[Brett A Ross]

my stocking is almost complete for my 75gal my list is as follows



2 Amphiprion percula ( True Percula Clown )

1 Amblyeleotris guttata (orange spotted goby )

1 Centropyge bispinosus ( Coral Beauty Angelfish )

3 Chromis viridis ( Blue Green Chromis )

I would like to add a Zebrasoma flavescens ( Yellow Tang ) last . ok the question is can I add anything else or am I at my limit for my tank. the tang will be last . Hoping I can have one more small fish if so some suggestions would help. Reef safe please

[Reefland]

I think you could probably add a couple of more Chomis but other than that, I think you list is pretty complete.

[Brett A Ross]

is that after the tang.

[Reefland]

A 75 gallon is the minimal size I would recommend for a tang, I would not necessarily recommend it but wouldn't steer you away from it either. I would ask that you research the needs of the tang and the other fish that you are planning and make an informed decision.

[Brett A Ross]

I have looked into it i have read boulth ways, my wife realy wants one and she has put up with a lot on this littel progect so i think i will try one. by the way everything is dooing well thanks for all the help an advise.

[scubadude]

General rule of thumb most ppl have for tang etiquecy would be a 6' tank for running distance, of course the depth and width would have to be considered. I have thought 90g or 75g @ the smallest I would put a tang in and that would be if they where very small and was planning soon upgrade to larger tank, Thats just me though. I have seen ppl have them in 55g...big tangs...and healthy too, but these are well seasoned aquarist and its usually just a temp. hold such as a quarantine. I like the sound of 100+ gallons per tang it could be a bit less or more depending on the system

[Ninong]

If you're going to add a tang to a 75-gal tank, then the yellow tang is probably your best bet. And you should probably add it last.

As far as how many fish you can keep, that's a tricky question. It depends on the behavior of the fish and their adult size. The yellow tang, once it matures, will have about as much biomass as all of the other fish on your list combined. That means that its waste will equal all of your other fish combined. The so-called rules of thumb that specify a certain number of inches of fish make even less sense than the stupid watts per gallon rule. Instead of inches of fish, they should be stating their little rule as so many grams of fish per gallon. A pretty good estimate is that a 12" fish is ten time the mass of a 6" fish and 100 times the mass of a 3" fish. That hold true for koi and would hold true for other full bodied fish as well. It may not be that great for many of the fish that we keep in reef tanks but I think you get the idea.

I have a 120-gal tank but I don't have a tang. I do have a nice Foxface Rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus) and he does a good job of making sure that my tank remains free of algae. I don't know if my tank is large enough for him or not but I figured he might be a better bet than a tang for the relative small size of my tank. I agree with Scubadude that a 6-ft tank is probably a pretty good minimum size for the smaller species of tangs. The large tang species require tanks of several hundred gallons.

[samsreef]

Sorry to hijack your thread but, Just a little information please, reading what some people have said has alerted me...
From the beginning of my venture to setup my 50gal US gal (43 or so UK gal) tank I have wanted to get a purple tang. Now would it be unreasonable to keep it in a 50 gallon tank?

My other inhabitants include a bi-color angel, 1 fire shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, 3 snails, 1 blue legged hermit crab, starry dragonet, maroon clownfish, anemone, 2 corals (obviously planning to have a lot more!!!), Bistle Star Fish.

The tank has a lot of hiding places for fish, and because the tank is a corner tank I have done the rocks in a half prymid type structure against the back of the tank hiding the pump.

Now from what I can see their is a large amount of swimming space left after the rocks.

The purple tang was going to be the last fish inhabitant... I read that he was one of the smaller tangs so i'm just hoping it will be ok

[Ninong]

I don't think you should try a purple tang in a 50-gal tank. It may not be a big problem in the beginning if it is very small but once it gets larger, you will have problems on your hands. It will go nuts in such a small tank. I realize that some people do keep them in 75-gal tanks but I think that's really too small. Don't forget that the smaller the tank, the more the other fish will be stressed out having to share the tank with an aggressive tang.

[samsreef]

Thanks for the advice, I guess thats one fish I'm going to have to do without (probably save a lot of money, they are selling for £75 in the UK!). Bearing in mind of my other fish what do you suggest next for my tank? (sorry to turn this into "finish stocking my 50 gal tank", would it be better open another thread Ninong? (seems you are mod of this forum an all ...)

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by samsreef

Thanks for the advice, I guess thats one fish I'm going to have to do without (probably save a lot of money, they are selling for £75 in the UK!). Bearing in mind of my other fish what do you suggest next for my tank? (sorry to turn this into "finish stocking my 50 gal tank", would it be better open another thread Ninong? (seems you are mod of this forum an all ...)

Yes, it would be better to start a new thread if you are seeking advice for your 50-gal tank because this is Brett's thread asking about his 75-gal tank -- two different sizes!

Thanks!

[Ninong]

One comment about tangs: These fish are not really aggressive in the wild. They get along quite well together because they roam over a very wide area. Their aggression is the result of being kept in small tanks in captivity. Even the recommended minimum size tanks for the various species of tangs are inadequate.

However, before this degenerates into an ethical discussion, lets just say that most of us keep tangs. It's up to each of us to exercise some judgment as to the exact species we keep depending on the size of our aquarium. It is sad to see people posting about their two Zebrasoma spp. tangs fighting in a 90-gal tank because everybody knows that that is a very likely outcome.

People who want to keep tangs in tanks less than 6-ft long should probably confine themselves to one specimen. People who want to keep the large species of tangs should have very large tanks (300+ gallons).

[samsreef]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Yes, it would be better to start a new thread if you are seeking advice for your 50-gal tank because this is Brett's thread asking about his 75-gal tank -- two different sizes!

Thanks!

ok thanks, sorry also sorry Brett for changing the topic...

Brett, do you already have those fish or are you just planning? If you do have them then can I see some pics of your 75gal for inspiration? I love seeing other peoples tanks

[Brett A Ross]

Yes they are already in there I have done a lot of research online and in books on the species in my tank. I feel this had paid off with no problems with aggression in my tank so far. I would just forget the yellow tang altogether if my wife and daughter did not want it so badly or If I had a consensus on the 75 being to small for it.. As for pics I have tried to post but my files are to large and have not had time to figure it out. I will work on it I am very proud of how my system has turned out. I have been up and running for around three months now with no deaths. I am a firm believer in as large a sump as you can fit. Mine tank being in wallbehind the wall under a set of steps is a 55 gal this make my water volume around 100 gal US and so far things are stable and all trends are slow moving. By the way the advise I have received on this site has helped me to avoid mistakes and to check up on some questionable advise from my lfs. I think i owe much of my early sucess to thse helpful people.

[samsreef]

I'm not sure whether you guys will speak to me after I tell you but it's better to be honest.

A couple of weeks before posting this I asked my LFS to look out for a yellow tang for me, they said they would try and get a good specimen that would be relativly small. They have a purple tang in their tank which must only be about 50gal.

Today the LFS phoned up and said they had 3 great specimens that had just arived from London. They were correct! I have never seen a purple tang without a hint of lateral line dease, these fish looked perfect.

My Dad & the LFS persuaded me to get it, and I couldn't resist. At the moment it is fine in the tank and I'm sure it will be the boss. It is already swimming around and biting bits of alage of the LR. None of the other fish have bothered it. Not even the bicolor angel even though it has stole its hiding place!

Don't worry though guys, i'm not stupid and have read all about the purple tangs. They are one of the most hardest's, like the yellow tang.

If the tang gets to big for the tank than I will simply upgrade my tank, that isn't a problem at all, however he still has a long way to go.

For your information his name is: "Don"