how will a purple tang do in an very underpopulated 75? no more than 2 other fish, maybe a pair of maroon clowns? lotsa corals, clams.
It will be fine. The purple is not as big a swimmer as the pallette or clown. Lots of people (myself included) keep Zebrasoma’s in four foot tanks.
+1 I think all of the commonly available Zebrasoma except for the Sailfin will do just fing in a 75g. You wouldnt have to limit the tank to just two tankmates either, as long as you choose your fish wisely you should have no problems keeping the purple with a full bioload.
the title of this thread is misleading! lOl
[quote=“TimH07, post:4, topic:2360”]
the title of this thread is misleading! lOl[/quote]
tank question??
thanks for the positive
No, I think he was referring to the other meaning of “tang”. heh
[quote=“RCA, post:6, topic:2360”]
No, I think he was referring to the other meaning of “tang”. heh[/quote]
PBJ! < YahoO
Yes, Jesus loves Tang wonderers too. but as far as fish go, i keep 6 tangs, sorta large in 3 different tanks 40-75gallon. Im hoping to upgrade to one big tank for them all. 120 or maybe the used 180 Rich has in the shop. Im thinking about it… so they can hang out together. they just need a lair to stalk through. My 40 breeder is a bunch of rock and cheato for a 5 inch bristle tooth and yellow tang to cruise through. then a long 9 inch deep frag tank for the hippo, and a 75 reef for another bristle tooth and a scopas tang.
what about qting one. do he need a large qt for his time in solitary?
On the RC forum, Jamie B has one for sale, good price and he knows his stuff so I’m sure it’s healthy. Check it out.
funny how things change so much over ashort time. 5 years ago, hippo tangs were one of the most expensive, and purples were pretty easy to get decently priced. and when we “came back” just the fact that purples were more expensive than hippos was odd, let alone the fact the price has tripled on theses guys!!!
just a nugget i felt like mentioning. no purpose really… lol
I would not keep my tang in my 75 if I felt I was harming it in any way. Only problems I have with my tang are not major ones. It occasionally splashes water on my light fixture to get my attention for food. If I don’t feed it for 3 days it will nip at my Cespitularia in front of me just to be a pita.(never takes a chunk and only does it when I am standing there literally just to p* me off) Since it has been alone for so long it has claimed the tank and won’t allow anything else in with it. I tried to add two decent size clowns and it was pretty mean to them before I pulled them out.
I’ll probably eventually add 4-5 fish at a time so the tank will be out numbered with new tank mates and won’t be able to be too much of a bully. Typically once new fish have settled in the tank for a day the bullying goes away. That is unless food is low and they are another tang.
Just some side notes on my experience with Purple Tangs, but as far as keeping it in your 75 I wouldn’t see an issue and would actually highly recommend it.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:12, topic:2360”]
I would not keep my tang in my 75 if I felt I was harming it in any way. Only problems I have with my tang are not major ones. It occasionally splashes water on my light fixture to get my attention for food. If I don’t feed it for 3 days it will nip at my Cespitularia in front of me just to be a pita.(never takes a chunk and only does it when I am standing there literally just to p* me off) Since it has been alone for so long it has claimed the tank and won’t allow anything else in with it. I tried to add two decent size clowns and it was pretty mean to them before I pulled them out.
I’ll probably eventually add 4-5 fish at a time so the tank will be out numbered with new tank mates and won’t be able to be too much of a bully. Typically once new fish have settled in the tank for a day the bullying goes away. That is unless food is low and they are another tang.
Just some side notes on my experience with Purple Tangs, but as far as keeping it in your 75 I wouldn’t see an issue and would actually highly recommend it. [/quote]
jon, what about qting. he’s 4 inches and i have only a 10 gal qt???
ok… here i go now. and sorry for the hijack and whatnot. but as much shit thats passed out to people that house certain fish (namely tangs) in tanks that r viewed as too small, i gotta shoot my issue a little here. tangs especially, as well as a lot of other saltwater fish, r “thin bodied” and therefore dont store a lot of food. nowhere near what thicker bodied fish do. and we all know how active they r, with very high metabolisms… (which is the argument with tanks being too small) so then, i fell that, anyone who is not willing to feed the fish MORE than once a day or less even, should not even think about keeping one. i understand busy schedules and whatnot… i have a 20 dollar feeder that sprinkles flakes 3x a day for me. than i can throw some nori or mysis or whatever, in the evenings when i get home. and afa keeping nutrient levels down and blah blah with water quality and such… dont keep thin bodied/highly active fish. period.
sorry for the rant apul, but its crazy how someone will get beheaded for one issue by people who sometimes r overlooking their own issues themselves.
well fed fish r healthier by far. sometimes the best medicine for a fish is lots of food.
ok… i guess i got it all out.
carry on
feeding the fish isn’t as much an issue (though an issue non the less) as the stress of the fish, MANY hobbiests fail to recognize stress in their pets (many dont even consider them pet more a decoration >::: )
i’ve said it before, i consider even 75g too small for most tangs (dont hold me to that i have a tomini tang in mine) but i felt that his maximum growth size was small enough for 75g
of course he is always stressed as well, smashing his face into rocks constantly and having wounds on his head.
i’ve always heard 6’ tank is a good rule of thumb for tangs, mainly larger ones.
Tim what sort of stress are you talking about?
I have never witness my tang run into anything in my 75 frag tank and there are a lot of obstacles to navigate through in that tank. Perhaps your tang was just dropped by it’s parents as a small fry and is the exception to the rule, lol.
[quote=“TimH07, post:15, topic:2360”]
i’ve always heard 6’ tank is a good rule of thumb for tangs, mainly larger ones.[/quote]
But as it was stated before, animals in the genus Zebrasoma are generally not considered larger ones.
Fishguy I am not sure if it may have been my statement that inspired that thread, but I have to say I 100% agree with the importance of nutrition in marine fish, especially tangs. Actually my boss has said countless times he is going to get me a shirt made up that says, “save the tangsâ€ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ. It is rare that my tang goes long with out food and I have never been mad at him for getting upset when we leave him alone with out food. That being said I don’t believe it harms him significantly when we leave town 2-3 times a year for more then a day and he goes with out food.
One of the first things I was put in charge of when I began working for Armco Aquatics is feeding and nutrition for all of the animals we take care of. Everyone of our vans is now stocked with multiple bags of three species of marine algae and many veggie clips. We also carry 5-6 different types of high quality pellets, mixed containers of SeaVeggies, flake food, automatic feeders, vitamin supplements, garlic, and we deliver a variety of frozen foods. I frequently consult Scott Michael’s works to decide appropriate foods and have discussed feeding with many other authors. Every day I work with the owners of aquariums to make sure enough of the right types of foods are getting to the fish so that the animals are healthy and happy and that the water quality is not sacrificed. That is just at my day job.
At home my tang as a staple eats:
TLF mixed SeaVeggies
Sm and Md. Formula One pellets
Sm Forumla Two pellets
~Three times a week I add a mixture of the following to the tank:
Mysis shrimp
Blood worms
Cyclopeeze
Oyster eggs
Oysterfeast
Daphnia
Krill
Rotifers
Marine Snow
Mixed species of Phyto Plantkon
VitaChem
(obviously not all specifically fed for the tang)
Occasionally I will add:
Spirulina
Rod’s Food
Hikari Marine-S
Freeze dried Artemia.
Selcon
Aqueon Marine Granules
Clips of red, purple, and various types of green seaweed
I also believe the microfuana in the aquarium to be very rich in larger size plankton including several species of star fish, amphipods, copepods, mysis shrimp, and more. I would consider the tank to be fed a lot and high nutrients. I have to do frequent water changes due to the amount I feed this particular tank.
In part because of the way I feed my tank I have had many hobbyist have tell me that my purple tang is the healthiest they have ever seen.
[quote=“moliken, post:13, topic:2360”]
[quote=“Gordonious, post:12, topic:2360”]
I would not keep my tang in my 75 if I felt I was harming it in any way. Only problems I have with my tang are not major ones. It occasionally splashes water on my light fixture to get my attention for food. If I don’t feed it for 3 days it will nip at my Cespitularia in front of me just to be a pita.(never takes a chunk and only does it when I am standing there literally just to p* me off) Since it has been alone for so long it has claimed the tank and won’t allow anything else in with it. I tried to add two decent size clowns and it was pretty mean to them before I pulled them out.
I’ll probably eventually add 4-5 fish at a time so the tank will be out numbered with new tank mates and won’t be able to be too much of a bully. Typically once new fish have settled in the tank for a day the bullying goes away. That is unless food is low and they are another tang.
Just some side notes on my experience with Purple Tangs, but as far as keeping it in your 75 I wouldn’t see an issue and would actually highly recommend it. [/quote]
jon, what about qting. he’s 4 inches and i have only a 10 gal qt???[/quote]
I think you will need a larger qt. unless you go with a very small tang.
Sorry got distracted forgot that question. To be honest my purple was in a 10g qt for several months and it was fine, but I would not recommend it at all. When I did so I was in college, so I was not working 40 hours a week, and Steph was unemployed at the time, so there was constantly someone there to tweak the tank and monitor it. I had a pH meter hooked up to it, did frequent testing and water changes, and feed it well. I would never attempt to QT a fish in this manner again.
Have to agree with Ento. I would think 30g would be best, but 20g would probably do.(20 long better then 20H, but it would work)
What ever you decide I would get it up and running asap. It would be best if you did a water change on your other tank and added it to this qt tank. You may want to find a small HOB filter like an aquaclear or an emperor and run it with just a sponge on your reef tank for 3 weeks or more. Then move it to your qt tank and it will be biologically active and it will help significantly. To avoid a sudden crash for a significant bioload being added to the small tank you could start to feed the tank a tiny bit of food every couple of days now even before the fish is added.
I would highly HIGHLY recommend finding and reading through an article written by leebca on Quarantining fish.
Please if you have any more questions ask.
i've said it before, i consider even 75g too small for most tangs
i think most people, including myself, agree with that. i generally feel that there are very few tangs that should be kept in a 75 longterm.
i dont necessarily agree with having to feed a tang at least once a day or more. tangs are grazers and in most healthy tanks probably dont need to be feed every day. i agree with Jon that the quality of food is just as, if not more important than the quality of the food and that tangs are very good at supplemnting there diet with microfauna.
there are a lot of “blanket” rules about everything in this hobby, and especially tangs for a very good reason. i may answer the same question three different ways with three different people based on their experience level. i think there are a LOT of things that new hobbyiest should hold off on doing, including keeping tangs, until the get a little more experience. if you open the door a little with your advice, the tend to kick the door down. advanced hobbyiest, however, i give a lot more lattitude and support to their choices even if they might be considered hobby “no no’s”
just my :TWOCENTS
i have decided to pass on the purple tang. maybe a smaller one a bit later, when there’s a larger qt.