spectrum Marine Pellets and occasionally some frozen food. They started off together in a 75 gallon tank that was upgraded to a 90 corner in 2000. The Yellow Tang is still in the 90 but the Purple has been moved to a 110 and the Sailfin has just recently been moved to a 8' long 240.

An interesting note on the Sailfin is it was very happy in the 90 corner. In fact, one of the more interesting behaviors it demonstrated was recognition of strangers and very typical display behavior trying to chase the "intruder" away. The reason for moving it was not that it was acting skittish being in such a small tank for it's size but that it was very dominate and it was impossible to keep the smaller fish fed properly without the Sailfin getting overweight. It also took an inordinately long time to adjust to the 240 which I attribute to the much higher foot traffic the 240 has in front of it. I don't know how anthropomorphic I'm being but I suspect it's because instead of having to chase an occasional "intruder" away it was having to deal with multiple "intruders" on a daily basis coupled with being in totally unfamiliar territory and being old enough it was set in it's ways.

 

[ca1ore]

Fascinating, and a job well done. You say they all date back to, 1994 was it? Were they all bought at the exact same time? if so, that must be a record for one purchase. Interesting that the sailfin has apparently maxed out at only 12". Hah, only! Somewhat smaller than the books say, though of course is a sample size of just one.

 

[DasCamel]

Good point.

Good point.

Fascinating, and a job well done. You say they all date back to, 1994 was it? Were they all bought at the exact same time? if so, that must be a record for one purchase. Interesting that the sailfin has apparently maxed out at only 12". Hah, only! Somewhat smaller than the books say, though of course is a sample size of just one.

Did some research on this, not unusual for fish to be less than max size and still be perfectly healthy. Just natural variation with some influence from its environment. I wish we had access to more stats regarding the deviation.

 

[johnike]

Very impressive, nice run.

 

[glaukos]

Welldone timfish!:thumbsup:
That's inspiring.

 

[badbrady06]

Impressive

 

[Fish_King_25]

Wow..incredible. Congrats! Beautiful Tangs!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Absolutely gorgeous, healthy fish! Congrats to you for such success!

 

[SS_Sean]

Wow! That yellow tang is a fatty-bo-batty!!

 

[SeargentSlice]

Great post awesome fish 20 years WOW gratz!!! Now that just goes to show minimum tank requirements on tangs is way off.

 

[hoooop54]

Congrats on your success. This was a great video to watch!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Congratulations on your success. Other than having good husbandry, what are your secrets

 

[desjardinii]

Great achievement, especially having three at that age.

 

[jBugg]

That's great!! Congrats on your success. Here's to 20+ more years.

 

[dpo]

That's awesome! Love seeing/reading stories like these. Great job!

 

[risin]

Nice. So I guess my sailfin is just a baby at 8 years. Do you recall when the sailfin stopped growing. Mine is only 7.5 inches long.