Clown Tang

[Finsky]

Friday night I introduced a 4" Clown tang into my tank with the lights out after feeding the tank for five minutes to calm everybody down. I also have a Powder Blue tang which is the "official" initiator of all new introducties. The last fish I introduced into the tank was a Vlamingi tang, seven months ago. It dodged the Powder Blue 4 1/2" and within a day all my tangs were skimming togeather like best friends.

The Clown stayed in the back left corner of the tank under the outputs of the canister filters with occasional voyages to the right side of the tank. It exchanged biting behaviors and a few occasional half hearted tail flashes with the Powder Blue. This Sunday morning before the actinics came on, the Clown tang was swimming around with all my tangs as if they were best friends. The big thing will be to get it to eat which I am hoping will follow its acceptance into the tang community. Saturday evening I used the dispersal feeding method with the two 3,250 gph Hydor 8s and protein skimmer turned off. The Clown tang came out of its corner to sniff/eat a few tid bits which I take as a good sign from priod new fish acclimations.

I have red seaweed and green seaweed cutup with scissors into approximately 1/8 inch size which I them feed like flakes.

 

[snorvich]

That fish combination in your tank is irresponsible.

 

[Finsky]

I was hoping for some feeding tips. I did not start this thread to receive Richie Rich type comments.

I am not Richie Rich and use my gut instinct to manage my tank with affordable yet good filters and lights and water quality along with fish who get along from Drs. F & S and I live in an apartment.

 

[Toddrtrex]

I was hoping for some feeding tips. I did not start this thread to receive Richie Rich type comments.

I am not Richie Rich and use my gut instinct to manage my tank with affordable yet good filters and lights and water quality along with fish who get along from Drs. F & S and I live in an apartment.

That wasn't a "Richie Rich" comment. It was a comment about the 3 tangs that you have in your 120 --- 2 of which will outgrow it in time. Plus, a clown tang is the 2nd meanest tang and will most likely cause you lots of headaches.

 

[robin coggan]

got my new fish

got my new fish

Clown tangs are beautiful fish but they get too big for my tank i hope u have good luck with the fish

 

[bozler]

The personality my Lineatus was vastely different in a four foot tank than he is now in a six foot tank. He was over active and constantly looking for a fight. Btw he wasn't mine when he was in the four footer. In a six footer he is calm and gets along with my OST. As far as food mine is picky. He will nip at all the foods I offer but never goes crazy. He's always picking at the rocks however. Normally I would think this was a problem but he stays nice and fat. One thing you might try is the clams on halfshells. Seems to be up their alley for picking. I like to offer one filled with Selcon from time to time( A little trick my LFS taught me)

Good luck, but I think this fish is better suited for a six foot or larger tank. If I had to guess in time the Lineatus will take out you Vlmangi. Or the Lineatus might never get adapted well and sucom to ich. Ohh the other thing is mine was dipped before adding him. These fish are ich magnets.

 

[Wolverine]

That wasn't a "Richie Rich" comment. It was a comment about the 3 tangs that you have in your 120 --- 2 of which will outgrow it in time. Plus, a clown tang is the 2nd meanest tang and will most likely cause you lots of headaches.

On top of that, sometimes they just never start feeding well, or, if they do, they don't do well anyway for some reason.

 

[Eric the half-bee]

Clown is a tough fish to keep. Snorvich is right on your stocking. That vlamingi will need a new home in a year probably. Mine is 9" in a 400gal and I may have erred as well.

 

[sanchoy]

Either way good luck, let us know how it goes.. I always wanted a clown tang, but my sohal in mine will tear him up.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

You have three tangs in a smallish tank (for tangs), two of them are known as being an aggressive species (clown and PB), two of them get huge (clown and Vlamingi), this is a time bomb waiting to go off and it will, sooner or later. Clown tangs as has been stated in this thread are notorious for being both aggressive and very hard to keep in the long term. They will get very large and as they grow their attitude does not get better with age. They have been known to kill tankmates (especially big ones) and have the weapons to do it. To be perfectly honest even your PBT needs a tank bigger than a 120 long term IMO.

 

[snorvich]

You have three tangs in a smallish tank (for tangs), two of them are known as being an aggressive species (clown and PB), two of them get huge (clown and Vlamingi), this is a time bomb waiting to go off and it will, sooner or later. Clown tangs as has been stated in this thread are notorious for being both aggressive and very hard to keep in the long term. They will get very large and as they grow their attitude does not get better with age. They have been known to kill tankmates (especially big ones) and have the weapons to do it. To be perfectly honest even your PBT needs a tank bigger than a 120 long term IMO.

Exactly. I have seen a Vlamingi in a 1000 gallon tank and it was about right. PBT definitely need larger (longer actually) tanks, and Clown tangs should be left in the ocean.

 

[bozler]

This is true. A very big part of keeping a lineatus is having a big enough space to do so. IME more than any other tang (well maybe a sohal too) this one needs plenty of unobsyructed swim space. This will help to calm it down a bit. They are hyper territorial and will defend their space to the death. I would have never even considered such a fish if I didn't have a 10 ft tank in the works.... And no I'm not rich, by any stretch of the imagination. I wish you luck but I have a hard time belivin you will have long term success with that fish. You'll see issues. I've been keeping large tangs for many years...and not all the time in the proper conditions. Eventually things will go wrong unfortunately.

 

[username in use]

I have the pleasure of seeing a 20,000g reef on a regular basis at our public aquarium. It is 30ft long and there is a pair of clown tangs in there. Last time I was there with my brother we took particular note of the clown's swimming habits. They covered the entire length of the 30ft tank in under 10 or 15 seconds at what appeared to be a leisurely stroll, and then came right back. They did this the entire time we were there leaving us with the distinct impression that this was in fact a minimum tank size for this fish. They also have some Vlamingii's in there as well and those suckers cover every inch off the open swim column up top in the tank as well. We saw a pair chasing each other once and it was remarkable how fast they could cover the length when playing, literally a couple seconds from end to end.

 

[snorvich]

Yes, length is the most important dimension for tangs. Volume is nice but no where near as important as tank length.

 

[Finsky]

When my French and Gray angels got too big I traded them in to the LFS.

Just because somebody does something you consider not proper for you does not make you the "ee chee". Yes, it was an "ee chee" comment. It you do not agree with that then I won't waster my time or yours think of another description.

Yes the Clown tang has settled in with the others and yes, I have seen a full grown Naso at the Tacoma Zoo and Aquarium.