Clown Tang

[Scrandrew]

From time to time throughout the years, I have attempted to keep this tang. Each of the occasions was met with failure. I have a 210 reef. Corals grow well. Fish do fine. However, whenever I attempt to keep this fish, it inevitably displayed the same behaviors. Typically, the fish would seem constantly restless. It would, for days, traverse the front and sides of the glass, as if desperately searching for something. I do have other tangs in the tank, in this latest failure, but, he was not picked on. In fact, he was quite boisterour upon the initial introduction. After days of this behavior, he died, seemingly of exhaustion.

Am I doing something wrong? Has anyone esle ecperienced this? Please help.

Andy

[fishkid6692]

yes you are. the tank is way too small.

[Scrandrew]

210 gallons for a 2 1/2 inch clown tang is small? Ultimately, yes, but, at 2 1/2 inches???

A~

[fishkid6692]

i just noticed my first post seemed kind of rude lol so sorry for that(wasn't meant to be). and i have never seen someone have success with keeping them in smaller tank.

[OSTguy]

That tang would be fine for quite a long time. A guy on here had a 9" one in his tank for over a year without a problem. A 2 1/2" tank is like having a striped pinky finger darting around.

[victor90]

When you buy one try to make sure its eating and from sri lanka those are the ones that usually will make it

[OSTguy]

Thank you, I forgot to mention that part. The one I mentioned was noted to be from Sri Lanka and at a store previous to its purchase for quite some time.

[victor90]

I would recommend you turn off the lights for a day when you first get the fish
Also if you have some schooling fish that cause a frenzy during feeding time will help

[Scrandrew]

thank you!

[Scrandrew]

thank you!

[victor90]

Actually i kept one in my 210 for around 4 years. It was my favorite tang but extremely aggressive when established. After it i got another one had it for six months went on vacation for two weeks and the fish sitter said it died

[Wolverine]

You probably are doing something wrong, but we don't know what it is. Many clown tangs don't do well. Even many of those who do start eating start to waste away. Some do very well (if the aggression can be dealt with), but I don't think anyone has identified specifically what it is that makes them survive in those tanks.

[JamesJR]

bear in mind that these fish grow exceptionally fast and can attain 70% of their eventual adult size of 38 cm in little over a year. I think a lot of the problems with keeping this fish alive in captivity are partially related to this fact because they must be very heavily fed in order for them to sustain this amount of growth. So many of the smaller specimens are so skinny and underfed by the time they make it to our fish shops that it is practically impossible for them to recover. Also, they are very prone to disease which only makes it more difficult for them to adjust to captive life.

From what I have seen in this species I would probably avoid a smaller specimen and try to get one that was a little larger and give it a long quarantine period.

[EnderG60]

I tried one and it just hid in the rocks never to be seen again.

Second one did similar to what you describe, but was very shy and got chased be the other fish.

Third one(mind you all of these were 1.5-2") I kept alone in my 15g frag tank for about a month until it was eating like a pig and a bit fatter before adding him to the other tank.

that worked very well. He is now the smallest tang in the tank at about 3" and chases and herass fish almost 3 times his size.

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15710763#post15710763 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
Third one(mind you all of these were 1.5-2") I kept alone in my 15g frag tank for about a month until it was eating like a pig and a bit fatter before adding him to the other tank.

that worked very well. He is now the smallest tang in the tank at about 3" and chases and herass fish almost 3 times his size.

Is that in your 58g tank listed in your profile?

[aquaph8]

I honestly believe the clown tang is alot like the achilles, and powderblue. The trick to keeping them is getting the right specimen in the first place. Make sure it eats and is fairly fat before you buy. I think your tank is an ok size as long as its 6ft long atleast. I also recomend that if you have more than one tang that you add them at the same time, so nobody has an established territory and leaving the lights off for a day is good advice. Maybe try rearranging some rocks too. Good luck if you decide to try again.