Quote:
Originally Posted by mark
so just how long does it take a Tang to out grow a tank?
See often "your tanks too small, those fish grow the size of dinner plates", but doubt my Purple (had about 8 years) and the Regal (~4 years) are much bigger than 5".
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I had a powder brown tang that I had for 14 years that grew to about 7 inches.
I had an orange shoulder tang that grew to about 9 inches in about a year and a vlamingi tang that grew to almost a foot in about a year.
The 'your tank is too small' in the case of tangs arises from the fact that tangs are swimmers and require the longer (6 feet) tanks that accommodate their needs not because the tang grows big.
Some reefers try to justify the purchase of a tang when they do not have a suitably sized tank by observing it size at the LFS. THe Pie Plate comment is meant to have the reefer visualize a larger fish in his/her small tank with the idea that they will pass on a purchase until that have a tank large enough to accommodate. it.
It is a dangerous myth to suggest that a fish will adapt in size to the size of the tank.
IMO fish are larger in the wild because they are eating every daylight minute whereas they may only be feed 1 or 2 times a day by the reefer.