Yellow tang opinions??

[Hookman]

I just got a yellow tang, is this fish too big for my 55 gal? I also got some pulsing xenias, I love em. Also, what do any of you with tangs feed them?

 

[Corty]

Some feel that Tangs should be placed in a tank with more swimming room. I feel that you can put one in a 55, mine seems happy enough, but be aware that it may be very territorial, especially in a smaller aquarium, and that you may want to place him in a larger tank when he gets older. Mine is only about four inches. These guys can get up to eight inches.

For food, mine likes Nori (dried seaweed), sinking algae wafers (like the kind for Plecos), and Ulva ("Sea Lettuce") Macro Algae.. he also nibbles on the Red Gracillaria, but the Ulva is gone just about as fast as I put it in - Angels will also love the stuff (and your snails will enjoy it as well).

 

[seafan]

As long as he has a lot of swimming room he will not be tortured. The only problem is if he is territorial, and that depends on the individual fish.

 

[c0mf0rt]

mine does just fine in a 55 gal....... tough little sucker too...... he's been through alot....

 

[MACATUA]

Just keep an eye on him. Of the tangs, a yellow probobly does best in the smaller tank, so he should be fine!

 

[ppavlik]

Mine does great in my 55gl, though he bullys all of the new guys for about a day or so. Then he calms down and lets them explore the tank.

 

[supafreak]

like in the first post tangs love spirilina based stuff (green) i feed mine seeweed, and spirilina flake, and he eats the other marine food that the other fish like as well, but i make sure he gets his own special treat. He also eats the alge from the outlet tube of my protieb skimmer. I scrape it off and he eats it right up! Tangs can be suseptable to marine ich, and mine has had it twice. Once when i added another fish, and he got stressed out, and one time when i had to move my tank due to moving households. Stress causes ich, so don't let any other fish stress him. And he will love to swimm, so make sure that the tank is not filled with rock so he can swim from one side to the other. Mine will be going in a 120g once i'm sure my cycle is complete, and i'm sure he will be much happier than he is in the 33g. He is about 3 inches, and he came with the tank, but i would never have bought him for a tank that small.

 

[quarryshark]

IMO no tang should be housed in a 55 long term.
He will be OK for a while, but as he gets bigger he will need a bigger system. I have seen Yellows that are 7" + in length. Thes guys are active swimmer and If you want him to live out a full life, he will need a bigger tank down the road.
My Yellow eats all food that I put in. Most importantly make sure you hang some nori on a clip daily for him. They love and need to graze with their high metabolism.