Convict Tangs / Convict Surgeon Fish ( Acanthurus triostegus )

I've been dieing to keep one of these guys for a while now - Convict Tangs, so called because of their vertical black stripes set against a round white body. They aggregate in large schools and spawn en masse, scattering clouds of eggs and sperm. They are found in Indian and West Pacific oceans. They grow to 10 inches ( 26 cm ) but usually smaller. They Prefer coastal waters, lagoons and coral reefs. The Convict Tang feed on Algae, Plankton and Crustaceans, they are herbivorous and roam the reef in large feeding aggregations. Thankfully Convict Surgeon Fish are not considered threatened.

I did actually buy a Convict Tang a few months ago, it was only about an inch and a half but like most small convicts ( so I hear ) it died, it died because it had worms. I was feeding it about six times a day but it just seemed to be getting thinner and thinner by each day. The place I bought it from said I should bring it back and they'd worm it for me but the poor little chap / chap-ess didn't make it through night. It really does get up my nose, when it seems to be common knowledge among Local Fish Shops that small convicts are prone to having worms and the Local Fish Shop doesn't just worm the fish on arrival to save unnecessary deaths, go figure.

Thank you to Marc Pelissier for allowing me to use his great photo of the Convict Tang shoaling.

Anyway, a few months down the line, I get a telephone call from the LFS to say that they had a replacement Convict for me. Excellent! off I went to pick up my new Convict, well three Convicts actually, I couldn't help myself, these new convicts are a fair bit bigger than the first poor thing that they sold me, not to mention double the price but that's another story, so yes, I have 3 amazing looking Convict Tangs.

So far so good but it is really just early days yet, they seem to have settled in nicely over night with my Purple Tang and my Blue Tang, although, they don't seem particularly interested in my tasty offerings as yet, they seem pretty happy in their small shoal ( of three lol ) just grazing on the rocks.

I'm enjoying sitting back watching the tangs swim around together in their mini shoal, eating what ever it is their eating on the rock, I feel myself just drifting off to some distant land, the sun glistening and dancing on the clear blue turquoise sea, the beautiful blue skies and whispy white clouds hovering above the most beautiful exotic reef that is in my head but then my other half calls me back to reality from the kitchen - my dinner is ready and on the table.

You'll be pleased to know that dinner wasn't Manini. If you have ever been to Hawaii then you'll know that the locals call the Covict Tang "Manini", they fish and eat Convict Tang on a daily basis. Fresh Manini costs $6.99 per lb thats £4.30 to you and I.

Hawaii diving club have an annual fishing competition to see who can catch the largest Manini with a three pronged spear, the largest last year was 1.26 lb.

Videos of Convict Tangs in the wild
A few Convict Tangs
Shoal of Covicts Tangs Grazing
Covict Tangs spawning en masse

Here's a photo I took of my three Convict Tangs about an hour after they were introduced into my aquarium, I will try and get a better photo soon.