Tangs and Surgeonfish
Tangs are the fish most people picture when they think of a reef tank, and the ones most often bought too small for the tank they end up in. Gallery Aquatica stocks nine species of tang and surgeonfish at our shop in Tingalpa, east of the Brisbane CBD.
Tangs are in-store purchase and pickup only. We do not send live fish by courier or freight. Stock arrives in batches and moves unevenly, so ring 0420 484 584 before travelling if you are after a particular species.
What every tang needs
Three things matter more for tangs than for most marine fish, and they are the same three regardless of species.
Swimming length, not just volume. Tangs cruise. A tall 400 litre tank is a worse home for a tang than a long 300 litre one, because what they need is distance to travel in a straight line. When you read a minimum volume below, read it as shorthand for "a tank with that much length in it".
Algae in the diet. Tangs are grazers with long guts built for plant matter. A diet of frozen food alone will keep one alive and looking slightly wrong - thin-flanked, dull, prone to infection. Dried algae sheets clipped in the tank, available constantly, are the fix. We stock marine foods including algae sheets.
Room in the pecking order. Nearly every tang is aggressive toward other tangs of a similar body shape, and the Zebrasoma species are the worst for it. Two yellow-bodied tangs in one tank usually ends with one of them hiding. Either add tangs together as a group so no one has established territory, or add the mildest species first and the boldest last.
Tangs are also the marine fish most prone to whitespot. That is not a coincidence: they are thin-skinned, they stress in transit, and they graze constantly, which means constant exposure. A stable, established tank matters more than any treatment.
The tangs we stock
The photographs below show each species for identification. They are not photographs of the individual fish currently in our tanks — stock changes week to week, so ring 0420 484 584 to check what is in.
Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
The default first tang, and deservedly so. Hardy, cheap relative to the others, eats readily, and the colour is unmistakable. Reaches about 20 cm and wants 750 litres or so as an adult.
The catch is temperament. A yellow tang will tolerate a purple or a sailfin more readily than it will tolerate another yellow tang, so treat "one per tank" as the rule unless the system is very large and they go in together. Reef safe.
Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
Deep violet with a yellow tail, and one of the more expensive tangs. Reaches 25 cm and wants 800 litres. Same care as a yellow tang, but bolder and quicker to establish itself at the top of the order - which cuts both ways. A purple tang added last to an established tank will often still take charge.
Reef safe, and a strong grazer of nuisance algae.
Scopas Tang (Zebrasoma scopas)
Often written Scopaz. Brown shading to a dusty gold, with the same disc-shaped Zebrasoma body as the yellow and purple. Undervalued: the colour is subtle in a shop tank and much better under home lighting once it settles.
Larger than the yellow tang at up to 30 cm, so plan for 800 litres. Same aggression profile toward other Zebrasoma. Reef safe.
Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
The one that catches people out. A juvenile sailfin is a few centimetres of banded brown and looks like a modest fish; the adult reaches 40 cm and raises dorsal and anal fins that make it nearly as tall as it is long. It needs 1100 litres and genuine length.
Hardy and reef safe. Just buy it knowing what it becomes.
Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus, yellow-eye bristletooth)
The one we would point most people toward. Stays smaller than the rest at around 18 cm, so 380 litres is workable, and it is the mildest tempered tang here - it will usually share a tank with other tangs without much fuss.
It is also the best grazer of the group. Bristletooth tangs have comb-like teeth suited to scraping film algae and detritus off rock, which is more useful in a reef tank than the larger species' preference for longer algae. Reef safe.
Achilles Tang (Acanthurus achilles)
The hardest fish on this page and the most expensive. Dark charcoal body with a vivid orange teardrop at the tail base. Reaches 24 cm and needs 1100 litres.
Achilles tangs come from surge zones - shallow, turbulent, oxygen-saturated water - and they do badly in tanks that do not reproduce some of that. Strong flow, high oxygen, very stable parameters, and a mature system. They are also the most whitespot-susceptible tang in the trade.
Reef safe, and a genuinely spectacular fish once established. Not one to start with, and not one to buy for a tank that is still finding its feet.
Other tangs we regularly stock
Alongside the species above, these are part of our regular range. Ask us in store or ring 0420 484 584 and we will talk you through size, temperament and what each one needs.
- Blue Tang
- Bristletooth Tang
- Lavender Tang
Which tang should you buy first?
For most tanks: a kole tang. It is the smallest, the mildest, the best algae grazer and the least likely to be a problem later.
If you want the classic look and have the length for it, a yellow tang. If the tank is under about 380 litres, none of these fish are a good fit yet - a clownfish or a group of chromis is the better call, and a tang can wait for the upgrade.
Leave the Achilles tang until the system has been stable for a good many months.
Tankmates
Tangs mix well with most of what we stock, as long as nothing else in the tank is tang-shaped. Good combinations include clownfish, anthias, gobies, blennies and chromis.
Be careful pairing tangs with foxface and rabbitfish. They are a similar disc shape and occupy the same grazing niche, so a tang will often treat one as a rival. It can work in a large tank if they go in together.
Avoid keeping tangs with large angelfish or aggressive triggerfish unless the system is very large - not because the tang will lose, but because the constant pressure keeps it stressed, and a stressed tang gets whitespot.
Common questions
Do you ship tangs?
No. All marine fish are in-store purchase and pickup only. We do not send live fish by courier or freight.
Are these tangs in stock right now?
These are the species we stock as our regular range, not a live inventory. Marine livestock arrives in batches and sells unevenly, so ring 0420 484 584 or email shop@galleryaquatica.com.au to check before you travel.
What size tank does a tang need?
It depends on the species. A kole tang is workable in around 380 litres. A yellow tang wants roughly 750 litres, a purple or scopas 800, and the sailfin and Achilles tangs 1100 litres or more. Prioritise tank length over height - tangs need distance to swim.
Can I keep two tangs together?
Sometimes, with care. Avoid two tangs of similar body shape, particularly two Zebrasoma such as a yellow and a scopas. If you want more than one, add them at the same time so neither has established territory, and give them a much larger tank than either would need alone.
Are tangs reef safe?
Yes, tangs are reef safe. They graze algae rather than coral. A persistently underfed tang may pick at things it should not, which is an argument for keeping algae sheets available at all times.
Why do tangs get whitespot so often?
They are thin-skinned, they stress badly in transit, and they graze constantly along rock and sand where the parasite's life cycle plays out. Stability does more to prevent it than any treatment: a mature tank, consistent parameters, good food and no bullying.
Are tangs good algae eaters?
Very. The bristletooth species, including the kole tang, are the best of them for film algae and detritus. The larger Zebrasoma and Acanthurus species prefer longer hair algae. None of them are a substitute for nutrient control, but they help.
More marine fish
See all the marine fish we stock for the full range, or the Brisbane store page for coral, equipment and everything else we carry.