Regal Tang in 135

[qwiksilver]

Think it's ok to put a regal or Kole Tang(s) in a 135gallon tank? Dimension would be 40"x26"x30".

 

[Anonymous]

I have a regal tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) in my 155 for about 5 years, he seems to be fine.

Your tank is shorter than mine, but similar gallonage, I would say if you sculpt the rock so he has a path to swim around the tank he should be fine. Mine seems to spend more time "doing stuff" like poking around the rock and interacting with the other fish than taking long swims like my sailfin, but he may be an abberation. Mine is real social with the other fish. The big thing that I have found my regal tang needs is he must be able to go into the rockwork and hide if startled. I actually have a hidden cave built into my rock for him to go into and he uses it all the time, he really seems to enjoy swimming through spaces in the rock.

(BTW, even though I have a sailfin in this tank I have since decided that a 155 is too small for the sailfin as he is getting so large, just need to add that disclaimer for anyone reading this post)

That's an interesting shape for a tank, are you planning to have it veiwable from more than one side?

 

[qwiksilver]

Yeah, it will be viewable from three sides with the overflow centered on one end. I was planning on leaving a lot of room for swimming, cuase I'd like to do a microhabitat of a "Indo-Pacific Backreef" where it meets the lagoon. So, I will have caves and crevices, but probably more open space on the end away from the overflow with some macros and such, which I plan to have mature before I add the Regal.
Thanks for the reply. :wink: