Can a blue tang live in a 75g w/ a few other sm fish?

[Radioheadx14]

I am still a little ways off before converting my 75g into a marine tank. Im still trying to figure out which fish i want to get. I really want a blue tang (Palette Surgeonfish) but it says the min tank size is 70g at liveaquaria.com. Could this fish live comfortably in a 75g with a few other smaller fish like some o. clowns and a goby or two? I was also considering a humu trigger, but i don't know if a humu trigger and blue tang would work out well.

[tecwzrd]

A 75 would be pushing it when it's at adult length of 12" Also following the general rule of 1" per 5 gal giving you a total of 15" of fish you also are limiting the amount of other fish you could house with the Blue Tang.

IMO getting reef safe fish =<4" and not exceeding total adult length of 15" will make for a much more enjoyable tank.

If you overstock your tank you will constantly be fighting excess nutrients and algae.

[macman7010]

By a Blue Tang do you mean a hippo tang (Dory from finding nemo) or an Atlantic Blue Tang. A 75 gallon tank would be too small for an adult specimen of either. Although many Hippo Tangs are offered for sale at 1-3.5 inches in size. I would highly advise against getting one that is in the inch or a little bigger category as these animals often do not fare as well as larger specimens.

If you got a Hippo Tang that was several inches in length, perhaps three of four it would be alright in a 75 gallon tank likely for several years since tangs grow at slow rates. Just remember that either upgrading to a larger aquarium or giving the tang to someone with a bigger tank would have to take place sooner or later.

As for a Humu Humu Trigger that I would advise against. Triggers grow quicker then tangs, are aggressive and severely limit what you can keep in an aquarium.

[tecwzrd]

If talking about a Powder Blue Tang which gets to 9" it would leave you some room for 2-3 smaller fishes.

I agree the trigger would best be left for a larger aggressive tank.

IME tangs grow as fast as most other reef safe fish. My Yellow Tang has grown from 3" to 5" in the last two years.

[Radioheadx14]

this tang here... http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=330

i was thinking of getting as smaller one, around 3-4 inches. if i was to get a 20 gallon sump, so the water capacity would increase, would that help?... or is the physical swimming space the limiting factor?

[tecwzrd]

Physical swimming space in the main tank. Sump is useless in a power outage and an overstocked tank will deplete oxygen quickly.

As stated by macman7010 a smaller 3"-4" Blue tang would be fine for 2 years IMO with 2-3 smaller <3" fish but a larger home would be needed down the road.

[Radioheadx14]

ok thats helps, i guess i still have around a year or so to figure out so i will have plenty of time to decide what i want to do.

[macman7010]

Personally I would, unless you are a fairly advanced hobbyist scrap the idea of a Hippo Tang in a 75 gallon aquarium altogether. The added stress of the small tank is just going to instigate a parasitic outbreak in an animal already prone to them. Tangs are trickier to keep then most other marine fish because of their sensitive nature.

Dr F&S putting an easy rating on that particular fish is downright insane. Hippo Tangs are proverbial ich magnets second only, IME to the PBT and are very tough to keep without the proper qt and hospital tank set-ups to help manage their parasite problems.

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by macman7010

Hippo Tangs are proverbial ich magnets second only, IME to the PBT and are very tough to keep without the proper qt and hospital tank set-ups to help manage their parasite problems.

This is my thinking also esp in a 4 foot tank.

[Radioheadx14]

dang, i really like those fish... maybe in the future when i can get a huge tank.