palette surgeonfish, some thoughts...

CHSUB

CHSUB

"Certified Hobby Expert"
my favorite fish...i got my first hippo tang nearly 18 years ago. i bought him with 6 chromis and he lived in a 92 corner for 6 years. when i got him he was no bigger than the chromis(dime sized) and imo, had a great life. he died during Hurricane Wilma when my tank lost power for 9 days. he grew to about 5-6 inches and never had behavioral problems. he survived an attack from an arrow crab and a rock collapse. my latest hippo i have had since 2012, he is nearly 8" and is a great fish. he lives in a 300 g and is a little bossy with my other fish, but not to bad. he has grown larger in a shorter amount of time than the one housed in the 92, but other than that i can not recall much of a difference in their behavior.

now some min tank size requirements:

RC: 240 gallon, 8'
LA/DD: 180 gallon
Scott Micheal: 100 gallon
Blue Zoo: 75 gallon
CHSUB: 92 gallon, IME

hard to find a consensus!! i see some "piling on" here when it comes to tank size and hippos, however, i believe my experience holds weight and i regard Scott Micheal as a leading authority on reef fish.

how have your experiences differed from mine? or are most just "parroting" info?

hippo in my 92...



View attachment 343336
 
I feel a lot of people here parrot info like gospel. Only when it comes to tangs, and it's annoying when the first words I read are things like "that's way too small for a tang" "you should take the tang back to your LFS" blah blah...

Yes, certain fish if and when grown shouldn't be in certain tanks. I had my hippo for 4-5 years, grew to 4" or so and lived in a 70 tall. When it swam horizontally, I never really thought twice. When it began swimming vertical everyday that's when I upgraded to a 125. My current tank is meant for it, but sadly it died in the process of transferring.

Now, I just bought a 240 because I want certain fish. I know a guy who had an angel for 10+ years that kept it in a 125. The thing was as big as a dinner plate, he has an attachment to all of his corals and fish and rarely frags out, so that's why he never got rid of the fish although he didn't necessarily like how the fish looked in that tank.

A good friend of mine had a 2" hippo that never grew in years (4+) in a 60 cube.

I think some hobbyists feed off what they've read (good and bad), instead of maybe seeing real life experiences.

However, having said all this, I would never put a tang in something smaller than 6' myself anymore because they're so active and look best zipping back and forth in the tank, not because they may get to 10-12"
 
That hippo looks quite happy and healthy.

jbvdhp said:
I feel a lot of people here parrot info like gospel. Only when it comes to tangs, and it's annoying when the first words I read are things like "that's way too small for a tang" "you should take the tang back to your LFS" blah blah...

...

However, having said all this, I would never put a tang in something smaller than 6' myself anymore because they're so active and look best zipping back and forth in the tank, not because they may get to 10-12"
Click to expand...

If you see tangs move around fast in the reef you know that they need a certain minimum swim room, especially those that tend to migrate and swim straight for miles. Most tangs I've seen always looked like they are in a hurry.

In comparison, most large angels are very bound to their territory and have more of a majestic way of "patrolling their kingdom". They hardly ever seem to be in a hurry.
So there is a basic difference to begin with.

When it come to tank size experience can most definitely offset quite a bit, but there is a point where a fish starts to feel cramped. The result is often a high level of aggression or being sick.

The issue is that too many beginners who hardly know what they are doing start out with tangs (most LFS are actually encouraging this) that are or will get too big for the tank they have. Add skipping quarantine to that and you have a recipe for disaster.

I'm personally more drawn to angelfish than tangs.
 
ThRoewer said:
That hippo looks quite happy and healthy.







If you see tangs move around fast in the reef you know that they need a certain minimum swim room, especially those that tend to migrate and swim straight for miles. Most tangs I've seen always looked like they are in a hurry.



In comparison, most large angels are very bound to their territory and have more of a majestic way of "patrolling their kingdom". They hardly ever seem to be in a hurry.

So there is a basic difference to begin with.



When it come to tank size experience can most definitely offset quite a bit, but there is a point where a fish starts to feel cramped. The result is often a high level of aggression or being sick.



The issue is that too many beginners who hardly know what they are doing start out with tangs (most LFS are actually encouraging this) that are or will get too big for the tank they have. Add skipping quarantine to that and you have a recipe for disaster.



I'm personally more drawn to angelfish than tangs.
Click to expand...


I should be too! Angels look so much better than tangs, tangs aren't all that pretty. Lol
 
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