So, I have been searching on the web for a tang to go in my 75 gallon tank. Of course, I like to plan my stocking first and haven't even cycled the tank yet, but I want to make sure I have the right equipment and suitable amount of dry rock and sand for each fish I plan to keep this way all of them will live a happy and healthy life. Since I would love to have a tang, I wanted to know which of them would be suitable for a 75 gallon tank. I know it is probably the absolute minimum for a tang, but I have heard some success stories with certain tangs ina 75 Gallon. I figured to go with either one of the tangs belonging to the Bristletooth species (idk the exact name) or the Zebrasoma species as they are relatively smaller than the others (even though some of the zebrasoma can get large). I would prefer only one as I don't want any aggression problems with 2 tangs. Any suggestions???
Zebrasomas can get big, I would exclude them from your list. I had a yellow tang that was bigger than my hand, and my purple wasn't far behind. Maybe go with a tomini, or one of the others from the Ctenochaetus genus. My favorite of all of the Ctenochaetus tangs I had was my white tail bristletooth. I got out of saltwater about 6 months ago, and it broke my heart to have to sell these guys.
A kole is a similar but far less expensive substitute for the white tail, too. Some folks will say that no tang is appropriate for a 75 but I personally think that as long as you have plenty of swimming space and lots of rock for them to pick at (but not so much that they don't have swimming space) you could do a kole or tomini in that tank.
From the genus Ctenochaetus (For your reference) -Kole tang, Ctenochaetus strigosus -Tomini tang, Ctenochaetus tominiensis -Twospot Bristletooth Tang, Ctenochaetus binotatus -Chevron tang, Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis these are some of the more commonly available ones that won't require an arm and a leg Tomini and Kole will barely fit, but keep the rockwork down as well as the number of fish; if you're going to keep a tang in a 75g, might as well give them as much swimming room as possible
Kole tang could work but that's the bare minimum recommended tank size. Tangs are active swimmers and need space to swim. Also, if the tank is too small and they feel they don't have adequate room they can become aggressive towards other fish easily killing them with their tail scalpel. Is it doable? Yes. Is it the best? No. As I like to say it would be surviving not thriving.
Okay, I figured one of the Ctenochaetus would work best. I am so glad I asked this question because it was a burning question that needed to be answered. Funny thing is, I did a lot of research on the Atlantic Blue Tang (One of my favorites because my uncle had one in a very large tank and it would eat seaweed and whatever else my uncle gave me to feed it out of my hands. It even allowed me to pet it for a couple seconds,) and 2 sites said a 70 gallon or a 55 gallon would work. I was just in shock because my uncles was at least 18 inches and whenever I go snorkeling in Florida and other spots and I see this tang, it's like 2 feet long. I don't plan to have this fish though until I have space for a very large tank. For the Kole tang, I do plan to have enough rock for grazing and caverns but not too much this way there is enough room for swimming around the tank. Thank you all for suggesting this particular tang and all of the other info
