YELLOW TANG (Zebrasoma flavescens)

Fish Stats

Description

The Yellow Tang is one of the most popular and desired saltwater fish. It has a beautiful disc-shaped, bright yellow body with large dorsal and anal fins and a slightly extended snout. It has a sharp white razor near the tail, which it uses during fights or to establish itself over other fish. When catching your tang, be careful that you do not tangle these spines in the net and damage them.

The Yellow Tang is a resident of the central and western Pacific, but it’s only common around the Hawaiian Islands.

The Yellow Tang is an active swimmer and spends most of its time grazing on algae. It is a good choice for helping control undesirable algae, like Bryopsis, Derbesia, and Entermorpha, that is common in home aquariums.

Feeding

The Yellow Tang should be offered a diet high in vegetable matter, such as spirulina algae, nori, romaine lettuce and broccoli. It should be fed several times daily as it has a high metabolism. Its beautiful yellow color will fade if given an insufficient diet.

Compatibility

The Yellow Tang can be aggressive toward fishes it perceives as competitive. Tangs can be particularly intolerant of other surgeonfishes, small angelfishes, rabbitfishes, or any other species that is similar in color, shape, or behavior. It is best to keep one Yellow Tang per aquarium. You may be able to keep more than one in a larger aquarium, but all fishes must be introduced simultaneously.

The Yellow Tang is reef safe, but it can occasionally nip at the tissue of stony and soft corals.

The Yellow Tang makes a beautiful addition to both reef and fish-only aquarium. Besides being beautiful, it is very hardy and easy to keep and serves a useful function in the reef tank by feeding on some harmful algae species.