Tangs!! Love em or hate em??

[CoralReeferGal]

Out of curiosity, I read on one thread about fish you hate, and it seemed to be overwhelmingly tangs, but in another one, so many people say one type or another of tang is a must have!

Personally, I loved our Scopas tang. He had so much personality and added a lot of life to the tank. What are your thoughts; love em or hate em, and why? Also, what kind do you love/hate the most?

[Ambition]

I have a love-hate relationship with tangs. I love their personality, color, and activity. Personally, I just don't like how big they get. In tanks smaller shorter than 6ft they just seem to get too big (any of them). I can handle seeing the smaller tangs (yellow, purple, convict, bristletooths, etc.) in an 8ft tank. Not sure how long the tank needs to be to keep the larger tangs (hippo, PBT, sohal, clown, nasos, etc.) from looking cramped at even half adult size. Most likely 10ft or so, but 12ft seems like a better fit for my personal taste.

[CoralReeferGal]

Our scopas didnt get very big... we had him in a 55 gal long (which I kinda think is no more than 4 ft long) They're recommended for 40 gal+ (as per our LFS) They do have one in there now, not sure which type, but he is HUGE. Looks cramped in their tank; hes probably about 8 in now, our scopas wasnt any bigger than maybe 3-4 in, if that.

[sirreal63]

I don't want a tank that I cannot a yellow tang in, it just wouldn't be the same. They have tons of personality. I had a Scopas that I really liked too, I may have to get another one some day. Sold the last one with a tank breakdown and move.

[CoralReeferGal]

Originally Posted by shades_of_blue

they are so much fun.. most personable fish..

My opinion as well! I loved the personality of the one we had!!

[Palting]

I have 4 tangs. I guess i must love them then. LOL! Tangs defintely are full of personality, especially naso tangs. They like to show off and do somersaults when anyone looks at the tank. They are people oriented fish, and I've been feeding them by hand for 2 years now. Hope you enjoy the vid!

[Donkeykong]

Tangs get big and have very strong personalities, that leads to a big beautiful fish that will will come right up to you and eat out of your hand and be active and swim right out front all day long, but has a tendance to knock things over or move stuff around or spit water at you when it is hungry. There is always trade off of good and bad, for me I would kill to have a big tank again just so I can have a tang. But I am stuck with a 40 breeder for the time being and NO a scopa is not ok in a 40 gallon tank I dont care what your LFS told you.

[reeferstace]

I have four I'm my DT and two in QT. I love tangs.

[robs.mark]

I have 3 tangs, a blue, a powder brown, and a hybrid yellow. I love the movement they give the tank, i also enjoy feeding time in a tank with bigger fish, very entertaining!

[twiddle]

Love them! I have a yellow, clown and powder blue. Would love to get a Naso but nervous about introducing him. My Yellow will follow me from one end of the tank to the other and will eat out of my hand. The clown sometimes will circle the power head and do loops around it over and over..not sure why but maybe on crack! Definitely fun to watch. Also, my yelow is having a love affair with my Moorish Idol..just follows him around all day. They are inseperable...or he doesn't like him? Not really sure.

[Rreef]

I never heard anyone say they hated tangs...
Maybe certain tangs that get territorial...but there are many fish that get territorial and arent tangs...

[dzfish17]

Ive got 7 tangs and they are a lot of fun to watch. The only problem I have is with my PBT... he hates most of the other tangs (3 yellow, purple, hippo, kole) and chases them when they get in his way.

[Joe0813]

everyone keeps talking about how active there tangs are.... my yellow eyed Kole tang is very shy... ive had him for about 3 months and he never really comes out. and when i move towards the tank he runs and hides

[Tangaroa]

I have 6 tangs in my 8 foot tank and wouldn't want a reef tank without a tang in it.

I have an Achilles Tang, Yellow Tang, Black Tang, Yellow Scopas Tang, Gem Tang and my favourite of all, a Blonde Naso Tang that is more of a pet than a fish to me.

Yes they poop a lot and they dislodge any coral looking for algae underneath it but they add a huge amount of movement, colour and personality in return.

[baby1-]

Originally Posted by CoralReeferGal

Out of curiosity, I read on one thread about fish you hate, and it seemed to be overwhelmingly tangs, but in another one, so many people say one type or another of tang is a must have!

Personally, I loved our Scopas tang. He had so much personality and added a lot of life to the tank. What are your thoughts; love em or hate em, and why? Also, what kind do you love/hate the most?

i guess, the responces answer youre question pretty well. I think the only people that dont like tangs are people that have had them in tanks too small for the fish ..and the fish got stressed as it grew{outgrew the tank}and died or caused disaese that killed other fish.

[CoralReeferGal]

Love all the answers! Thank you everyone for your opinions! I was wrong; our LFS does have a 75g minimum on scopas. They did sell one to us for our 55 though, so idk (looked them up, and it was def a scopas tang we had)... We will be upgrading our tank when we buy a house anyway (hopefully an in-wall; thats my dream, not so sure if it will happen or not lol) so I'll def hold off on buying another one until then. Im pretty sure we're waiting to add ANY other fish until we solve the disappearing problem anyway!

[sirreal63]

Here you go Sarah...my old one, it was just a baby but so full of personality.

[CoralReeferGal]

^^^ Scopas? Ours looked just like that! This is the best pic I got of him... most of the pics I have he's blurry lol

[sirreal63]

Yes, they are more colorful as juveniles but one of my favorite Tangs.

[BigKahuna]

Originally Posted by Joe0813

everyone keeps talking about how active there tangs are.... my yellow eyed Kole tang is very shy... ive had him for about 3 months and he never really comes out. and when i move towards the tank he runs and hides

I used to have a yellow tang like that. The only thing he would come out for was my rottie. The rottie loved the tank and would sit in front and lick the glass, he was a big one. The yellow tang would come out and hang out with fins in full extension hovering almost like they do when a cleaner shrimp is picking them over right in front of the dog's face. The dog and tang loved each other for some reason. For anyone else the tang would dive into the rocks but not for the rottie lol. Maybe get a large dog?

[CoralReeferGal]

I wish I either had a better camera, or that ours would have stayed a little more still that I could have gotten at least 1 good pic lol

[Badbrad8500]

Scopas are pretty unique, seems they're not a far hue off from the $1000 Black Tang, yet they're $980 cheaper.

I personally like more color, my Powder Blue, Yellow Tang are my favorites. Such aggressive little fishes though.

[CoralReeferGal]

I like powder blues too. I'm a bit bummed, when we bought our scopas, we paid almost $50 for him... and now the same fish store has them (same size tang) for $26.99. Of course.

[trinidiver]

tang to me are a must have in a reef tank.................keeps my algae in check. I have 2 hippos, 2 yellows, 1 kole, 1 powder brown & 1 sailfin. My sailfin and powder brown are my best tangs and are the only 2 that takes food out of my fingers.

[billyboy61]

My first fish in my 90 gal. was a yellow tang. He /she has proven to be bullitproof when others had issues. Lots of movement, colour and flash. Glad I bought it. Would love to have more, but unsure of the fish/tank size issues that might arise.