Is my Mimic Tang ever going to change into his adult color.

[A sea K]

I like the splash of yellow he brings to my display but I choose this species for their final adult coloration.
After better than 2-1/2yrs he is still yellow and only slightly larger than the original 3 to 3-1/2" when I first got him. He is now a solid 4" and the yellow is not as vibrant as it once was and the blue edging is now barely visable around the edges of his finnage.
Is he ever going to change and if so, how long can this process take?

 

[tonidmitchell]

mimic tang

mimic tang

I don't know maybe what ever answers you find will help us both out.
my yellow mimic is about 4'' I've had her about 2 weeks now. lfs told me
that she wouldn't get much bigger than she is now,
she has a chocolate color on both of her gill plates.


kiki

 

[A sea K]

C'mon folks, I know someone has experience with this fish.
Frankly I'm getting tired of waiting for this change, I see many new arrivals at the LFS that are similar or smaller in size yet have the adult coloration and I expected long ago to at least have the change begin.

 

[Mark]

What other fish do you have in the tank. If it's not the dominant fish, it'll grow a lot slower and keep it's juvie colors longer. Also look at it's diet.

I have one that is 5-6" and has not blue left. The only yellow is in the center of it's body. The rest is darkened to a mustard or olive color. Mine's been a fast grower.

 

[stooges3tx]

What type of Mimic Tang is it? How well does it pick at hair algae? Does it pick all day?

 

[A sea K]

Diet IMO is good, daily offerings of nori, Lg &Sm size mysis, Spectrum pellets, and Spirulina enriched brine shrimp.
He was originally kept with a much larger Hippo and Foxface, also a Kole of almost the identical size. I have since (Dec of 08) exchanged the Hippo for a smaller(but still larger than the Mimic) Naso Tang and removed the foxface as well.

stooges, not sure where your headed with your questions but here goes,
As for what type, not really sure. When I got him there was still a bit of debate as to how many species there actually were or if there is only one with differing juivenile stages depending on region.I have not kept up with this information so I really don't know. He does graze on the live rock pretty much all day but not at a constant pace and there is no hair algea in the tank, at least none that I'm aware of.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Mine is a pyroferus, the most common of the three mimic tang species. When I got him he was very small, about 1 1/2 inches and all bright yellow (Herald's angel mimic). 3 1/2 years later he is now about 4 1/2 inches and looks to be mostly transformed to the full adult coloration. Here is a fairly recent pic. The tang looks quite dark in this pic (it was feeding time), but she can "yellow out" as well.

 

[A sea K]

Very nice Kahuna, I guess I've got about another year to go. They're very nice looking in the bright juvi yellow coloration but I really like the way this fish looks as an adult. I was aware going in it would take a little time so I purchased a specimen around 3" at the start hoping it would be close to changing and would'nt take quite so long.
Its been long enough now that I question if their is some sort of trigger that starts the process and for whatever reason is being delayed in my particular system.
I'm aware of A.tristus and A. pyroferus but what is the third? Its been awhile since I originally researched this fish and can't recall what the third one is.

 

[tonidmitchell]

yellow mimic tang

yellow mimic tang

The third is A chronixis mimic surgenonfish. similar to Eibli's dwarf angel.
They remain juveniles for years and make great reef fish, according to
my 2000 issure of "Freshwater and Marine'' magazine.



kiki:bounce2:

 

[anbosu]

Kahunas is more or less how mine looks now, I don't think you have too much longer to wait.

 

[A sea K]

The third is A chronixis mimic surgenonfish. similar to Eibli's dwarf angel.
They remain juveniles for years and make great reef fish, according to
my 2000 issure of "Freshwater and Marine'' magazine.



kiki:bounce2:

Interesting, I sure hope it does not remain as a juvenile for "years". It seems I've already been there.

 

[twinturbo11]

Interesting, I sure hope it does not remain as a juvenile for "years". It seems I've already been there.

It's funny, I actually don't look forward for my new mimic tang to change colors. I love the yellow color. I got him because i'm hoping he's less agressive than yellow tangs

 

[albano]

It's funny, I actually don't look forward for my new mimic tang to change colors. I love the yellow color. I got him because i'm hoping he's less agressive than yellow tangs

IME, your yellow mimic/chocolate tang is more aggressive than a yellow tang.