Purple Tang
- Thread starter sh2000
- Start date
m0nk
Active Member
Originally Posted by SH2000
Going with the blue hippo tang and yellow tang.
Blue hippo is a bad call on an 80 gallon tank. IMO they shouldn't be in anything smaller than a 125; the hippo needs a lot more swimming room and won't be good to keep in something that small. If you really must have a tang in your 80, the yellow would be ok, though it may get somewhat territorial.
m0nk
Active Member
Originally Posted by breiwa1
ok, I also posted about a blue hippo tang and didn't get any feedback yet. This site list a 40 gallon to be ok for this fish. Can someone please comment on this.
That is the minimum for a small hippo tang, and I honestly think that a small one in a fish store can do ok in a 40 gallon but not in the home. They only stay "small" for about a year, so while you might be able to get away with a hippo in a 55g for the first year of it's life, you definitely need a long term plan. Basically, this means that within the year you will need to either put together a tank that's big enough for it as an adult, or give the fish away to someone who has one that's big enough. IMO (and in the opinion of a lot of people on these boards) a 125 gallon (6 foot long tank) is the smallest size for an adult hippo tang.
Consider this, a hippo gets to be 1 ft long. Most tanks under 125 gallon are 4 ft. This means that the full grown hippo will be 1/4 the length of the tank. These are open ocean swimmers and that sort of cramped space will definitely hinder the ability to swim, thus causing stress, and eventually leading to the decline of the health of the fish.
Hope that helps some.
m0nk
Active Member
Originally Posted by SH2000
Is there anything wrong with keeping small tangs in a 80 Gal. for one year then trading them in to the LFS or giving them to friends with bigger tanks ? Or upgrading if you have the means to... ?
You can do that, if you're prepared to give up a loved pet, or if you are allowed to trade in healthy livestock at your LFS.... as far as upgrading, that sometimes doesn't work out as planned, but you can certainly do that too.
The point is, you need a solid plan. And you need to know/understand the full implications of doing any of it before you attempt it. The choice, of course, is entirely yours to make.
Is there anything wrong with keeping small tangs in a 80 Gal. for one year then trading them in to the LFS or giving them to friends with bigger tanks ? Or upgrading if you have the means to... ?
You can do that, if you're prepared to give up a loved pet, or if you are allowed to trade in healthy livestock at your LFS.... as far as upgrading, that sometimes doesn't work out as planned, but you can certainly do that too.
The point is, you need a solid plan. And you need to know/understand the full implications of doing any of it before you attempt it. The choice, of course, is entirely yours to make.