Quote:
Originally Posted by
mind83 
Before everyone yells at me for having the tangs in a 55 I just found out that it's not a good idea. However they both are very small, the hippo is a baby. I plan to remove them when they look like they are getting to big for the tank.
We all make mistakes in the beginning of the hobby.
That being said, waiting until the tangs get too big before removing them from a 55G tank, is a disaster waiting to happen. Tangs, especially a Yellow Tang, get very aggressive in smaller tanks. Even as they're growing, they require a lot of swimming room and set up larger territories. It would be in your best interest to return the tang to the store now, before they get any larger and get aggressive. I've seen people who claim to successfully keep Yellow Tangs in 55G and every time I ask for a picture, the tang is discolored from stress and 90% of the time it's malnourished. Just because it is alive, doesn't mean it's a success, keep this in mind. A healthy Zebrosoma tang such as a Yellow tang will grow quickly as well, so you may have less time than you think you do to find a new home for him.
Small Hippo Tangs on the other hand, especially those under 3", have a very low survival rate. To counteract the survival rate of these small fish, it's best if they go in smaller systems until they reach 3 1/2", then they must be moved, or again, aggression and malnourishment will take over. I have kept 1" tangs in my 14G and 20G reefs from time to time to fatten them up and then sell them to local hobbyists that don't want the work that many "baby" hippos need. This might be a good route for you to go, get the hippo healthy, keep pictures to prove that you've had it since it was very young, proving that it is fully adapted to tank life, and then sell it to a local hobbyist.
