What tangs stay small?

[r2nj]

I want to put one in my 125 gallon tank to keep the hair algae at bay. What are some of the smaller tangs? Thanks.

[Megatrev62]

The best answer I can give is google up smaller tangs.

[Skinner]

I believe Tomini tangs stay relatively small.

[Megatrev62]

I'm assuming 125 is 6 ft and if so there are many tangs that you could go with.

[evsalty]

FWIW I have had more then a few types of common tangs and have yet to find one that eats truely eats hair algae. Rabbit fish tend to be better at this. Mettalic Foxface was the best for me and I have had friends with the scribble rabbits that do well as well. My Cheveron will nip at it occasionally but not enough to even give a decent trimming. My darn one spot Foxface that I have now won't touch it either. It will eat red algaes without hesitation but not greens.

[hotrodolds]

FWIW I have had more then a few types of common tangs and have yet to find one that eats truely eats hair algae. Rabbit fish tend to be better at this. Mettalic Foxface was the best for me and I have had friends with the scribble rabbits that do well as well. My Cheveron will nip at it occasionally but not enough to even give a decent trimming. My darn one spot Foxface that I have now won't touch it either. It will eat red algaes without hesitation but not greens.

My Yellow positively mowed down anything that resembled any sort of algae. He would follow the scraper when i did the weekly back glass scrape, and kept the power heads spotless.

[r2nj]

I have a sailfin, yellow and scopas tang in my 180. All get along great and graze my rocks as a "herd". The 125 gallon is a standard 72x18x22, but was looking for a tang that stayed small. Maybe a kole tang?

[geccles]

I kole tang would be a good choice.

[USNreefer]

I've also been researching this for my 125 as well, the conclusions I've made are one of these 3.

Spotted Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus truncatus)- gets about 6 1/2 inches

Bristletooth Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus tominiensis)- gets about 6 inches

Kole Yellow Eye Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)- gets about 7 inches

HTH

[ChrisKirkland]

I've also been researching this for my 125 as well, the conclusions I've made are one of these 3.

Spotted Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus truncatus)- gets about 6 1/2 inches

Bristletooth Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus tominiensis)- gets about 6 inches

Kole Yellow Eye Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)- gets about 7 inches

HTH


All are very good tangs to get for a 125 (wouldn't pull them all in one 125 though). If you don't over feed the tank any tang will keep your tank free of algae.

[AquamanSE]

if your talking around 8" then you have pleanty of options. All my favs are in that size group. Personal fav is a White Cheek maxing out @8" Lost mine a few years back to ick. I love tangs & have learned alot about them over the years. So I have TWO word of advise..... Quarantine & UV Sterillizer!

(But....if its a simple fowler setup then no worries)

[Sheol]

Those were the ones I was thinking of.
Maybe a convict tang, or the old stand-by, Yellow tang, as well?

Matthew

[kingfisherflesh]

I've also been researching this for my 125 as well, the conclusions I've made are one of these 3.

Spotted Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus truncatus)- gets about 6 1/2 inches

Bristletooth Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus tominiensis)- gets about 6 inches

Kole Yellow Eye Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)- gets about 7 inches

HTH

Good post. Any memeber of the Genus Ctenochaetus is going to be good at scraping alage off of surfaces, more so than the other genus' in my mind.

Their mouths are designed for doing exactly that.

There are tangs that outgrow 125g's in this genus...but a Tomini or a Spotted I think could work.

Good luck...might want to consider a lawnmower blenny as well.

[geaux xman]

powder brown hardly get much bigger than 5" in an aquarium.

[ReeferBill]

Kole or Yellow would be the best for algea grazing....:wavehand:

[29reef]

What about magnesium levels above 1200, an alk stable around 8-9dkh, and calcium of 375+? Combined with good water movement and gfo run in a reactor 24/7.

This is the real HA solution. Not a new fish.

As for a tang for your sized tank as many others have mentioned bristle tooth tangs are great.

[gig]

Not a tang, but get a foxface

[Jmason95]

I believe the mimic tangs stay relatively small.

[Sugar Magnolia]

What about magnesium levels above 1200, an alk stable around 8-9dkh, and calcium of 375+? Combined with good water movement and gfo run in a reactor 24/7.

This is the real HA solution. Not a new fish.

Agreed. Another fish adds to the bioload and produces more waste. Exporting excess nutrients is the key to getting rid of nuisance algae. I'd add also that using macro algae to export excess nutrients is a good idea as well.

[r2nj]

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I think a kole will be my first choice, followed by whatever they have that everyone's suggesting. Let's see what the LFS have. This is the feedback I was looking for.

Also, regarding levels, my parameters are fine and I don't have any algae issues. The tang will go into a standard 125 tank that's I'm using as my growout/frag tank, that's all plumbed into my 180 gallon display. I'm running a 75 gallon macro refug with 3.5" sand bed, a MRC GFO reactor, and 3 Korallia powerheads in the 125. That's why I'm not really concerned about the appearance of the tang, just prefer something on the small end (although the kole is a pretty fish).

Thanks again.

[sanchoy]

tomini for the glass walls
silver foxface rabbit fish is best for hair algae from my experience
achilles/sailfin make the best grazers

[davocean]

I like to have a tang for grazing as well, even if I'm not dealing w/ HA issues, and I just really like tangs.
Even a clean tank will have some macro algae growth on rocks, and they keep that in check.
I agree w/ USNreefers suggestions on that size tank.

[29reef]

I want to put one in my 125 gallon tank to keep the hair algae at bay.


Sure sounds like you have hair algae. GL with whatever fish you choose to keep.

[aandfsoccr04]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946007