Contemplating giving away my sailfin tang

[zuzecawi]

I've hit the moment. The moment of going... what is best for my fish? I have a sailfin tang, I've owned him since he was 2.5" and now he's around 6-7" and still growing. I see him go back and forth in my tank... and I just think about what life in the reef would be like. I watched a series of documentaries, The Blue Planet, and after seeing the territories of wild tangs, I'm wracked with guilt. I have a friend who owns a 450 gallon aquarium, and as much as I love my sailfin, I'm thinking of giving him to my friend. I just watch him in my tank, and think about how he's only a third of his potential adult size, and 6' just doesn't seem like that much compared to a potentially 18" fish.

I'm sad to think about it. Both ways. I really don't think I'll buy another tang after this one, the heartache of watching them in so small a area is just too much. It didn't really hit until watching the documentaries, now I could never feel right buying another wildcaught fish.

I guess RCT and ORA it will be.
*sigh*

[EnderG60]

I rotate tangs in my tank, I get them around 2" let them grow to 5-6" and traid em out for small ones again.

Seems to work out great, i get to have tangs and people with big tanks who dont want to spend big $$ on larger ones get to adopt mine.

Give your tang to your friend with the 450 and ask him what tang he would want next and get him to buy you a small one:D

[BTTRFLYGRL]

:( Ahhhh....very sad time. But your fish will be very happy in your friends tank;) Maybe you can get visitation rights:)

We were 'babysitting' someone's Sailfin at work..We're moving soon so he was told he needed to come and get it..Went to feed him Saturday and he was gone:( I loved that fish..Had he NOT picked him up, he was going home with me!! Oh well


Your info says you have a 135? with 240 lbs of live rock:eek1: Not much swimming room:confused: a 135 is suitable for many Tangs, but I would remove some rock to give them more room to swim. You have LOTS of possibilities...Powder Blues, Browns, Tomini, Purple, Yellow...the list goes on!
Don't feel bad about them not having the whole ocean..Remember the scenes on Blue Planet when the sharks would RAID the reef everynight! You can keep a Tang healthy and happy because he will always be fed and he never has to worry about predators! I don't look at my tanks and feel bad [much] These fish were already caught, shipped and for sale..I take good care of them and I'm glad their with me and not in some 30 gallon with someone else;) They know when its feeding time and come running!! Most domestic animals were wild at one time, way back when..They adapt..and so do your fish as long as you provide proper care and enough swimming room your fish will be happy!

[fancyfish]

I agree...give him to your friend. This obviously will be a better home and as you say you love the fish. Do what is best for him. In the end you will be happy. I am in a similar situation with a plate coral. Gourgous orange and being picked on by my lemon peel. I knew this /would happen and given the fact I am keeping my fish..he is gourgous I am going to have to trade this in. I love this coral have had it since beginning the hobby but sit and think how horrible it must be to never have a moments peace. Sad yes but I know it is the right thing to do for my animal.

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I must add...fish will adapt when they are caught as Juvenilles. I do hate to see Tangs, Angels and other large fish that are caught near adult size:( They don't adapt well at all.
Well, got to go check on my fishys!!

[Kahuna Tuna]

I bought a tiny sailfin back in 1993 for my 90 gallon, he was very small, less than two inches and since this was before information was easily available I assumed these fish got about the same size as other Zebrasoma. Sailfins get huge, soon after I purchased him I went on a vacation to Hawaii and saw a pair that were the size of auto hubcaps, just huge. My tang maxed out my 90 after a few years so I upgraded to a 180. He did quite well in there but started growing again and at about nine inches he was looking like he needed a bigger tank which wasn't going to happen for me. I did a lot of soul searching and called my friend Jeff at Jeff's exotic fish. I explained my situation and hye told me he had several customers who had huge tanks and would likely want a big sailfin. After 12 years I finally decided this beautiful fish deserved more than I could provide him and off he went to a better home.

As far as buying wild caught fish its a mixed bag and I feel that as long as you are providing them with an appropriate environment you aren't doing them much harm as the vast majority of fish on the reef end up as food for other marine organisms. Only a tiny number of juvenile fishes ever grow to adulthood. I try to buy captive raised whenever possible but the collection of marine tropicals isn't doing much harm to the reef IMO.

[zuzecawi]

As to the 240 lbs rock... it's built vertically in a very strange looking reef rack, there's actually more swimming room in this tank than you'd think. The rock is in two peninsulas that stretch vertically (three levels of PVC rack and egg crate) and there's a large circular swim through in between two alleys of tall! thin cliffs, and the rock is aquacultured florida rock, so it's really dense compared to the indo reef stuff... but 135 is just too darn small for a sailfin. He's grown about 5" in ONE YEAR!!! And I look at him and I just can't handle it... he doesn't look stressed but he doesn't look happy. I'm going to take some good pictures and let my friend's tank recover some more (big storms caused a power outage and he lost a lot of livestock, needless to say, he has generators now) and then over to the big tank he goes. I know my friend will take good care of him and I'm fairly sure I can get visitation rights... heh. I've donated enough frags to his tank for the restart to earn a visit or two.
I really don't know about another tang though... I did see that there are a few sources of tangs raised from larva, and I would feel okay about that, as long as it were a smaller tang. The sailfin is just so dang beautiful, I think I need some mope around the house time before I go and replace him.
The plus side of this...
my sweetie is now talking about us getting a bigger tank. He's thinking a 240 custom may be in order.
Funny how that works.

[BigBadBlenny]

very refreshing to see a person put the fishes needs before their own. how many times have i seen on other forums people putting tangs into a small tank and saying its just a fish. 135 is a big tank but it is the minimum required for the fish.

check out this link. www.reefvideos.com click carls tank at the top left corner. he has a 150 tang tank with a great aquascape. i have put some of my rocks like this now but my tank isnt as high as his.

ps can u show us some pics of your tank? i would love to see your rock cliffs

[Kahuna Tuna]

my sweetie is now talking about us getting a bigger tank. He's thinking a 240 custom may be in order.

Now that's love! :D I'm not sure the 240 would be big enough for a sailfin either (they get absolutely huge) but would accomidate most of the tangs out there for sure.

very refreshing to see a person put the fishes needs before their own. how many times have i seen on other forums people putting tangs into a small tank and saying its just a fish.

Amen to that.