Lets talk about the Clown Tang

S

Snailpowered

New member
I have just moved my 65 gallon reef to a 190 gallon reef. One of the fish that i would really like to have is a clown tang. I know that they are in the same family as Sohal's and thats what worries me. I have heard horror stories about the Sohal. One of the fellow reefers in my area have a sohal and is accually bullied by his powder blue tang.
I am totally in love with the fish and i need to know what some other owners of clown tangs can tell me about its behavior. And some good info on them.
Thanks in advance for your time.
 
I had a clown tang for a while, but mind did eventually get mean. The only fish it really bugged were my flame angel and lyretail anthias, the others it left alone. However, it was pretty relentless in bugging the flame, to the point where I removed the clown because it basically chased the flame every 10-15 seconds as it made a lap around the tank.

That's the other thing about the clown tangs, they are fast swimmers, they like lots of room and they almost never stop moving.
 
Most of what you suspect is going to be true. A lot of them don't live too long. Those that do nearly always turn super agressive as they grow. Sometimes, they can be nice tankmates for many months only to turn one day and start killing fish.

I had one in college. Grew 6 or 7 inches in less than a year and one day decided to kill tankmates that had been with it the whole time. When I left college, it was living in a large sump because it could not be kept with any other fish.
 
I kept a purple tang with a clown tang over the span for a couple of months, they were perfect with each other. There was also a sailfin tang in the tank at the time and still they were all fine. All eating pellets like crazy. I guess most of the time it depends on the fish
 
They get to be absolute terrors. You won't usually see it within a couple of months time. These fish grow so big so fast and they will dominate the whole tank. If you get one that even makes it you will probably not like the fish in the long run. I would go for another choice as a 190 really is still a bit on the small side for them.
 
I'm with jda and JamesJR. Nastiest fish I've ever owned. It picked and harrases EVERY single fish. Ripped their tails to shreds. Mine was in the 4-5" range and back to LFS it went.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13423598#post13423598 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by k.tran
i kept mine in a 90 cube :D
Click to expand...

What a shame :(
 
So far mine is doing pretty good.

got him at about 2" and paper thin, left him alone in a nano with sheet algea for a month and then put him in the tank with 4 other tanks(blue, purple, sail fin and yellow) all larger then him.

its now been about 8 months and he is about 3" now and nice and fat.

He does chase the other tangs away from the algea clip every so often, and chases the wrasse occasionally as well but other then that he is no worse then any other fish.

Now when he gets bigger if he gets nasty he is going by by, but untill then I like him so he stays.
 
You have three zebrasoma species in the same tank? I hope it is a large one.
 
I would be very concerned if a 2" tang only grew to 3" in 8 months, especially a clown tang.
 
This is one of those fish that just belongs in the ocean. Their success rate is few and far between (I mean living years in a tank, months dosent count). Quite a few other beautiful fish to choose.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12474346#post12474346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
yup I have 3 in my 58g right now, but they are all under 2.5", and get rotated out when they hit 3.5-4"
Click to expand...

Why do I even bother?
 
Thats a real shame because i love the way they look, they have a look all their own. So what kind of tangs would you recomend in my 190, it is 4'x3'x2' and the system has a total water volume of about 250 gallons and is a barebottom tank with a turn over of about 70-80x an hour. So there is alot of flow along with alot of rock about 140lbs worth. I already have a gold eye kole tang and he is awsome. So a little advice would be nice because there is no subsitute for experiance.
 
IMO, I would just let your Kole tang rule the tank. Tangs are fish that need very large spaces, even smaller tangs need alot of room. If you want your fish to be very happy, just keep the kole. There are many other fish that have great personalities and dont require the large spaces that tangs need. Maybe you could look into some of the angels. There are a few species that are reef safe, and many that do well in reef tanks.
~Michael
 
i have a powder blue,kole and a powder brown,in my 220,i was having problems with both the powders,i ended up puting the brown on my sump,cause they where just chasing each other non stop even at night time with the moonlight on,lol the hardest part was catching the brown,i have to remove most of my rocks out before i caught him..
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13428715#post13428715 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wolverine
You'll notice he did say it in the past tense. ;)
Click to expand...
I didn't pick up on that. Well pointed out.
It's such a shame that posts such as that can lead people into thinking they can keep such a fine fish in such a poor environment:mad:
As Thor said - a fish to be left in the ocean.
 
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