Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine Aquariums: Diversity, Selection & Care

Whatever common name applied to these razor-wielding fishes, the Surgeons, Tangs or Doctorfishes span the entire bandwidth of aquarium suitability. A few ship so poorly they rarely recover from the rigors of capture and transport from the wild. Then there are the members of the family that should be disqualified on the basis of growing too large (quite a few to more than a foot and a half in length), and/or outright agonistic behavior... The majority, though tough as proverbial "nails", must still be qualified as through careful individual selection on the basis of apparent condition and proven feeding. Not to worry, here we'll sort out which are suitable for aquarium use.