Advice on Tangs

[Txase1]

I am fixing to add a blue and a yellow tang to my 55gl live rock tank with two percula clowns. Aside from keeping the chemistry at the right levels, does anybody have any advice? Are they sensitive?

[blt4ever]

Both will quickly get too large for your tank quickly. For yellow tangs minimum is 100 gallon, the minimum tank size is 180 gallon for a blue tang. Also blue tangs are very prone to ick.

This link has useful tank size guidelines for tangs
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079

[Sk8r]

Wecome to RC. I have to agree: just won't survive in a 55. They grow a lot, real fast, and are quite prone to fight in a tank under 100 gallons. ---There are, however, many bright yellow and blue fish in the sea that would do well in a 55. Is it the shape, color, type that most attracts you?

[Txase1]

Both. Color and shape.

[Txase1]

Do they get to big in months? Years?

[cheucklate]

If you buy them small. I say anywhere from 4-6 months they will outgrow the tank.

[azcrazy]

Yellow tang and yellow eye tang fight/chace each other in my 180g and they are not bigger than 2"

so I assume that a 55g will be worst

[Giants13]

tank is too small, my friend tried this even tho we warned him the yellow tang killed the hippo tang.

[stingeragent]

I had a small blue tang in a 40B for about 7 months. He did fine, never got ich, always ate, liked to hang out with the clowns, but I had a solid tank upgrade plan in place. If you plan to stick with your 55, I would choose fish that can be with you for the life of the tank. There is always the option to rehome fish once they get bigger but that is much harder than it sounds. When I tore down my 55, I had 2 fish to get rid of, and even at a very cheap price, I wasn't able to sell them so had to give them to the LFS. Either way, 2 tangs in that 55 isn't gonna work at all. Your absolute best bet is just not to get them period in a tank that size. I would consider myself lucky and also stubborn. For me it worked out, but especially having 2 in the tank, they can stress each other out, fight, etc, and you very well may end up losing both which will cause a disappointment in the end. I can't tell you how many craigslist ad's I've seen where people are tearing down there saltwater tanks after they try to keep their trophy fish in too small of a tank, or they get ich, and all the fish die, and they just want to be done with it.

[Grkgod36]

yea please dont.

[uncleL]

If you want a Tang get a Scopas Tang 1" max size and add 2 Blue Green Chromis, 2 Percula clowns, lawn mower blenny, Coral Beauty would be a good mix....I think??

[Txase1]

Got it. Thanks to all.

[stingeragent]

Ultimately, it is your decision irregardless of what anyone tells you on here. It's harder to take advice from people you don't know than it is to see the effects of not taking that advice unfold before you. I stuck a yellow tang in my first tank which was a 20 long. Posted some pics up on here and of course everyone said return him asap. I decided to watch the fish for a couple days, and all it did was dart back and forth across the tank and just looked like I had stuck him in hell. He got returned the next day. Typically the advice you get here will be from people that have personally done something similar to what your trying to do, or have read numerous threads about the same. Not trying to shatter your dreams, just trying to prevent fish issues that are more than likely to occur, so that you don't end up having to deal with it yourself.

[toothybugs]

If you want a Tang get a Scopas Tang 1" max size and add 2 Blue Green Chromis, 2 Percula clowns, lawn mower blenny, Coral Beauty would be a good mix....I think??

Scopas get even bigger than yellows...

[WaReefer458]

I tried a small kole tang in my 40. Was a great fish until he realized all my other algae eaters were competing for his food. Beat the hell outta my small bicolor blenny and killed 2 gobies. If it's the only algae eater in the tank I'd say you could do a Kole or tomini as they don't get very big but id add it as the last fish. Needless to say my Kole was removed and the zen in the tank was restored. Everyone looks happier after he was gone

[Sapelo]

I kept a yellow in my 90 gallon for a year before upgrading to a 300 gallon. The difference in the fish's behavior was unbelievable.
Can you keep these fish as you are planning? Maybe. Is it in the best interest of the fish? No.
It's kind of like getting a Great Dane puppy for your one room apartment and then hating the breed for what happens next.

[Luke Schnabel]

You could get away with one tang in that tank, but it will get to big. When it does you'll need to have somewhere for it to go.

[MondoBongo]

I kept a yellow in my 90 gallon for a year before upgrading to a 300 gallon. The difference in the fish's behavior was unbelievable.

this has been my experience as well. i made an ill advised purchase when getting in to this hobby of a yellow tang for my 75 gallon tank.

as hew grew he became more and more aggressive and irritable. always on guard, and rather skittish/easily startled.

a few months ago we moved, and i was able to set up a 160 gallon tank, the different has been dramatic.

he is so much more relaxed now. his swimming has become more fluid and relaxed, and he is nowhere near as aggressive/skittish.

rather remarkable what the increase in size has done for his personality.

[Sk8r]

For color and shape...a yellow watchman can give you brilliant yellow. A couple of yellowtail damsels can give you yellow and brilliant blue---so could a blue star damsel if you have LED lighting---they're not so brilliant under regular. The shape---a flame angel (one of the small species angels) could give you red, if you don't have corals---angels cannot be trusted with stony coral, but a good softie tank can probably outgrow any damage they do. There are fairy wrasses, which come in reds and oranges, and there are the red firefish (screen your tank against jumpers with those: they're amazing at it, also in going through drain slits in a downflow box and ending up in the sump.) Look at some of our sponsors' fish and invert catalogs for some ideas, and look at the adult size on the critters---max 5" is possible in a 55. And the better you can get your water quality and lighting, the more easily you can keep corals, some of which will grow like mad.

The deal is, once you limit your size to 3" to 5" adult, AND consider varieties of coral, the 'bigger' your tank gets in terms of space: ---it sounds like a paradox, but corals 'fold' space, and create tunnels and alleys and shapes that make the space complex, and give fish that live in the coral maze much more to do than to go up and down the glass.

If that turns out to be a route you like, we can tell you how to encourage coral growth: it's mostly having a sump, having a skimmer, having decent lights, and being willing to run water tests once weekly. The good news is that corals are living filters, and actually help the tank rather than piling up bioload.

SO whatever you'd like to do within the realm of 3" to 5" we can help you figure options and find a solution. I ran a very successful 52 gallon lps reef that grew like mad and was covered in corals---mostly hammer. I've gone to a larger tank now, a 102, in which I keep mostly damsels, gobies, and a basslet---again, quite colorful fishes, and in which I'm working on growing corals.

[e048]

Blue tang... Which one? Hippo, powder blue, Atlantic blue?

I would do a yellow and a smaller bristletooth tang or do a powder blue and maybe a dwarf angel (lemon peel) if you don't have corals or clams

[hkgar]

Blue tang... Which one? Hippo, powder blue, Atlantic blue?

I would do a yellow and a smaller bristletooth tang or do a powder blue and maybe a dwarf angel (lemon peel) if you don't have corals or clams

NO!!!!

Tank is much too small for a PBT or a Yellow Tang. Adding to a 55 is animal cruelty, no matter how you try and justify it. Not even "I'll just keep it till it gets too big. Even small they get stressed in a small tank. Not even "I'll get it now as I plan to upgrade int the future". Get it after you upgrade.

[Txase1]

Thank you all. You guys are great! With such overwhelming responce against, I will abandone the idea of the tangs until I get a bigger tank.

Sk8r,
I have a live rock set up because I wanted to start easy, but I am already set up with a sump, skimmer, good lighting, and weekly testing. The reason for that is that eventually I would like to get a anemonie for my clowns. How big of a step is it to go to corals? Obviously, I have to research that.

[e048]

A four foot tank is fine for a bristletooth tang

[toothybugs]

A four foot tank is fine for a bristletooth tang

In a 75 or 90 or 120, sure. Otherwise it's like living in the hallway.

[CStrickland]

+1
I'm looking at my 55 and shaking my head. No way I'd put a yellow in there with a bristle tooth. No where near enough rocks to graze or room to swim. Nothing about that would be "fine"
Same with the recommendation to add a powder blue. No way Jose

[stingeragent]

I would take everyones advice to not get a tang in that size tank as the motivation to get a bigger tank! Everyone wins. I've only had my 125 set up for a few weeks now and wish I would of just got this one to start 18 months ago.