TankBud

Yellow tang

Zebrasoma flavescens

Also known as Yellow Hawaiian Tang, Yellow Sailfin Tang, Yellow Surgeonfish

SaltwaterFish

Yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
Luc Viatour · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–79°F
22–26°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
7.9 in
20 cm
Minimum tank
100 gal
380 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Own kind
One per tank
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Middle
Diet
Herbivore
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Very common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Acanthuridae
Origin
Central and western Pacific, most abundant around the Hawaiian Islands, ranging to the Great Barrier Reef and Japan

Overview

The yellow tang is a reef-safe surgeonfish that grazes in the middle of a large tank. It suits a keeper with a little experience.

Did you know

The yellow tang's bright yellow fades to a duller brownish tone at night and returns by morning. A faint white lateral stripe also appears while the fish sleeps.

Caring for the yellow tang

Give the yellow tang a mature tank of at least 100 gal (380 L) with lots of live rock to graze. It is an active daytime grazer and needs open water in front of the rock to cruise. Keep the water at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4.

Provide abundant algae or supplemental nori. As a herbivore it does not eat coral and helps control algae, though it may occasionally rasp at coral surfaces looking for film algae.

The yellow tang is peaceful toward unrelated fish but territorial toward its own kind and other tangs, especially other Zebrasoma. Keep it as the only yellow tang in most systems, and add it late in the stocking order. Its tail spine can cut other fish and careless hands.

It is one of the few surgeonfish now bred commercially in captivity, though breeding it is hard.

Good to know

The yellow tang belongs to the surgeonfish family Acanthuridae. The family is named for the scalpel-like spine at the base of the tail, which folds into a groove and flicks out for defense. Captive-bred yellow tangs reached the hobby in the mid 2010s, a breakthrough that has eased pressure on Hawaiian wild stocks. Adults can live well over ten years.

In the wild

The yellow tang lives in the central and western Pacific, and it is most abundant around the Hawaiian Islands. Its range reaches the Great Barrier Reef and Japan. It lives on shallow reef flats and lagoon slopes down to about 45 meters, where rock and coral rubble are covered in algae films. It forages over hard surfaces by day, picking at filamentous and turf algae, and shelters in the reef at night.

Common questions

What size tank does a yellow tang need?

A yellow tang needs at least 100 gal (380 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

What temperature and pH does a yellow tang need?

A yellow tang is comfortable at 72–79°F (22–26°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a yellow tang eat?

A yellow tang is a herbivore that eats algae, so give it plenty of algae to graze or supplemental nori. It does not eat coral.

How big does a yellow tang get?

An adult yellow tang reaches about 7.9 in (20 cm).

Related species