New Respect....

[Capt'n T]

My husband and I just returned from our vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii. We have visited Kauai and Maui also but never as a reef enthusiast. We did snorkel in Maui and around Molokai but I didn't have the knowledge I do now. While snorkeling in different places around the Big Island I viewed everything in a perspective of what I would like to have for my reef tank, which will always be a work in progress. I realized that I will never accomplish what I was privileged to see. Before this vacation I thought I could possibly get away with having a yellow tang in my 55g. There is no way a tang, any tang, would be happy in that confined environment. The fish I saw where huge, fat and happy. I spent hours floating along the surface being a voyeur of their world.

Before we left I read a thread here on RC about the Ocean's PH falling and its acidity levels rising. While out there in the ocean I realized that the extraordinary life I saw may not be around for my kid or his grandkids to experience and enjoy.

Anyway, I love having my slice of the ocean in my home to enjoy but after seeing and experiencing the things I did I have a new outlook on my reef. My expectations are now humbled and the knowledge of limitations are profound.

I do have to brag though, I got to snorkel with 8 Manta Rays, the largest having a 16ft wing span, at night. That experience is without a doubt the coolest thing I have ever done!

 

[wds21921]

Don't forget that fish in a natural enviroment tend to be larger than some you would see in a tank.

I've had tangs in as small a tank as 30 gallons and never had a problem (1 tang only). I think as long as they're healthy, well fed, and have room to swim they don't really know any different since that is there enviroment?

Ideally it would be nicer if they had a larger tank but sometimes it's not possible. The alternative once captured would be to leave it in a fish store tank which is usually way too small. This is an ongoing discussion in another thread about our impact on the hobby.

The hobby is here to stay. Sadly with the enviroment changing as much as it has in such a short period of time our specimens may not be around as long as we'd like, hopefully I'm wrong on this.

 

[Ciarán]

I think as long as they're healthy, well fed, and have room to swim they don't really know any different since that is there enviroment?

Why then do certain tangs, notably the regal tang Paracanthurus hepatus swim anxiously against the glass in small tanks? Even when they are tiny juveniles i have seen them do this. The same rhetoric goes for big fish like angels. They'd have room to swim in a 75G but would any of us put a French Angel or somEthing of that size in a 75G? I certainly hope not. Im not a tang policeman but still i think any fish that grows over 3-4" should be in a tank that's greater than at least 100G

 

[wds21921]

Your talking about fish that are usually larger even in a tank setting. I kept a yellow tang for 8 years in my 30 gallon and never had a problem with him.
After that I also managed to keep a powder blue for 4 years until I traded him.

 

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7972173#post7972173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ciarán
Why then do certain tangs, notably the regal tang Paracanthurus hepatus swim anxiously against the glass in small tanks?

A generalization that is not always true, can apply to many other types of fish, and involves many other factors, few relating to size of tank or fish.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7972173#post7972173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ciarán
Im not a tang policeman but still i think any fish that grows over 3-4" should be in a tank that's greater than at least 100G

Nor am I, but a 4+" fish needs 100+g tank. Gimme a break.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I could keep my dog alive in a kennel for 15 years. That doesn't mean it's the right thing to do and that it's in the proper environment.