Yellow Tang Life Expectancy

sov82

Member
Hi all. My Yellow Tang passed away today. I'm guessing he was about 4 years old. He was in his 4th and final week of being treated for Ich with Hypo and he was doing great. From day one in the Hypo Tank, he was very happy to be in there and quite spunky. I tested water conditions and they were next to perfect. The other 3 fish in the tank are still alive and doing well. He was in a 29 gallon and defintely not stressed out.
I just woke up this morning and he was on the bottom of the tank not moving around much. He passed a few hours later. He wasn't breathing hard or anything. Visable inspection showed no signs of Ich, HLLE, or anything else wrong.
Over the past week or so, he had slowed down on eating but was still eating atleast some food. It may sound stupid but he even had a nice healthy bowel movement last night.
I'm thinking he just passed due to old age. I'm sure his infection with Ich played a role in weakening the fish but Im sure thats not what killed him. Anyone know a Yellow Tang's life expectancy?
 

greatfullreefer

Active Member
A Tang in the ocean will outlive alot of us..its natural life span is up to 75 years. I agree with Bang, in a captured environment as long as in a LARGE tank may live 40 years or so...this is very rare IMO as people like to cram them in small tanks.
 

ross

Active Member
Thats why you dont cram tangs into 29gallons...even though he may not seem "stressed" he will turn into a whole different fish if u were to put him into a 6ft long tank. It will be less stressed and definetly live longer.
 
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