Blue Regal Growth Rates

[WI reefer55]

come on man I got a hippo in my 58gal 36x18

Its about 2.5 - 3"

Ive had it for a year and and its grow about 1"

125 is more than enough for a 2" tang even a 8" tang is fine and for a regal to go from 2" to 8" would prolly take 4 to 6 years....

 

[Toddrtrex]

come on man I got a hippo in my 58gal 36x18

Its about 2.5 - 3"

Ive had it for a year and and its grow about 1"

125 is more than enough for a 2" tang even a 8" tang is fine and for a regal to go from 2" to 8" would prolly take 4 to 6 years....

If your has only grown 1 inch in a year, there is something seriously wrong with it, and/or the tank that it is in.

Where are you getting that it will take 4-6 years to go from 2" to 8" ??

 

[spieszak]

I saw a paper on lifespans of yellow's...is there really no one out there publishing on growth rates? Seems with all the research that is going on as far as trying to ban collection and damages to the reef's that would be something worth looking at... (I haven't searched or whatever, just find it odd that something doesn't exist...)

 

[snorvich]

I saw a paper on lifespans of yellow's...is there really no one out there publishing on growth rates? Seems with all the research that is going on as far as trying to ban collection and damages to the reef's that would be something worth looking at... (I haven't searched or whatever, just find it odd that something doesn't exist...)

There are several reasons why not. First there is little incentive to publish data for aquarium housing of animals. And of course the variables such as tank size, feeding rate, feeding type, feeding amount, etc, etc, ad nauseum makes a difference. If you are not getting exceptional growth rates in young fish that reach a substantial size, you simply are not housing them properly, feeding them properly, or feeding them frequently enough. In the wild, fish feed constantly even though food may or may not be available to them. In aquaria, they are dependent on aquarist experience/knowledge and other variables such as an aquarist propensity to provide the best food frequently enough. The OP wants to do what he wants to do. My job is to provide advice which he can choose to ignore. Nothing here says you have to do what is suggested.

 

[snorvich]

I respect the opinions of snorvich very much but as more if a scientific person

Why would you think I was NOT a scientific person? In any case see the post above for the reason that the information you see can not be provided. That is also why you see anecdotal evidence that varies so widely.

 

[scionreefing]

Yes I know there have been many threads on this, but I am not finding specific info on it. Most of the time I read "It grows very fast", I honestly don't know how fast is very fast. I will be honest with you guys that I am guilty of wanting to put a blue hippo tang(hepatus) in my 125. I do find it hard to believe that a fish would grow from 3/4" to 7-8" in say 7-12 months. That seems pretty far fetched, for a fish that lives a fairly long time. I would more or less understand that growth if it lived for two years. My plan was to buy about a 1/2" blue hippo for my 125 and move it to my 240+ upgrade within the next three years. Local people have said that it should be fine as well as another forum(will not mention, no source is better than the other and I am looking for an overall view at this. You can't do a science experiment once and say that it works or doesn't work. So need multiple sources for this before I do this). So please give me your experience, starting size, end size, and length of time it took for the growth. Pics would be amazing if you have them!

I think your plan is fine. You don't put an infant in a king size crib. I know ill catch flak but its my honest opinion.

Raffle grabber

 

[snorvich]

I think your plan is fine. You don't put an infant in a king size crib. I know ill catch flak but its my honest opinion.

Raffle grabber

And you base this based on two years experience with a nano?

 

[hvacman250]

Since you asked, here's my experience:

In a 220 gallon 6x2x30"high, I have 3 tangs; a tomini bristletooth, a blueline, and a regal.

The tomini has grown from ~2.5" to maybe 3" in 8 months.
The regal has minimal growth (enough to where I cant visibly tell) in 8 months. Started at ~5".
The blueline has grown maybe 1/2" in 8 months. Started at about 5" also.
I added these 3 tangs after I upgraded from a 100 to a 220.

I'm by NO MEANS an expert, but I think they grow very slow. I keep a lightly stocked tank IMO. I have 3 smaller tangs plus about 8 other small fish (small wrasses, pair of clowns, cardinals, goby, etc) so I am definately not crowding them.

I'm not advocating putting a tang in a tank too small while you wait for an upgrade, just stating my growth with 3 tangs. Although some feel a regal my 6 footer is a no-no. I nursed him back to health as a return from the LFS though. If he outgrows my tank, I will gladly rehome him if I have to drive across the country to do so. That or build a monster tank

 

[Reefing Newbie]

There are a lot of different experiences. BTW snorvich, by scientific I was thinking a degree in biology or marine biology. Interesting post above seeing that the tanks have grown so little in 8 months. How much are you guys feeding with the slower growing tangs?

My final stock list will be in my build thread with opinions. I will opt out of the regal tang and either get a pyarmid butterfly, some other tang, or get 3-4 smaller fish.

 

[snorvich]

There are a lot of different experiences. BTW snorvich, by scientific I was thinking a degree in biology or marine biology.

Well since you do not have a degree in biology and i do, (along with 8 years of post graduate education) I don't understand your point.

My final stock list will be in my build thread with opinions. I will opt out of the regal tang and either get a pyarmid butterfly, some other tang, or get 3-4 smaller fish.

Pyramid butterfly fish are excellent.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I didn't realize you had a degree in biology, sorry for that. I have biology as my science class this year and I find it very easy. Ecology and biology are my strong points. In fact so strong that I am thinking of becoming a marine biologist, but leaning towards sports medicine as a physician so I can earn the money for my dream tank adventure! Extremely sorry for my recent stubborness, but what is RC for? It definantly helps you make the right choices. The final two additions are about a year out depending on how fast my tank cycles when it is set up in the next two weeks. I like the pyarmid butterfly as well, are they okay alone I have only seen them in small groups...

 

[snorvich]

I like the pyarmid butterfly as well, are they okay alone I have only seen them in small groups...

I have them as a group of 4 in a 240 gallon tank. I cannot tell if they are mating, but they get along fine. One should be fine as well. One of the most reef safe butterfly fish.

 

[snorvich]

By the way Kyle, while the biology stuff is fun, what you really need to learn is statistics. By the kind of questions you are asking you need to learn how to discern causal relationships (or lack thereof) using multiple regression.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I don't think I am going to make it to stats in high school at least. The way my plan is looking I wi be doing calc senior year I may do stats instead though. I may have to go to college in Illinois lol just to see your tanks, they sound amazing! Where did you get your degree in biology?

 

[spieszak]

There are several reasons why not. First there is little incentive to publish data for aquarium housing of animals. And of course the variables such as tank size, feeding rate, feeding type, feeding amount, etc, etc, ad nauseum makes a difference. If you are not getting exceptional growth rates in young fish that reach a substantial size, you simply are not housing them properly, feeding them properly, or feeding them frequently enough. In the wild, fish feed constantly even though food may or may not be available to them. In aquaria, they are dependent on aquarist experience/knowledge and other variables such as an aquarist propensity to provide the best food frequently enough. The OP wants to do what he wants to do. My job is to provide advice which he can choose to ignore. Nothing here says you have to do what is suggested.

I was referring to studies on growth rate in the wild, not aquariums... I wouldn't think "captive" animal growth rates would be worth much to anyone, since we would all prefer to be as close to possible to the values presented by that type of study... (I could have read the origin al wrong...I didn't think the" studies" part was asking about growth in aquaria)

 

[snorvich]

I don't think I am going to make it to stats in high school at least. The way my plan is looking I wi be doing calc senior year I may do stats instead though. I may have to go to college in Illinois lol just to see your tanks, they sound amazing! Where did you get your degree in biology?

Johns Hopkins then Vanderbilt. (Majors were biology math and physics undergrad) Graduate school at University of Chicago.

 

[snorvich]

I was referring to studies on growth rate in the wild, not aquariums... I wouldn't think "captive" animal growth rates would be worth much to anyone, since we would all prefer to be as close to possible to the values presented by that type of study... (I could have read the origin al wrong...I didn't think the" studies" part was asking about growth in aquaria)

The OP was asking about growth rates in aquaria. Which has an incredible number of dependent variables. Actually I wish there were studies in aquaria but there is little scientific value in their publication.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Maybe if I do an undergrad in marine biology I could do official studies on it, but that is a few years out.

 

[hvacman250]

There are a lot of different experiences. BTW snorvich, by scientific I was thinking a degree in biology or marine biology. Interesting post above seeing that the tanks have grown so little in 8 months. How much are you guys feeding with the slower growing tangs?

My final stock list will be in my build thread with opinions. I will opt out of the regal tang and either get a pyarmid butterfly, some other tang, or get 3-4 smaller fish.

I think I feed pretty heavy. I am feeding alot to keep breeding clowns nourished.

A frozen bag of Rods lasts about a month (probably a teaspoon in the PM) with NLS pellets in the AM. 1/3 of the huge sheet of seaweed per day.

 

[spieszak]

I decided that I won't get it. I will simply replace the tang with a pyramid butterflyfish or several smaller fish. I think it would be nice to see what the actual growth rate of these fish are.

So, this is the part that i misunderstood, i guess i took it out of context... i'd like to see the aquaria studies too, but without comparative wild values, i'm not sure how much stock could be put in them. That and the "i have mine in a goldfish bowl" guy will still exist, regardless of the information available, which is well beyond sad for any fish, let alone one with the majesty of these tangs.