purple tang question.

[JT3069]

I hear alot about how a 4' 90g is to small for a purple tang.
My tank is a 90g with 30lbs of live rock. The only fish in the tank is my purple tang. I do not plan on adding any other fish. I guess I have. Grown to like my tang. It is now 5 years old.

My question is with the available space in the tank. Is this sufficient for a purple tang-long term say 20 years ect....

 

[insomniac2k2]

Seeing how aggressive mine is in a smaller tank, id day that you should aspire to get your beloved in a larger tank long term. That said, I don't see why long term cant be in the next 3-4 years.

How big is it now?

 

[JT3069]

It is about 6-7 inches

 

[Rea17]

While a purple tang will be "fine" in a 90g, I think long-term a 6' 125 would be a much better suited tank for the life span of the fish, and that's a minimum. If you are willing to upgrade I might even go bigger than that. A happy fish is a long-lived fish.

 

[insomniac2k2]

That's pretty big for the 90g imo. Everything that I've seen and read on tangs is that they relax by darting long distances in open water. My 2 tangs do just this. My yellow is 5+ inches now and my purple is about 4". My yellow seems content, but I can already tell that my purple will not be content long term in my 90g.

Luckily I am working out the details for a 170g. I believe the fish and I will both have more peace of mind

 

[JT3069]

I got the tang from a guy who had him in a smaller tank. He has never been aggressive to any other fish and hide most of the time. I have finally gotten it to the point it doesn't hide to often, but stays to one side of the tank,moving around occasionally.

 

[JT3069]

Could you describe the nature of the darting? Do they just "book it" to the other side or something else?

 

[Rea17]

Hiding, shyness, and not actively swimming around can be symptomatic of a tang feeling insecure or confined. You have had him for 5 years and he still acts this way? Do you have any pictures of him that you can post?

 

[Rea17]

Could you describe the nature of the darting? Do they just "book it" to the other side or something else?

Yes, basically. Constantly pacing the glass is not healthy behavior either, but tangs love to constantly swim and will sometimes let out bursts of speed. In the wild they can swim 20-30 miles a day in search of algae. This is why length of a tank is a big factor when owning tangs.

 

[JT3069]

He was that way when I first got him. Now he stays in the open to the right of the tank.
Do you know how to upload pictured from a phone onto rc?

 

[Rea17]

I do it by uploading my pictures to imageshack or photobucket and then use the forum embed link.

 

[Pallobi]

I also agree your tang is not exhibiting normal healthy behavior... A 90g is not good long term... I keep one in a 180g (he used to be in a 75), and I can still tell he is a little cramped...

 

[lucky_snapper]

I hear alot about how a 4' 90g is to small for a purple tang.
My tank is a 90g with 30lbs of live rock. The only fish in the tank is my purple tang. I do not plan on adding any other fish. I guess I have. Grown to like my tang. It is now 5 years old.

My question is with the available space in the tank. Is this sufficient for a purple tang-long term say 20 years ect....

Obviously a larger tank would be ideal for a larger tang but you have to deal with what your budget will allow. Not everyone can have an 800 gallon 12 foot tank in their home. There are too many people who's first response will be "tanks not big enough" who want to tell you that what u are doing is "fish torture" but if you have had your fish for 5 years and he is eating and active then I dont see the need to change it. As for me I have a 225 gal 6 ft tank and I love tangs. I currently have a 5 in blue hippo and a mag foxface and both of them are very active swimmers who spend their day grazing the reef. At the end of the day its your tank, you spend your hard earned money maintaining it and if you are happy with it then don't change it.

 

[roenicknewf]

Like said above ,bigger is always better when talking about tangs ..I am not a member of the TP or anything ,LOL,,but will simply say i have seen it work out for some and not for others ..I do know of people keeping YT's in 90's for 8+ years ..I got a big naso awhile back that was grown out in a 55(pic below) ..
On the flip side here is my purple that was never in anything smaller than my 265..

I often hear people say "stunted growth" if in a smaller tank ,but SW fish don't get stunted ,they may just be stressed to the point that internal things start to happen to them..

 

[Dmorty217]

I'm not the TP either but it just sounds like you did some poor planning when you purchased the fish to begin with. Don't buy a fish with the idea it will be transferred into a bigger tank because that rarely happens. It is your tank and your money, but not all of us have the same idea of what is right or wrong for a large purple tang in a 90g. If the OP wasnt expecting some criticism for have a purple in a 90g then I'm not sure they are familiar with RC

 

[Rea17]

I have seen a stunted purple tang that lived in a 90g for 7 years. He had adult coloration but his body shape was odd, small for his age, and he was missing pelvic fins. Tank size might not be to blame though, as this fish was fed exclusively brine shrimp I cringe at the thought....

Beautiful fish Roenicknewf!

 

[roenicknewf]

I have seen a stunted purple tang that lived in a 90g for 7 years. He had adult coloration but his body shape was odd, small for his age, and he was missing pelvic fins. Tank size might not be to blame though, as this fish was fed exclusively brine shrimp I cringe at the thought....

Beautiful fish Roenicknewf!

We must also remember every fish is different and some may never reach full grow out sizes,,i'd be willing to bet almost all fish in home aquariums never reach their max size ..The PT you describe sounds like it simply had a rough life ,even if in a 300 only being fed brine i'm surprised it lived 7 years..

Thanks,,
My PT above died last year and was roughly 15 years old ..I did not grow him out as he came from an old LFS and they kept him in their 500 display..He didn't grow a single inch more while i had him..

 

[Rea17]

We must also remember every fish is different and some may never reach full grow out sizes,,i'd be willing to bet almost all fish in home aquariums never reach their max size ..The PT you describe sounds like it simply had a rough life ,even if in a 300 only being fed brine i'm surprised it lived 7 years..

Thanks,,
My PT above died last year and was roughly 15 years old ..I did not grow him out as he came from an old LFS and they kept him in their 500 display..He didn't grow a single inch more while i had him..

Of course. My point was that fish can be stunted, but it is hard to pin it down to tank size. I'm sorry about your PT, it sounds like he had a good long life though.

 

[Dmorty217]

I do also believe that virtually no fish reaches their max size in a home aquarium, those that are well cared for and fed a proper nutritional diet will reach close to their maximum stated size