Anyone have a Clown Tang?

harman · 01-08-2007, 11:16 PM

Or ever had a clown tang. What has been your experience, good or bad? I know they are one of the most aggressive tangs there are.

Alice · 01-08-2007, 11:27 PM

Not personally, but I have a friend who had one in a 600 gallon tank and he started kicking himself about a week after adding the clown tang. It took him several weeks to get it out of the tank. During that time it beat up on everything in the tank, including a Vlamingi that was twice the clown's size.

If a clown tang can't play well with others in a 600 gallon tank, it could really wreak havoc in something smaller.

Gorgeous fish though.

Reef-Keeper · 01-08-2007, 11:40 PM

these fish have a VERY poor survival rate in captivity. everything i have ever read states that they are best left to zoo's or public aquariums because of the survival rate and their aggressive nature.
i HAD one for about a month, but he HAD to go back. he even tried to beat up on my sohal tang !!

harman · 01-08-2007, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

Not personally, but I have a friend who had one in a 600 gallon tank and he started kicking himself about a week after adding the clown tang. It took him several weeks to get it out of the tank. During that time it beat up on everything in the tank, including a Vlamingi that was twice the clown's size.

If a clown tang can't play well with others in a 600 gallon tank, it could really wreak havoc in something smaller.

Gorgeous fish though.

Wow, that would explain why I haven’t see one in anyone’s tank. I was just reading that they get over a foot long

kalel1976 · 01-09-2007, 12:05 AM

They are on the same level as Achilles Tangs IMOP. They are very delicate and require higher levels of oxygen in the water and tend to do better in tanks with obscene amounts of waterflow. They are also just down right mean thus leading to a lower demand compared to other tangs.
They are also collected in areas that are notorious for "juicing" fish during collection which I am sure leads to higher morality rates.

Loverotties · 01-09-2007, 03:30 AM

They are hard to keep.

frankandmaura · 01-09-2007, 07:46 AM

Wow...I asked this question a few weeks ago and didn't get much response...

I am glad I did not get one. From what I saw of the one's that were at my LFS, they are very erradic swimmers. They would provide a lot of motion in the tank. As far as the aggression goes, it looked like the few in the tanks there were actually being picked on by the fish they were housed with. I didn't see any aggression, but I believe it can happen. I ahve also read that they are very difficult to keep in a tank.

Twitterbait · 01-09-2007, 11:21 AM

They are on my list of fish to get for my 300g... but it will be an agressive tank... both of my fav LFS's have one.