Tang Growth

[reefme]

Me too. Max. I see is 4"-5". I buy small tangs 2" max. and see they grow.
If you have small tank they will stay small. If you have big tank they will grow big.

[MarkoD]

After 2 years my Achilles is still the same size as the day I got him. And he's in a large tank and constantly grazing

[marie]

I have a yellow tang that might have grown an inch in 7 yrs and had an achilles tang that grew from 3" to 10 " in less then 3 yrs.

Right now I have a Naso that has grown approx 4" in less then a year, a powder blue that has barely grown half an inch and a bristlemouth that started out smaller then the powderblue and is now easily twice the size......in my experience there is no rhyme or reason to fish growth

[Myka]

Originally Posted by marie

In my experience there is no rhyme or reason to fish growth

Agreed!

[MarkoD]

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

[Spyd]

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.

[Delphinus]

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 ).

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.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Spyd

I purchased my Hippo Tang when it was the size of a toonie less than a year ago

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

[windcoast reefs]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

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

Yeah thats what i heard to, but my hippo was 4" when I bought it, and 2 years later its 4".

Now that I think about it, all my tangs are pretty much the same as when I bought them. Maybe different tanks cause fish to grow, and other stunt them?

[Rice Reef]

I've gone with the open and less live rock look on my rebuild and the tangs love the open space and are darting all over! My tangs are fat but have not noticed any growth since I have them (4+) yrs.. However, I should revisit this in a yr to see if it does make a difference.