calvertbill
New member
I keep Tangs.
I started with a 90 and in a matter of weeks I realized that I was completely taken by three things in this hobby. Propagating corals, keeping and growing Angels and keeping and growing Tangs.
I learned that growing corals and raising Angels were incompatible so I gave up on the idea of keeping Angels. I didn't, as so many hobbyists have tried, start researching which Dwarf Angels are least likely to graze on my corals. I just gave up on Angels.
I learned that raising Tangs in a 90 was like living with a Great Dane in a 900 foot apartment. Doable, but not all that great for either me or the dog. I really didn't want to give up on the idea of keeping Tangs so I came to the conclusion I needed a bigger tank. So I built a 450 and dream my dreams of the 2100 I'd like to someday have but I have a lot of learning yet to do.
Since then I've kept fourteen different species of these interesting fish and learned a bit about them. I've learned that if a reference says a fish is aggressive you should trust that the author isn't an idiot. This doesn't mean that if you went through 50 Sohals you couldn't find a single peaceful one but why kill 49 to find the one? (and they're every bit as impressive looking as the texts say)
Your LFS may display a Mata Tang in a 20 while they're trying to sell it but it's a very stressful environment and Tangs that are peaceful in large tanks can get downright nasty in too crowded an environment.
So if you want to keep a Tang or even multiple Tangs please remember either the Great Dane or a lifer in a 6x9 cell in Leavenworth.
I started with a 90 and in a matter of weeks I realized that I was completely taken by three things in this hobby. Propagating corals, keeping and growing Angels and keeping and growing Tangs.
I learned that growing corals and raising Angels were incompatible so I gave up on the idea of keeping Angels. I didn't, as so many hobbyists have tried, start researching which Dwarf Angels are least likely to graze on my corals. I just gave up on Angels.
I learned that raising Tangs in a 90 was like living with a Great Dane in a 900 foot apartment. Doable, but not all that great for either me or the dog. I really didn't want to give up on the idea of keeping Tangs so I came to the conclusion I needed a bigger tank. So I built a 450 and dream my dreams of the 2100 I'd like to someday have but I have a lot of learning yet to do.
Since then I've kept fourteen different species of these interesting fish and learned a bit about them. I've learned that if a reference says a fish is aggressive you should trust that the author isn't an idiot. This doesn't mean that if you went through 50 Sohals you couldn't find a single peaceful one but why kill 49 to find the one? (and they're every bit as impressive looking as the texts say)
Your LFS may display a Mata Tang in a 20 while they're trying to sell it but it's a very stressful environment and Tangs that are peaceful in large tanks can get downright nasty in too crowded an environment.
So if you want to keep a Tang or even multiple Tangs please remember either the Great Dane or a lifer in a 6x9 cell in Leavenworth.
