Matt

Hey all,


I was wondering how big of a tank a sailfin tang needs

I really like the look of the sailfins

-Matt

P.S. ANy other info is welcome

harpua2002

I'd say 75 gallon minimum. Despite their relative small size (as far as surgeonfish go), they are extremely active swimmers.

Matt

ok cool thanks harpua

-Matt

galvatron3000

they get quite large

harpua2002

Oops, I was thinking of a different species.

Matt

Okay thanks alot you guys

-Matt

van637

i have a 55 gl and its perfect so far, i have for 2 years now, with out problems. plenty water movment and give him place for swimmimg

Matt

Yeah I Put one in my 450 litre tank about 2 months ago.

So far so good

-Matt

nemo addict

sailfins can grow up to 16 inchs most being aroun 10-12 inchs you should really be thinking about upgrading or passing the fish on as if you google fish stunting you will see why ,, sailfins grow pretty fast and i would reccomend at least 100gal + , to many people keep tangs/surgeons in far to smaller tanks and wonder why they die and catch ICH all the time

ATP

450 liters = 118.89 gallons. It should be fine.

nemo addict

but 55 gals is not i think you misread the quote

ATP

ahh. sorry about that

locoyo386

All fish can be housed relative to their size. Where most people fail as fish keepers is in not understanding when it's time to move them to a bigger tank. A sailfin tang can be house in a 55 gallon tank, but it depends on the size of the fish and the individual fish's needs. I have kept one in a 10, 20, 30 and 55 gallon tanks and it did not die. Also i don't believe that fish catch Ich because they are in small tanks. If the fish has the parasite inside their exterior coating than it will show Ich when it's imune systems weakends by stress or any other means.

nemo addict

Tangs get stressed in smaller tanks so your comment is a bit contidictory , tangs are also very messy fish and in 10 20 30 gal tanks will cause levels to raise pretty quick , causing stress , this will also cause stunting if you dont accomadate properly ,

locoyo386

I don't think the comment is controdictory. The fish can be housed in a tank that is relative to the size that they are. A fish that is 4" inches or smaller can be housed in a 55 gallon tank easily without getting stressed. The problem is in generalizing and assuming that all fish bahave the same. I had tangs in a 55 gallon tank and did not get stressed out. To say that all tangs get stressed out in a 55 gallon would be just as inacurate as saying all tangs will not get stressed out just because one did not. It's all relative to size and the individual fish. A tang can be messy, but it will not cause levels to rise pretty quickly in a 10, 20 or 30 gallon. The bioload is dependent on biofiltration and not tank size. I would not put a tang that is bigger than 2.5" in a 10 gallon and in a 20 and 30 it depends on the dimensions of the tank that would determine the size of fish I can house. Also form what seems to be the opinion of the majority, saltwater fish are not subjec to stunting. What size tank would you place a 5" tang in?

nemo addict

bio-load is determined by the net water volume of aquarium system (display tank, and sump), refugium, substrate, mechanical filtration, live rock, additional biological filtration, chemical filtration, chemical reactors, circulation, water changes, stage of nitrogen cycle, number (in short, the capacity) verus the size and number of fish, shrimp, crabs, snails, anemones, clams, other invertebrates, including filter feeders (in short, the biological demand The bio-filter breaks down the bio-load it does not erradicate it , this is why in smaller tanks when things go wrong they go wrong quickly ,, and a 5" tang dependant on which type of tang it would be from a 55 to a 120 , or 4ft wide minimum ,

locoyo386

I disagree with the the intial statement of, "Bio-load is determined by the net water volume of aquarium system ". If I compare two tanks that are identical but one was a bare tank and the other contained rock and sand, with your statement than the one that is bare would have a greter net water volume thus would be able to handle a bigger bio-load. In reality the one with the rock and sand, even though it has less water volume, will be able to handle a bigger bio-load. The reason being is that the bio-load is more dependent on filtration than anything else. The better filtration the more bio-load tha tank will be able to handle.

nemo addict

So why is the bio load worked out with the volume of water and not the volume of rock or filters The sea doesnt rely on mechanical filters, It has produced its own , An aquarium term from biology, the biological demand (bio-load or bioload) is the nitrogen processing demand, this being the need for the nitrogen cycle, mechanical filters need changing and cleaning to remove the waste products and these to also need to have been cycled to produce bacteria (nitrobacters) to breack down the organic wastes , With a larger volume of water you produce a larger number of bacteria to cope with the bio-load , with smaller amounts of water (like aquariums) you have to assist the water in filtration due to the smaller ammounts of bacteria, so the 1 inch of fish per how ever many litres should be changed to 1 nch of per per mechanical filter , The above comment you made about smaller tanks and a tang ,As a tang is a very messy fish and will add heavily to your bio load ,This is why in SW you dont add to much to your tank at any one time as you need the bio load to adjust and your bio load is limited by the amount of water you have in your aquarium, if you add to many fish/corals this can cause a spike and send your tank in to a mini cycle , With larger water volumes this is easier to keep your levels stable

locoyo386

To simplify when dealing with how many fish can be put in a specific size of volume of water. To better estimate this, we should determine how adequate our filtration is ir regards to our bio-load.

Thus it still relies on it's own "mechanichal filters", just the same way we rely on our mechanichal filters. To reduce the amount of organics that break down in the tank. Thus reducing the bio-load on the tank.

Once again the term in blue I feel is incorrect and here is the reason why;
If the amount of water present in our aquariums would determine the amount of bacterial growth, than we would not need pouris surfaces to help colonize bateria to further reduce our bio-load. Also the amount of amonnia present in opur tanks is what determines the bacterial growth. That is why we can only add a few fish at a time. By doing this we allow the bacteria to grow to enough numbers to break the ammonia down. Thus the more ammonia (nutrient) the more bacteria growth and not water volume. THe additional water volume all it does is dilute the ammonia or any other elements present in the water column. We add rock to provide more surfaces for bacteria to grow on, thus the more rock the more room for bacteria to grow on. Just because we add more rock it does not mean that we are going to have more bacteria. The only things that affect bacterial growth are ammonia, nitritres and nitrates (at least as far as our home aquariums are concerned).

The mechanichal filtration should include biological filtration as well. You could have either one without the other.

The amount of bio-load that a fish produces is dependent on the fish and size of the fish. If you have a small tank and add any fish that is the apropritate size for the tank, than the ammonia produced would not be big enough to crash your bacteria (meaning that the bacteria would have enough time to conpensate for the additional ammonia, regarless of what type of fish it is. This is why we only add a few fish at a time. The smaller the tank the smaller the fish has to be. If you have a bigger tank you can add more fish or bigger fish at a time. The more water the more diluted the ammonia will be and thus the less toxic it will be for the fish. By the way this applies to both fresh and saltwater fish not just saltwater fish. Once again the above statement in blue is incorrect, the more surfaces you provide for the bacteria to grow on, the more bio-load (ammonia) you can have in any tank. The problem is that the less water you have the less oxygen you will be able to provide for the fish or any other living organisms in your tank. Thus you would have to have really good water movement to oxygynate the water column. In summary the water volume does not deternmine the amount of ammonia or nitites your bacterial colony would be able to handle. The more surfaces you provide for bacterial growth the more bio-load your tank will be able to sustain.