Turbo Tang !

[Allen]

I am so suprised at how fast my regal tang (3 inch) zips around my tank at feeding time.

The poor cleaner shrimp nearly gets knocked off this cleaning station rock !

Anyone else got any turbo-charged fish ?

 

[Navarre]

tangs are like rockets!

Thsts why they need so much room fastest fish i had was a sohal tang, nothing could match its speed.

 

[Lynden]

Melichthys could blow any Acanthurid out of the water.

 

[SkiFletch]

Melichthys could blow any Acanthurid out of the water.

Impressing everyone with the latin again

j/l

 

[rhysiboy]

i know god lynden dont you get that us peasants dont know what a melthchitys or aacantridse is

 

[Lynden]

Oh come on! Everybody calls Dinosaurs by their genus names (Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Velociraptor, et cetera) why not fish?

Henceforth, I will no longer use the common names when reffering to fishes. Google search them.

-Lynden

 

[rhysiboy]

lol spose it makes me out more effort in and i pick up more things

 

[Navarre]

having owned a niger trigger i can tell you there is no way it can match the pace and speed of 90% of tangs especially sohals. it is apowerful fish no doubt but not built for speed on the level a tang is

 

[Lynden]

Melichthys includes Hawaiian Black, Pinktailed and Indian Black Triggers; not Nigers (unless you aren't talking about an Odonus).

I partially agree with you that perhaps even a Hawaiian Black probably couldn't outpace a speedy Acanthurus or Naso Tang; though it could, in my opinion, leave them in the dust when it came to a short burst. Having seen these fishes alongside numerous Tangs in the wild, I think I do have grounds to say that.

Triggers (and all Tetraodonts) are also highly advanced in regards to swimming methods, using a combonation of the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins, in addition to the caudal fin; compared to the mere three fins used by all Perciformes for locomotion (pectorals+caudal).

In addition, many Melichthys and Xanthicthys are pelagic fishes; thus they have no choice but to be very strong long-distance swimmers. Most Tangs are confined to the reef aren't they (excepting Prionurus)? Though I suppose most Triggers are as well. Hmm...

-Lynden

 

[Navarre]

Tang live in surge zone on reef tops usually where there are incredibly powerful currents. I have seen sohals and large nasos swim against this where other fish simply stop swimming and aloow themselves to be thrown back, they merely steer themselves clear of any danger much like a surfer. Tang however will push through this and continue swimming. ts true that triggers have a rather unique way of swimming (not totally unique) but again they arent designed for high speed.

The blue reef aquarium where my emperors have gone have some very large fish in there. Their main tankholds 250,000 ltrs and if you watch the tangs cruising around in here you will see just how fast their speed truely is. This tank is full of different tnags, angels rays and sharks etc. During feeding time only the sharks get there faster!

Bluethroats and pinktail triggers dont tend to be true reef fish as they are deeper water planktonic feeders hence why they tend to be far more reef friendly than other triggers. The niger is siilar and can be kept in reefs but i say this with caution as it tends to drift from reef to drop off. My niger had ot go when it decided it didnt like my clowns anymore and hunted them down continuously with extreme prejudice Even though clowns are poor swimmers they could still outmanouver and outsmart my trigger.. they would rely race against it.. one would dart for cover whilse the other would run the gauntlet, when the runner was tired it would dart intothe rocks where the other one would take over... the niger was a bit stupid poor thing and never realised it was chasing a different fish!
This wentonfor a week and i finally gave in and returned the niger. it was later put in another reef tank with clowns (against my recomendation) and yep you guessedit! it chased the clowns all over the tank. It was brought back to the shop again and finally it found a home ina fish only tank where it was with fish that canhold their own.

triggers tend to cruise at a far lower rate of speed than large tangs and they are very powerful in short bursts i agree but i still have seen no fish in a homeaquarium that can match a tang for sheer pace.

 

[Lynden]

My Niger Trigger, when first introduced to my tank, always used to chase my Zebra Darter. He actually caught him a few times, as well, holding him by the tail for a few moments before letting go. A fish has to be very tactful and fast (except in the case of ambushers, when only tact is needed) in order to catch a Darter; and the fact that the Trigger seemed to be toying with the Darter instead of just eating him when he got the chance indicates to me that he was more intelligent than people usually give fish credit for.

The Trigger eventually stopped chasing the Darter, who did not recieve any noticeable damage from the Trigger's play. The Darter recently lept from the tank and died.

I would have figured that the Triggers and Tangs in the reefs off Kona, Hawaii were a valid sample from which to base my opinion; I guess we will have to just agree to disagree on a few points.

-Lynden