I was impressed by this...

[Airborneguy]

I woke up today, got in my car, and was headed to one of my LFS' to go pick up my three baby yellow tangs I had ordered when I looked at my phone and realized I had a message. checked my message of course, and it was teh owner of the LFS telling me to NOT come pick up the fish because he didn't like how they looked and he was going to order me three more. He didn't think that they were interacting well together and he knew that I was looking for a set which would hang out and school in my tank. The other LFS I used to frequent would have NEVER done that, and it really impressed me. Now I really can't wait to go pick up the new ones later in the week!

 

[Lorna]

uhmmm....what size tank are you putting these in? Three yellow tangs in a 72g are pushing the limits a bit as they will produce a large amount of waste......need a lot of swimming room and although most sites will state the minimum size tank for a tang is 55 I think even my one yellow tang in my 75 lacks the linear feet to really swim with enjoyment.....I think three will become stressed and crowded and could be trouble down the road.

 

[Airborneguy]

There's only three other small fish in the tank, two which I'll trap and remove very soon. after that, I may get two more gobies, but the Tangs will have the entire water column to themselves. There's no other fish which will be using it.

I am a member of another forum, 3reef.com, and until speaking with one of the members there, I was under the impression that it would be too much also. He has 40+ years of reef experience (likes to point that out a little too much, but he does know his stuff), and he told me he has kept Tangs in plenty of different sized tanks without problems and that three were fine in my tank.

 

[Joe Fish]

True, but over stressing your fish isn't a good idea. Yellow tangs are known to get ich quite easily when they are stressed. Your 72 wouldn't be 6' length would it? I think you are going to run into trouble with them like Lorna said.

 

[Airborneguy]

I know this is a common argument in SW keeping. I followed a large thread about it on the other site before asking the guy I mentioned some specific questions, and he completely disagrees with those assessments after 40+ years of keeping Tangs (his favorite fish).

Well, I'm still impressed by the LFS' integrity...

 

[TRe]

i wouldnt base things on what one person says with that being said i wouldnt keep more than 1 tang in that tank.... ive got 3 tangs in my 6 foot tank and i feel im pushing it even with a good skimmer (yellow tang,hippo tang,purple tang) IMO u need to gather info from as many sources as possible and determin your decision based on everyones answers and im willing to bet more will recomend u not get those fish

 

[Joe Fish]

Good point TRe. In this hobby everyone has their own opinion on what you can and cannot do. You might be able to keep them just fine, but I feel you are just asking for trouble.

 

[jumpfreak26]

Looks as if he is set in his choice, let us know how it goes. That's also frikkin cool that your LFS would do that.