calling all tang police

hey i understand tangs need a lot of space to swim and most recommend a tank of 6 to 8 feet or longer, i was just wondering if you had a cylinder shaped tank with the edge clear of obstruction and assuming you have the filtration to handle the bio load wouldnt it not matter on how many gallons and what size the fish tank is since it would have essentially unlimited straight swimming area basically or would you say a recommended circumference you would make it. i am not trying to incite a riot, i dont have a tank like this or plan on it but it was something . i just found it as an interesting thought and figured there is no other way to back up my reasoning other than asking the tang police from 3 reef;D lol

 

In the wild tangs ( yellow specifically) that I know of first hand, swim in large groups grazing over the rocks and reef looking for algae. I would consider them to be largely a fish that does better and swims more naturally in a tank that provides longer horizontal scapes then a system with vertical/ built up scapes. So basically I myself would not consider cylinder type of build to provide adequate swimming area for a tang of any type.

 

I wondered this myself. After seeing some large cylinder systems, it does seem like the migrant schooling fish enjoy cruising the glass in one direction. I think tangs need to be looked at differently in any case. There are some that like Corailline said swim in large schools, but there are also some that live a solitary or paired existence until it's time to spawn. Obviously most our systems can't accommodate the schools, so maybe they shouldn't even be kept. It's hard to say what should really be acceptable with tangs, and I think it boils down to just how well you're trying to reproduce their natural environment.

 

I cant say it better than Corailline and Mikejrice. I think the key thing that Mike stated is that you have to look at tangs differently and that each type is there own separate case..

 

Please try not to get any ideas from Tanked. I do however like the show but thats where yes the line is drawn. JM2C

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk