Agreed!

Maybe some of us just get the "teacup" or "toy" versions of a fish

I purchased my Hippo Tang when it was the size of a toonie less than a year ago. It is now a good 4 to 5". I bought a Fowleri about 8 months ago as well. Started out about 5" and is now approx. 8". My Purple Tang looks the same as the day I bought it though and my Sailfin has grown a good 1 to 2" as well over 8 months.

I've had my desjardini (Red Sea) sailfin for 12-13 years - when I got him he was about 3". He's easily 8"-9" now, but I think the majority of that growth was early on. He was in a 4' 75g for many years, then temporarily (maybe about a year) in a 30" cube, now in a 280g 6' for the last 2 years. I wish I had thought to measure him (or at least do a better job of remembering better his size at the time) at the tank transfers. Intuitively, I feel like he has grown a little in the last 2 years but I have no empirical data to confirm it.

My lavender tang (Acanthurus nigrofuscus) was purchased pretty small. Maybe 3"-3.5" tip to tail. Lived in the same 30" cube for the first year, then into the 280g. He's 7"-8" now, so definitely bigger. But similar to the sailfin with the growth curve, most of the growth was in the beginning and has been more or less the same size the last 2 years now.

My lieutenant tang was a trade-in at J&L. I don't think he's grown much in the time I've had him (2-3 years). Hard to say, he might be a bit bigger since then, but not much. Certainly wider (I feed well too :lol:).

Not a tang, but, interesting to note. In my 280g I have a double-barred rabbitfish (Siganus virgatus). Bought him at a tiny size (1.5"-2"), was the second largest fish in the tank after the sailfin within 2-3 months (8" ish). In my 65g, I have Siganus doliatus (which is very similar to virgatus but more blue stripes). He was 2" at purchase, and in 2 years has grown to maybe 3.5". The species may be different technically but I've seen S. doliatus at public aquariums at 12" long so the size potential is there. So it makes me think that tank size does play a little into the equation.

Is that one of those things where if I twist my head just right it might make sense?? :)

Having owned dozens of tangs over 15 years, in various size tanks, and not a single one has grown in length tells me there may be a pattern to this. And while some report some tangs growing, most mirror my experiences. In fact, other than clowns and a couple damsels, I've never had a fish grow in length.

My point to all this is the speculation that a tang will outgrow a given tank. IME, if you buy a 3 inch YT and put it a 75g, it isn't going to outgrow it, usually.

I think this is an exception to the typical tang experience, I often hear of hipos getting very large, very fast.

:-) <3


~Tony

My 3" sailfin did fine in that 75g for something close to 8 or 9 years. Towards the end maybe there was a size issue but he never seemed distressed or uncomfortable to me. I wouldn't have purchased him at that larger size and put him in the 75g, but having grown up into the tank seems to have made a difference maybe.

Thing is though I think there is a time that a fish does stop if not significantly slowdown its growth. If you purchase after that point then conceivably that's going to be their size permanently. It would be interesting to observe if a change in environment can trigger a new growth phase though (ie., transferring to a much larger tank).

There must be something that influences growth rates though, there is just no comparison to the sizes of fish in the wild (and large public aquaria) versus those in the hobby.

Most of the tangs I've had over the years have grown. Yellow tangs tended to grow slowly, but species like A. mata & vlamingi grew fast.

I have an aquaculture background and most fish tend to have their fastest growth rates while young. That being the case, if your tang hasn't grown much in the first 3-4 years it is in your tank, it is unlikely to exhibit much growth after that.

Anthony

I have had a hippo and yellow in a 90 g. Both started at 3-4 inches and have only grown an inch (at best) in 2-3 years. I think I feed a bit sparingly but there has never been any aggression etc.

I imagine genetics, food type, and cough... tank size... play into it. I just upgraded to a 150 g so it will be interesting to see what happens to growth now.