tangs

[PiscesLou]

Point is, all of our fish are cramped, 55g, 90g 180g, they cannot swim freely or at speed, or school in any of our tanks (except the very largest largest tanks or smallest fish).

I agree...but I did noticed a huge change in behavior when I switched my tangs from a 50 gal to a 90 gal. I just want to say that there are guildlines in keeping tangs, how far you stay or stray from them is up to you. You can get a small tang now, but if you plan on keep it for a long time, your gonna need a bigger tank. HTH

[Jonathan G.]

yea I will have to say that blue, indo pacific, or hippo tang should be kept in at least a 90g tank unless you get it small and have definite plans of upgrading tanks. My lfs has one full grown in a 200g octagon and it does fine but i would have to wince if i saw a blue tang in a 55g... i plan on getting a blue tang but mine will be a baby and i have plans on getting a 180g tank in a year

[DeNero1331]

I hate to jump in, but I had wanted to get a tang later down the line. When you guys give the size requirements for the tangs is it simply so they have distance to swim the length of the tank or are you going by overall living space?

I only ask because I've noticed most people have entirely different aquascaping so a 4' tank could easily match a 6' tank if the 6' is filled with pounds and pounds of liverock.

I have a 6' tank. If I want a tang but I plan on adding more lr, should I keep a straight line of swimming space or is everyone just going off of approximations?

[fishfirst]

straight line of swimming room at least a 15 inches thick and 8-10 inches tall and 6 feet long... thats what I would say a typical full grown tang would need, except for the naso of coarse

[xxmoorishmanxx]

On top of whats been said, u might look into a kole/yellow eyed tang, they stay realativly small and are hardy, and fairly un aggressive (compared to other tangs). Also as to whats been said about the aqua scaping i agree, u can also consider allowing the tang to swim in circles by putting live rock in the middle, but providing adequte spacing around the edges.