Yellow Tang v. Yellow Tang ?

Pardon me if this is stupid question. Why do some yellow tangs look broader and thicker with more rounded curves than some? Is it a male v. female or a tank raised v. wild caught sort of thing? Or is it just over all health of the specimen... or is it just me and they all really just look the same.

 

I think it's a matter of the amount of body fat on the tang. The bottom one has nearly no fat, while the top has a decent reserve. The bottom needs to eat a bit more than usual to recover the fat reserves. I would call the top one healthier, and if I had a choice between the two at the store, I would pick the top one for sure. It can survive for a couple days without eating if it gets stressed from the move, while the bottom one probably can't last very long.

 

What raven said.

also there is a little variation with age, I haven't ever seen a fully grown yellow that wasn't atleast a little rectangular.

also all tangs are wild caught haven't been bred in tanks yet.

 

Interesting... The LFS told me they were tank raised.

Yellow Tang (Tank Bred), Live Fish, Corals, Plants & Live Rock | PetSolutions

 

I agree with the above. The bottom one looks sickly to me. As in it is way too thin.

 

They also said it was suitable in a 40g.

 

The pictures I just grabbed off of google to show you what I was talking about... BTW

 

Is there a particular diet you would recommend to fatten up your fish?

 

nvm difference in semantics,
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they catch them as babies then raise them to selling size. so tank raised is aproppiate but not tank bred.

 

the website says they are tank bred yet they say this.

Tank raised & bred are not the same. These fish are tank raised, being taken from the wild at larval stage.

I would think you would have a higher survival rate from more mature fish, not reversed as the company states.