Attention all tang experts

[reefstar22]

I'm sorry If i stepped on your toes, and i dont mean to come off rude; So please dont take it as such, he asked for an opinon and I gave him a valid one. If you have a chance to study the behaviors of tangs as a whole, when they are enclosed in small areas they will act almost like wolves in a zoo. They will swim in circles over time killing everything in site...making them extremely bad house hold fish. If your levels spike at all they are some of the first fish to lash out aggressively...some of the first fish to show signs of marine crypt... etc ... they are just a bad idea to keep in a smaller reef.

 

[reefstar22]

Originally Posted by Pontius
your profile says you are 22 years old. so unless you began RUNNING a public aquarium at age 16, I call bull.
"Scott W Michael is an internationally recognized writer, underwater photographer, and marine biology researcher specializing in fishes of the coral reef. He is a regular contributor to Aquarium Fish Magazine and SeaScope and is the author of the Reef Fishes series, Reef Sharks and Rays of the World, and Aquarium Sharks and Rays. He has studied marine biology at the University of Nebraska and has been involved in research projects on sharks, rays, frogfishes, and the behavior of reef fishes. He has also served as a scientific consultant for National Geographic Explorer, the Discovery Channel, and French educational television. A marine aquarist since boyhood, he has accumulated more the 25 years experience observing tropical fishes in captivity and in their native habitats worldwide."
I'll take his word, thanks.

My son uses this account as well. If your are going to be question me make sure you ask me in private before you start making such claims.

 

[ninjamini]

Lets all agree that tanks are happiest in the ocean and if we want them to be happy in a tank it needs to be a really big tank. That said they can live in a small tank, but they wont be happy and they may get depressed and that depression may manifest itself in a lot of ways that may include death.
You can drive a 1980 toyota corola but you wont be happy doing it. Its small and cramped. But you will live. If you are forced to do it every day all day you may get depressed and and even drive into a wall. Just an analogy.

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by Reefstar22
My son uses this account as well. If your are going to be question me make sure you ask me in private before you start making such claims.
I'm not going to question you, because many thousands of others on this board and many experts on the subject all disagree with you. there are plenty of stories of people keeping tangs for 15+ years. you made a claim that is contrary to your profile, and I called you on it. you posted that you should be taken as some kind of expert above all others, and I called you on that as well.

 

[reefstar22]

Exactly, that is why I drive a 7 series.

Lots of leg room.

 

[reefstar22]

Originally Posted by Pontius
I'm not going to question you, because many thousands of others on this board and many experts on the subject all disagree with you. there are plenty of stories of people keeping tangs for 15+ years. you made a claim that is contrary to your profile, and I called you on it. you posted that you should be taken as some kind of expert above all others, and I called you on that as well.

I'm not going to debate with you. Call any public aquarium you like and they will give you the same answer I do. Keep in mind most professional marine aquarists will disagree with your statement on a tang being properly maintained in a 90 Gallon reef. Also please remember this is a site dedicated to helping newier hobbiests and amature marine aquarists ; Until you research things from a standpoint other than an amature view point, please do not start arguments.
At this point im going to have to say we are to agree on disagreeing.

 

[xdave]

I guess the moral of this story is don't let your tangs drive a Toyota.

As far as what you see at a public aquarium, not really reality. If they showed tangs in a proper environment you'd never see them, they'd be way over there away from the countless idiots ignoring the please don't tap on the glass signs. Are you sure that on the other side of the wall that appears to be the back of a tall flat reef isn't a door leading to the 10000 gallon open pool the tang live in when you aren't there to look at him?

 

[sleasia]

Well I do have a group of tangs in my 200. All have been in there a year or so now together without any problem. but you will notice I have three yellow tangs. They went in together after the naso and hippo tang. (though the hippo has been qt'd now twice)...I found that having three yellows seems to calm them a bit. they seem to stay more focused on each other and less focused on other fish. I still would not mix a yellow and a purple since they are both pretty aggressive tangs unless they go in last together and are quite small. In the old days when I had one yellow tang, he intimidated two fish to death by not letting them eat and constantly battering them....I did not have a qt back then and they died..

 

[reefstar22]

Yellow tangs are fine as long as there are 3 or more, but if you have 2 yellow tangs they will fight to the death...its werid.

 

[psusocr1]

just let people do what they want and theyw ill find otu thereself in no time that its eithr an o.k idea or a REAL BAD IDEA..
ALSO scott micheal is good and very repuatable, but i disagree with ALOT that he says ESPECIALLY about sharks and rays!

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by Reefstar22
I'm not going to debate with you. Call any public aquarium you like and they will give you the same answer I do. Keep in mind most professional marine aquarists will disagree with your statement on a tang being properly maintained in a 90 Gallon reef. Also please remember this is a site dedicated to helping newier hobbiests and amature marine aquarists ; Until you research things from a standpoint other than an amature view point, please do not start arguments.
At this point im going to have to say we are to agree on disagreeing.
I read 15 books on the saltwater subject BEFORE ever even buying a tank, and every one of them said tangs are ok to keep. you are wrong. you are a 22 year old with a delusion of grandeur who wanted to come onto this site and be hailed as the chief source of knowledge. sorry you forgot that your birthdate is in your profile and that your grandeur has been proven false. even if you weren't lying about running a public aquarium (though you are), that still does not put you at the top of wellknown authors who have been keeping these fish all their lives.

 

[pontius]

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/228576/pics-from-myrtle-beach-ripleys-aquarium
the above is a link to some pictures that I posted just last week. if you look at the pic that is 10 pics down, you'll see that it is a reef tank, and you'll see there are tangs in it. this public aquarium has been running for a decade (since you were 12 years old) but I guess they don't know what they're doing either.
and by the way, the great majority of tangs are found on or around coral reefs, so your claim that they are not reef fish is false. hiding in a coral isn't what makes a fish a 'reef fish'.

 

[reefstar22]

Originally Posted by Pontius
I read 15 books on the saltwater subject BEFORE ever even buying a tank, and every one of them said tangs are ok to keep. you are wrong. you are a 22 year old with a delusion of grandeur who wanted to come onto this site and be hailed as the chief source of knowledge. sorry you forgot that your birthdate is in your profile and that your grandeur has been proven false. even if you weren't lying about running a public aquarium (though you are), that still does not put you at the top of wellknown authors who have been keeping these fish all their lives.

As stated before this is my sons account. I use Reef Central for most of my discussions. If your going to continue to act like this im going to end our conversation. As stated before we are going to agree on disagreeing because im not going to tell you that you are wrong because you CAN keep a tang in a 90 gallon tank. Again I am telling you that it is NOT healthy to do so.

 

[reefstar22]

Originally Posted by Pontius
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/228576/pics-from-myrtle-beach-ripleys-aquarium
the above is a link to some pictures that I posted just last week. if you look at the pic that is 10 pics down, you'll see that it is a reef tank, and you'll see there are tangs in it. this public aquarium has been running for a decade (since you were 12 years old) but I guess they don't know what they're doing either.
and by the way, the great majority of tangs are found on or around coral reefs, so your claim that they are not reef fish is false. hiding in a coral isn't what makes a fish a 'reef fish'.
You are further proving your ignorance; I’m trying to stay civil with you. If you do not want to take my word on the matter than don’t; Tangs do dwell in reefs but you primarily find them swimming in open waters. Hence why they are reef safe fish; I really think you need to study up more before you start such disputes. As of now I’m finished with this conversation.
Best of luck,

 

[tang_fame]

All my tangs get along fine in my 225. They have lots of rock work to hide when frightened. Every once in a while the purple Tang (it gets larger than the Yellow) will protect terrority but other than that they co-exist just fine. Heck the Yellow Tang's can be just as fiery. I have the following tangs in my tank (The Blue and the Sohal do more of a dance but not any fighting). They are all healthy. Setup has been going on for more than two years.
1x Blue Tang aka Hippo Tang
2x Yellow Tang
1x Purple Tang
1x Sohal Tang
1x Vlamingi Tang

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by Reefstar22
You are further proving your ignorance; I’m trying to stay civil with you. If you do not want to take my word on the matter than don’t; Tangs do dwell in reefs but you primarily find them swimming in open waters. Hence why they are reef safe fish; I really think you need to study up more before you start such disputes. As of now I’m finished with this conversation.
Best of luck,
I'm showing ignorance? I just looked through your posts. you have a post from 8 days ago of your 125 gallon tank with a naso and sailfin tang in it, now you're on here chastising people for keeping tangs. seems you have some kind of selective memory. like you selectively forgot that you have 2 large tangs before going on your "people should not keep tangs" rant. and how you selectively forgot that you are 22 years old before stating you have a masters degree and BUILT a public aquarium.

 

[reefstar22]

your twisting my words. Your also not reading that my 125 has three juvi tangs ...which a 125 is huge for 3 fish that are a little bit over an inch long. I'm in the process of building a 1000 gallon tank.
there is also a difference between a 90 gallon standard tank, and a 125 long tank.
My tank is 6 feet long. How long is a 90? ..3.5 MAYBE.
I forget why I hate forums.

 

[reckler]

I forgot what this thread was even about. This is like a WWE match now. How many more people are watching this thread too. ***) :thinking:

 

[mrdc]

I'm watching!
I really think the thread needs to end!

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by Reefstar22
your twisting my words. Your also not reading that my 125 has three juvi tangs ...which a 125 is huge for 3 fish that are a little bit over an inch long. I'm in the process of building a 1000 gallon tank.
there is also a difference between a 90 gallon standard tank, and a 125 long tank.
My tank is 6 feet long. How long is a 90? ..3.5 MAYBE.
I forget why I hate forums.
here are your pics. if this is a 6 foot tank, there is no possible way that these fish are just over an inch long each. if this tank is 6' long and these tangs are a little over 1" long, they wouldn't even be noticeable in the pic. so you've been busted yet again.
sorry, but when you come on here that the kind of inflated ego/know it all attitude that you've had, it's hard not to point out some of the bull you're posting.