Chocolate Tang

The chocolate tang is a tang famous for mimicking other fish in its youth: depending on the region they live in, juveniles copy the color and shape of the lemonpeel, the vrolikii or other dwarf angelfish, and their tails are rounded too. As it grows it shifts to the dark brown-purple adult color; the orange patch behind the gill opening and the thin white line under the chin become distinct. As an adult it reaches 25–29 cm. Specimens are wild-collected.

• At least 600 liters and 180 cm in length for an adult; plenty of open swimming space.
• Salinity specific gravity 1.023–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C; high oxygen.
• Algae-covered live rock to graze on and crevices to shelter in at night.
• Reef-safe: It leaves corals and invertebrates alone.

Herbivorous. Dried seaweed, spirulina and granule foods containing seaweed must be offered every day; frozen mysis is a useful supplement.

A relatively calm Acanthurus, but it is cantankerous towards its own species and similarly shaped tangs. Kept in the same aquarium as the dwarf angelfish it mimics, it makes an interesting sight.

Good companions: Dwarf and Genicanthus angelfish, anthias, wrasses, clownfish, a tang from a different genus in a large aquarium.

Avoid: A second Acanthurus, narrow aquariums, aggressive triggerfish.