Just curious as to the large discrepancy between the list of Tangs and their corresponding appropriate sized tank and the tank size listed on Live Aquaria's site. It seems to be a very reputable site that many of RC's members buy fish/coral from. For instance, RC's list shows that a Powder Brown Tang should not be kept in any tank under 125gal. Live Aquaria says a minimum of a 70gal tank. I would like to hear some opinions on this.
RC vs. Live Aquaria
- Thread starter jhawksoon
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savageAJC
New member
I'm usually good about searching on this site before asking a question. I admit that I did not this time. I also understand, and had already thought of the fact, that the websites are trying to sell you something. Live Aquaria was just one example. Vivid Aquariums has a Convict Tang listed at a min. 125gal tank, just as RC does, but their Sailfin is listed at a min. 90gal while RC suggests a 240gal. Just wondering where the research was gathered to come up with the suggestions on this site. Minimum tank size for Tangs seems to be all over the board.
SushiGirl
Premium Member
Years of experience and observance by hundreds (thousands?) of hobbiests?
Had a hobbiest (10 years of experience) help me set my tank up. He has had a Yellow Tang in one of his tanks that is 75gal. for almost 7 years. It looked much more healthy than anything I have seen in any of the LFS around here. I'm not trying to argue, I just would like to know how a hobbiest determines, other than when the fish's health steadily declines until death, that a fish is "unhappy". I'm sure this has probably been talked about to death, but I am trying to absorb as much information as I can with this hobby.
I don't think RC wants to recommend the exception, especially when it's the casual or novice aquarist that will be reading those recommendations.
So you're saying, when in doubt, up the min. tank size?
Matt_Wandell
New member
I think most of the minimum tank size recommendations for tangs should be doubled or tripled for some species if the fish is expected to actually grow to its full adult size.
One of my favorites is seeing N. vlamingii recommended for anything less than about 1200 gallons. I can only imagine someone making such a recommendation has never seen a full grown fish of this species in an aquarium.
Another pet peeve--why aren't there "angelfish police"? You can see people happily cheering on somebody's tiny Emperor Angelfish in a reef tank but these fish get nearly as big and require just as much space as N. vlamingii. There are only a handful of hobbyists in the world that can realistically hope to house this species in an aquarium once it is full grown.
One of my favorites is seeing N. vlamingii recommended for anything less than about 1200 gallons. I can only imagine someone making such a recommendation has never seen a full grown fish of this species in an aquarium.
Another pet peeve--why aren't there "angelfish police"? You can see people happily cheering on somebody's tiny Emperor Angelfish in a reef tank but these fish get nearly as big and require just as much space as N. vlamingii. There are only a handful of hobbyists in the world that can realistically hope to house this species in an aquarium once it is full grown.
Agreed. One of the misfortunate consequences of people initially wanting to help, but in the end arbitrarily assessing "happiness of the fish" as the reason why fish X could not fit in aquarium Y, as the value of Y slowly increases because it's always easier (and provides a sense of self-righteousness) to say that you can't keep this fish than to risk saying its possible and suffer the replies.
Well, there is another factor. The minimum tank size for a single fish will be less than the recommended tank size with other fish in the aquarium. When mixing tangs know that all tangs occupy the same ecological niche and that aggression can/will occur when the perceived ecological niche is shrunk by your neighbor occupying it with you.
twintrades
New member
Hahaha Yea me too. But my coralbanded shark looks a little cramped in there.
On the side were going to pick up a 30gallon set up and it houses a yelow tang!! Silly people
On the side were going to pick up a 30gallon set up and it houses a yelow tang!! Silly people
So Wandell, I'm going to assume that you were not one of the hundreds of hobbiests that have years of experience that SushiGirl was talking about that put the tang list together on RC. The list shows a min. of a 350gal aquarium for a Vlamingi, not 1200gal. After all of this, I have decided that no one knows for sure, and that I will start with a good sized bowl and work my way up from there until I decide the fish looks "happy". :spin2:
The RC recommendations are there for the benefit of those who care to use them, to help make their tang keeping experiences pleasant, less of a hassle, and lengthy. You will forever find conflicting recommendations on this because there is no hard and fast rule or formula.
Eric the half-bee
Passer of gasses
I agree on the vlamingii issue. I just removed mine last week after 3 years in my 400. He simply looked cramped in there so a LFS traded with me. It saddened me to trade this beautiful specimen but I want him to have s bigger home.
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