Yellow Tang

The yellow tang is a bright and stunning Hawaiian fish. They are normally very hardy and can grow up to 6-8 inches in a saltwater aquarium. Because of their size, they require a reef aquarium of at least 75 gallons — larger if you keep more than one or two. Yellow tangs can be kept in pairs or in a group.

Yellow tangs have an oval-shaped body with a long, slender mouth. They have remarkable dorsal and anal fins and crescent tail fins, which bear a spine used for protection. Their fins remind the viewer of the sails of a Chinese junk. Tangs are agile swimmers and entertain viewers with their antics.

They are a bold fish, but get along well with other somewhat aggressive fish in the same size range. Good tank mates include the clownfish or cardinal fish. Yellow tangs are safe around invertebrates.

Voracious algae eaters, they provide cleaning services to marine turtles by removing algae from their shells. For this reason, tangs are commonly referred to as Surgeonfish or Doctorfish. In the aquarium, they will also eat pellets, flake and greens.

Some other tangs include:

Achilles tang
Blue hippo tang
Sailfin tang
Clown tang
Powder blue tang