Surgeonfish

• Achilles Tang
• Blue Tang
• Powder Blue Tang
• Purple Tang
• Sailfin Tang
• Sohal Tang
• Yellow Tang

The Surgeonfish family of marine fish represents one of the most popular saltwater aquarium fishes in the trade. Generally considered a large fish, the smallest of them can attain a length of at least 7 inches in captivity. The largest of them can reach lengths of over 3 feet. They are found throughout the worlds tropical oceans and are some of the most colorful fishes in the wild. They fall under the family Acanthuridae, which means thorn tail as all surgeonfish have a small blade like protrusions near the tail.

Two members of the surgeonfish family make up some of the most popular marine aquarium fish in the hobby. They are constantly depicted on magazines, equipment, advertising banners and on a range of product stickers. They are the yellow tang along with the blue tang.

Due to their large size, they require aquariums no smaller than a 100 gallons for the smaller surgeonfish species. Larger species such as the Sohal Tang require aquariums around the 200 gallon range to truly do well in the long term.

They have specialized mouths that can easily grasp and tear algae. As such, they spend much of their time grazing on algae in the wild. The vast majority of them are very social fish that can usually be found among huge shoals that may include one or two other species of surgeonfish. Prices for specimens range from as little as $20 all the way up into the thousands of dollars as is the case for the Gem Tang.

Unlike angelfish, they are entirely reef safe and will leave corals alone. Which is one of the reasons why they are so popular in the marine aquarium hobby. There is difficulty in getting a few species to feed in captivity such as the Achilles Tang.

But for the most part, surgeonfish can be trained to eat a wide variety of meaty, leafy and pellet foods. To mimic their diets in the wild, they should be offered greens in the form of Seaweed or spirulina on a daily basis.

Surgeonfish are famous for being susceptible to marine ich and lateral line erosion. Proper quarantine measures are necessary to ensure the specimen does not introduce any parasites in the main display tank.