Fish Growth

[Newfiereefer]

Ok I'm still pretty new to SW reef keeping ( 6 months ) and am stuck between my urge to get a yellow tang ( fav fish ) and the fear that he will out grow my tank . I have a 55g with 50 lb of rock. And my LFS ha a tiny yellow tang , I am wondering how fast SW fish grow and will they always grow to max size , I have had my Clarkie clown since cycling ( fish in , knowing what I know now would not have done that to him ) so for the last 6 months I have seen now growth in him an I have seen other Clarkies 3X his size but my lil guy hasn't changed, so I'm just wondering if the tang will take several years to reach max size ... If so I'd be happy to have a tang for a few years and then donate to a LFS for a bigger home.

 

[Newfiereefer]

Anyone ?

 

[Fishfighter]

Uh oh! Thread police goin to get you for bumping threads! Ha ha. If that's your favorite fish and don't mind donating him if he outgrows ur tank then I say go for it. Not an expert on fish growth at all but the best way to learn anything is to dive in!

 

[Grizz]

It's my understanding that the fish will NOT grow to full size but it's organs will there by causing huge problems with crowding of the organs resulting in premature death The tang will out grow your tank in 6 months to a year, if it were me i'd spend the cash on a larger tank A 75 or a 90 has nearly the same foot print as a 55

 

[Newfiereefer]

It's my understanding that the fish will NOT grow to full size but it's organs will there by causing huge problems with crowding of the organs resulting in premature death The tang will out grow your tank in 6 months to a year, if it were me i'd spend the cash on a larger tank A 75 or a 90 has nearly the same foot print as a 55

I know he is going to grow ? But that quickly ? Out of the 5 fish I have none have shown any signs of growth, they eat every second day , and every 3rd night get mysis when I feed my sun coral. All seem healthy and happy with no aggression towards each other. So I cant see one other fish being able to grow at such a expedient rate :-/ . How big do u think this tang is ATM it is no more than 2inch. It's has lots of growing before he reaches max potential.

 

[Grizz]

I'm not saying dont do it. But after caring for it for a year or more will it be easy to part with
How will we know when it's out grown it's home?

 

[MacDracor]

I've had the same question before, and after doing a LOT of reading on the topic, I have the following advice: Don't do it.
Fish growth is unpredictable except by the most dedicated scientists willing to control every aspect of the environment and perform repeated measurements and very careful readings of daily food intake. What it boils down to for most of us is that fish will grow. Fast, slow, medium, all of the above at different times, but they will grow.
There is no way to predict when a 55 would be too small.
Grizz is on the right track. There have been some great posts in here about fish growth in small tanks, but I'll sum it up.
Kept in too small a tank, even a juvenile fish can begin to experience severe skeletal deformities, organ failure, and premature death. If an adult fish needs X amount of space, then a juvenile of the species requires the same amount.

One final thought, even if someone chooses to ignore this and just say "I'll trade him when he grows 2 inches", we see our fish every single day. The only way I realized how big my clownfish had gotten was by adding a mate for her and suddenly realizing she had doubled in size.