Could I keep these in a 46g FO?

[t-byrd]

since it was pretty clear from the beginning the dude was
going to do what he wanted anyways, hopefully he DID get
the 1-1/2 incher instead of something bigger. maybe that was the point of him being told to get the smaller one.

 

[Djm9288]

what ? No this is what i am getting, Yellow tang(one inch) LN hawk, Flame angel. Sorry for all this trouble!!
Daniel

 

[AF Founder]

what ? No this is what i am getting, Yellow tang(one inch) LN hawk, Flame angel. Sorry for all this trouble!!
Daniel

Daniel,

Please remember what I said; a juvenile tang requires a constant supply of food. Fead it spirulina flakes and hang some Nori in the tank.

 

[naesco]

In terms of surgeon growth and behaviour the difference between 50 gallons and 500 gallons is trivial"

Sorry Terry you are dead wrong almost to the point of heresy.

The difference in behaviour and growth is mega difference as anyone who keeps tangs can attest to.

 

[Anonymous]

In terms of surgeon growth and behaviour the difference between 50 gallons and 500 gallons is trivial

100% untrue. I can tell you there is a world of difference in the behaviour of tangs going from 75 gallon tanks to 180, and even more difference going from 180 to 550, from personal experience.

I could also repeat numerous anecdotal stories told by countless others who have watched the increase in growth rate and activity levels of tangs with only modest increases in tank size.

It stuns me that you could make a statement like that, Terry, and it would stun me even more if you actually believe it.

Please consult with Scott Michael, Bob Fenner, or Charles Delbeek and see if they agree with this position. I would be curious.

As for the thread starter, the flame angel is totally inappropriate for a new tank, and even less appropriate for a fish only. Also, I have been to many LFS and I don't remember ever seeing a 1 inch yellow tang. You asked the exact same questions a year ago on AL, so I am curious exactly when this tank is going to be set up.....

Brian

 

[Djm9288]

AF Founder- im going to have a refugium, will the tang eat any pods? Otherwise would 2-spirulina a day and nori be good? along with the LR that i will have

 

[AZDesertRat]

I have a 12 years old hippo and a 4 year old purple tang in my FO 90G. I must be doing something right since the hippo is still kicking and the purple is happy as a lark and they even get along great. I did have to remove my 5 year old cinammon clown recently because he became bossy and was pushing my green bird wrasse around, which by the way is 6 years old. I guess I listen to everyones input but take a lot of it with a grain of salt ( no pun intended). Whatever works for you within reason.

 

[AF Founder]

In terms of surgeon growth and behaviour the difference between 50 gallons and 500 gallons is trivial

100% untrue. I can tell you there is a world of difference in the behaviour of tangs going from 75 gallon tanks to 180, and even more difference going from 180 to 550, from personal experience.

I could also repeat numerous anecdotal stories told by countless others who have watched the increase in growth rate and activity levels of tangs with only modest increases in tank size.

It stuns me that you could make a statement like that, Terry, and it would stun me even more if you actually believe it.

Please consult with Scott Michael, Bob Fenner, or Charles Delbeek and see if they agree with this position. I would be curious.

As for the thread starter, the flame angel is totally inappropriate for a new tank, and even less appropriate for a fish only. Also, I have been to many LFS and I don't remember ever seeing a 1 inch yellow tang. You asked the exact same questions a year ago on AL, so I am curious exactly when this tank is going to be set up.....

Brian

Brian, et al,

You don't seem to understand what I said. I said the difference between a 50 and 500 gallon tank in terms of natural tang behavior in the wild is trivial. Check out the footage in Blue Planet and watch shoals of convict tangs grazing and achilles trying to chase them off, also their complex breeding behavior. Watch their ways of protecting themselves from reef sharks at night. It would take a container of thousands of gallons to allow for natural tang behavior, if that would even allow for it.

What is significant to you is trivial to natural tang behavior in the wild. In other parts of this thread I pointed out that from my point of view I could see more "tang behavior" when I went to a 10 foot tank from a 6 foot tank, but from the point of view of tangs in the wild I believe what you and I observe is trivial. Maybe it soothes one's conscience to think we are providing a real natural environment when we go from a 50 to 500 gallon tank, but as Pip said in Dicken's Great Expectations: "there's no deceiver like the self deceiver." I have always tried to do my best for my aquatic guest's welfare, but I have never decieved myself into thinking I was giving them anything like the world of a wild reef.

If you took the position that tangs ought not be kept in captivity at all then I think you would a defensible position. As I have said over and over again, we are arguing about trivial degrees of emphasis.

One favor please: read what I wrote and respond to that. Don't erect a straw man, so that you can enjoy knocking it down.

 

[AF Founder]

AF Founder- im going to have a refugium, will the tang eat any pods? Otherwise would 2-spirulina a day and nori be good? along with the LR that i will have

If you mean by pod copepods then it is unlikely that your tang will be very effective at hunting down a copepod, assuming it even wanted to.
If I were you I would try to grow some macroalgae in your sump, which your tang will happily eat, when you remove some and feed it to your tang. Some of the macroalgae that I harvest in my refugium I feed to the tangs in the main tank.

 

[Anonymous]

If you took the position that tangs ought not be kept in captivity at all then I think you would a defensible position.

Makes sense to me! If you insert the words "be in" between the word "would" and the word "a", then this is probably as true a statement in this thread.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Terry,
I see your point. I saw the powder blues on a similar, if not the same, show. They looked so small on the reef and they look so large in an aquarium. I also see Brain's :wink: and naesco's. The behavior difference between the 55 and the 100 was dramatic. I look forward to seeing the difference when he moves to the 1200. Still won't be what the reef is, but it is a lot closer to optimum than minimum. I appreciate the way way you have handled this discussion. I hope I can bring the same grace to the opposite position in the future. I still disagree with your stance on this particular issue, but I sure admire you taking in the way you have! Thanks for all you have done and are doing for our hobby. Hopefully we can convert you to the "dark side" and, one day, when you grow up, you to can be in the Tang Police :wink:

DJM,
Check out the link I gave you. You still haven't done that. Also, get Scott Michaels book on reef fishes. Then read it. Then read it again. The Contientious Marine Aquarist is another book you should buy and read.

 

[AF Founder]

Steve,

One last point, you said," The behavior difference between the 55 and the 100 was dramatic. I look forward to seeing the difference when he moves to the 1200. Still won't be what the reef is, but it is a lot closer to optimum than minimum. THe difference between these progressively larger tanks, from the point of view of the aquarist is dramatic, but compared to the wild, IMO, is trivial.

Thank you guys! I enjoyed our discussion, and I even enjoyed the passion you brought to it.... But the dark side. :roll: