I had read it yesterday and that come right on time. I happen to have a small hippo, 2" 1/2 in a 75 gallons tank and was told the fish "would not be happy". He eats like a pig but does not roam the aquarium much and prefer to stay on the top part within my sps. I was again told it is because the fish is in a too small space and that was a sign of stress but after reading the article I have learned the truth...the young hippo tang does not roam much and prefer to stay within the same spot, so my fish has a normal behavior as it would in the wild. He can stay in that tank for a year at least before he outgrown it, then he would go into a larger tank but there is no rush.
It is true that taking a fish from the ocean with a living space of 20,000 gallon per fish and putting it either in a 90 galons tank or a 150 gallons tank is not going to make a big difference.
they also explain that the naso tang and one other are those that really need swimming space so there is a lot of myth and propaganda done by the unfamous tang police it seems.
For the stress level, I always thought that fish were more stressed in the wild because they constantly have to watch for predator and death is in every corners. In aquarium usualy the fish are well fed and safe. How stressfull can that be? at least if there is no aggression in the tank that is.
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Originally Posted by Lance
Interesting article in this month's Coral Magazine: It seems the "Tang Police" may have to hand in their handcuffs. Apparently, studies have been done to measure stress levels of fish kept in aquariums of different sizes. After acclimation, there was no difference is stress level between fishes in larger or smaller tanks. In fact, there was no difference in levels between captive fish and wild fish. The author of the article goes on to say that the Regal Tang, which many people consider to be one of the Tangs that require larger spaces are fine in a tank of 150 gallons, as long as a swimming area of 65" by 24" is available. The author also says Wrasses may require more swimming room than Tangs. Why are there no "Wrasse Police"?
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