Schooling Tangs

[naesco]

Seahorse fanatic is right.
If you have a long enough tank (6 foot) to accomodate tangs swimming needs it is possible.

We are talking yellow tangs here..

Choose a minimum of 3 making sure they are the same size. Do not select the small emaciated yellow tangs that are often for sale and feed them lots of nori or spirulina food and make sure that spirulina is listed as the first ingredient on the label.

As with all tangs it is a good idea to soak the food with garlic extreme, and add a bit of selcon from time to time.

Thanks for asking.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by naesco

If you have a long enough tank (6 foot) to accomodate tangs swimming needs it is possible.

Ya know, I just don't agree with this. I know, I know, it's a tang rule, but it's wrong. You take a tang out of the ocean, and whether you have a 4ft or 6ft tank, you're not accomodating anything. We all know tangs like to swim fast for 200yds at a time in a straight run, just for fun. 6 feet doesn't do this. 6 is of course better than 4, but really, c'mon.
I've always had 4ft tanks. my tangs appear as happy as tangs I see in 6ft tanks.

BTW, do you have some special notification setup that alerts you to the word "tang"? Just wonderin'

Anyways, I've only got a 90 with 2 tangs already, so this is just a hypothetical question. It just looks nice seeing a school of YTs swimming round.

Anyone done this with other types?

[JDigital]

I'd love to see some schooling Achilles!!

[michika]

In our big tank we are going to try for schooling yellows, scopas, purples, and hopefully a black or two.

[naesco]

Hi Brad.
My thoughts were that if you got a longer tank you could get a school of yellow tangs you were asking about.
I kind of hope that other tang keepers might pipe in; those that moved up from a 4 footer to a 6 or more. I think they would tell you they noticed quite a difference.
Wayne

[Aquattro]

Wayne, I agree a 6 is better than a 4, and 8ft is even better. But realistically, I think we like to say 6 to ease our guilt a bit. I watch my tangs and they swim for 4ft, stop, and take a left turn. I've watched the same species in a 6ft, they swim 6ft, stop, and make a left turn. In the big picture, really not much of a difference. Would the extra 2 ft matter if you were adding multiples? Perhaps. And maybe because of my style of rockscaping, the tangs feel more comfortable in being able to swim between the rocks and all around the perimeter of the tank. I always use considerably less than the recommended amount of rock, so the fish have quite a bit of room, even if it's not linear.
One day I hope to have an 8ft tank, then we don't need to discuss this And at that time, if I notice a difference, I'll come back here and eat my words.

[Keri]

Having had the priviledge of seeing Anthony's YT school in person I have to say Wow! They look amazing, if you're considering it and have the space it's worth a try.


(and this is coming from someone who isn't really a huge YT fan!)

[mike31154]

I have one YT in my 4 foot tank, 75 gal and I tend to agree with Aquattro. We're not doing this for the fish's sake, but our own. I guess you have to draw the line somewhere, but if it's true that a tang likes to swim 200 yds in one shot then even 10 feet isn't going to make a captive fish much happier in the long term. So unless you have an olympic size swimming pool for a tank, you're really not doing the fish any favour.

My YT appears quite content in the 4 foot tank, but sometimes I do wonder if I shouldn't free Willy? I purchased him for another reefer who shut down his 60 gal.... a 3 foot tank. He's probably the most well adjusted dude in my tank, doesn't pick on anyone unless provoked and even then he wags his scalpel just enough to get the point across, so to speak. People keep birds in cages with clipped wings and all, so I find it surprising that there is so much controversy among marine hobbyists regarding tangs and tank size.