A fish may swim, eat, etc...but unless you can talk directly to that fish, and ask it...you dont know that it's happy and in the best health that it can be in. Just because fish do not show signs of disease or ill-health, doesnt mean they're healthy.jessie said:
yellow tang
- Thread starter Bigworm616
- Start date
No one really "decides" how much room a fish needs. But, it's kinda common sense...
You dont put a fish that get's 15" long into a 55gal. tank (even though it's 48" long). You dont put a fish that gets 3 feet long into a 10 gal tank, even though it may be a 2" juvenile.
If you're going to get a fish...no matter if it's a juvenile or not, you need to make sure you've got enough tank room for it to live through adulthood.
What your saying is basically like saying...."Hey, I'm gonna buy a dog...but it's a puppy, so I'll stick it in a tiny cage and wait till it's cramped and uphappy before I move it to a bigger cage, or get rid of it."
You dont put a fish that get's 15" long into a 55gal. tank (even though it's 48" long). You dont put a fish that gets 3 feet long into a 10 gal tank, even though it may be a 2" juvenile.
If you're going to get a fish...no matter if it's a juvenile or not, you need to make sure you've got enough tank room for it to live through adulthood.
What your saying is basically like saying...."Hey, I'm gonna buy a dog...but it's a puppy, so I'll stick it in a tiny cage and wait till it's cramped and uphappy before I move it to a bigger cage, or get rid of it."
Hi,
My point was that at that stage (4-inch?), it seems that the animal does not require an immidiate move to a bigger tank.
While it might be true that tangs will grow to an enormous size, perhaps even in captivity, I do not believe many do so.
In a way, I agree that attempting to assess a fish health status by "looking" at them is not a very responsible and sensible thing. However, what other factors can you use to judge the animal's health?
The bottom line is that a fish might be "healthy" now, and because of whatever conditions it will become sick later. This happens in overcrowding situations, underfeeding, etc.
Finally two thoughts keep crossing my mind and I whish to share them with you...
I can imagine that this tang vs tank problem could be taken a little bit farther and we could say that fish in general should not be kept in tanks. They are not happy because they do not have the space that they have in the ocean! Damsels keep small territories in the wild, but they have a huge an open space all around them that a tank (even a 200g tank) does not provide!
I also think about my visit to C-Quest, a hatchery in the Caribbean. When I saw what a really well fed, healthy, and well-cared false percula look like I felt ashamed. This fish are huge! (and I do mean huge, at least 3 times as long than my female clownfish and 10 times its mass. Almost Goldfish huge) They are also very old!
Truth be told, the longest I have kept any saltwater fish has been 4 or 5 years. I have kept freshwater fish for a little bit longer, perhaps about 10 years.
So, I stand by my statement. 4 inch tang in 75g tank should not be a problem as long as the rest of the conditions for good SW husbandry are met.
My point was that at that stage (4-inch?), it seems that the animal does not require an immidiate move to a bigger tank.
While it might be true that tangs will grow to an enormous size, perhaps even in captivity, I do not believe many do so.
In a way, I agree that attempting to assess a fish health status by "looking" at them is not a very responsible and sensible thing. However, what other factors can you use to judge the animal's health?
This statement seems to be contradictory. However, you are on the right track. I assume that you mean to say that the absence of dissease does not always implies that an animal is "healthy".
The bottom line is that a fish might be "healthy" now, and because of whatever conditions it will become sick later. This happens in overcrowding situations, underfeeding, etc.
Finally two thoughts keep crossing my mind and I whish to share them with you...
I can imagine that this tang vs tank problem could be taken a little bit farther and we could say that fish in general should not be kept in tanks. They are not happy because they do not have the space that they have in the ocean! Damsels keep small territories in the wild, but they have a huge an open space all around them that a tank (even a 200g tank) does not provide!
I also think about my visit to C-Quest, a hatchery in the Caribbean. When I saw what a really well fed, healthy, and well-cared false percula look like I felt ashamed. This fish are huge! (and I do mean huge, at least 3 times as long than my female clownfish and 10 times its mass. Almost Goldfish huge) They are also very old!
Truth be told, the longest I have kept any saltwater fish has been 4 or 5 years. I have kept freshwater fish for a little bit longer, perhaps about 10 years.
So, I stand by my statement. 4 inch tang in 75g tank should not be a problem as long as the rest of the conditions for good SW husbandry are met.
Last edited:
Just wanted to note a few things.
First, thanks to all for keeping the discussion very civil. If any of you have witnessed a "tang police" flame war, you will know what I'm talking about. This is the main reason I really like hanging out here.
Second, tangs vary in their maximum size. According to FishBase, yellow tangs max out at 8" in the wild. I have no idea if that means they'll be "happy" in a 75.
First, thanks to all for keeping the discussion very civil. If any of you have witnessed a "tang police" flame war, you will know what I'm talking about. This is the main reason I really like hanging out here.
Second, tangs vary in their maximum size. According to FishBase, yellow tangs max out at 8" in the wild. I have no idea if that means they'll be "happy" in a 75.
I wasnt saying that Yellow Tangs get to be 14"...I was just stating that there are speices of Tangs (in general) that will be 14" full grown. I think a Yellow Tang will max out at 8" - 10", in a tank....but even then, a 75gal. is too small.caz said:
Last edited:
hey, what i meant by unhappy is that my friend is straped for cash and he cant afford to keep the tank in the state it should be. So who ever asked my why it wasnt happy, relax, its a figure of speech. Feel free not to analyze everything i say. Oh yeah and 75 is too small for a tang, because tangs get bigger or die.And last time i checked he wasnt planning on getting a new tank.
