Surgeonfish Overview

One of the most popular kinds of marine aquarium fish are made up by the big family of surgeonfish. Usually thought of a big fish, the smallest of them can reach a length of at least 7 inches in captivity. The biggest of them can reach a length no less than three feet in their natural habitats. Made up of some very colorful fishes, they are a tropical species that are usually found in large groups. They fall under the family Acanthuridae which translates into thorn tail, describing the blade that all surgeonfish have near their caudal fins.

Among all the species present within this family, two of them are one of the most admired saltwater fish in the marine aquarium hobby. They can be found on stickers, magazines, advertising banners and big range of other products. They are the yellow tang along with the blue tang.

Due to their large size, they require tanks no smaller than a 100 gallons for the smaller surgeonfish species. The largest among them such as the Sohal Tang require tanks surpassing the 200 gallon mark.

They mouths are specially intended for tearing algae from rock. They form huge shoals in the day time as they scour the reef for algae to graze on. 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.

They do not eat corals and are thought of as reef safe. This fact merely adds to their popularity within the hobby. There is difficulty in getting a few species to feed in captivity such as the Achilles Tang.

The majority of them however, will eat some if not all meaty and dried foods that are offered. To mimic their diets in the wild, they should be offered greens in the form of Seaweed or spirulina on a daily basis.

They are also some of the most parasite contracting prone fish and are also susceptible to lateral line erosion. Appropriate quarantining practices are needed to ensure they are healthy and do not spread any saltwater parasites to other tank mates.