What is the most unique fish you have in your tank?

Gumbies R Us · May 26, 2023

A lot of us get some fish over the years we would say are "unique". Maybe it is the behavior that is unique to us or the look of the fish that is unique. I am wondering what is the most unique fish you have or had in your tank?

j.falk · May 26, 2023

I have a fishless tank set up at the moment. I like it because I don't have to feed the tank on a regular basis.

o2manyfish · May 26, 2023

The most unique fish we have is a fish we call the "Rabbi Tang". Several years back Jake Adams wrote a story about the Rabbi Tang but called him the "Keyhole Tang"

The "Rabbi Tang" is a Desjardini Tang that was given to us by a wholesaler in April of 2019. They knew that I wouldn't resell the fish, and we had given homes to many unique fish in the past that were unsaleable.

Usually we gave home to fish without tails, missing fins, badly beatup, missing eye, missing eyes, eyes damaged and blind. We have plenty of tank space and as long as the fish is a docile community fish - No Groupers or Triggers. We offer a home for them until they are given away to a school/classroom tank.

But the "Rabbi Tang" is unique in that it basically looks like someone shot the fish through it's belly. That's why I named the fish the "Rabbi Tang" because it's the Holiest fish I've ever seen.

So in this first photo it looks like a marking on the fish - This is a photo from when we first for the fish in 2019

But take a look at this second photo - taken same day:

I personally don't like Sailfin tangs. They don't appeal to me personally. My wife thinks they are gorgeous. 2.5 years earilier I got her a Desjardini, because she really wanted it, and I got her a small quarter sized tang and put it in our outdoor frag tank. That fish grew so quickly that after 2 years we rehomed that fish from our 180g frag tank to one of CaliKidCorals.com 600g display tanks. And as of Feb of this year that fish had moved into one of their 800 or 900g display tanks.

The Rabbi Tang grew and is growing at a much slower rate. After 2 years it went froma 1.5" to maybe a 2.5-3" fish. The hole has gotten slightly larger as the fish has grown. The lines of the fish pass thru the opening and smoothly connect to the lines on the opposite side of the fish, which leads me to believe this was a birth defect rather than an 'incident' because there appears to be no scarring.

When we lost the majority of the fish in our display tank in March of 2022 I decided to move the Rabbi Tang from the outdoor frag tank into the 560g in the house. When we upgraded last Sept to a 750 the Rabbi Tang moved into the 750.

The Rabbi Tang is very mellow and is now a 6-7" fish. The hole is big enough to pass your pinky finger thru - estimating not that we have tried this.

My problem is a) I'm not a personal fan of Sailfins and b) I don't like Big fish. And this guy is starting to get some size. We have his next home picked out and one day he will get boxed up and shipped away to another home where he will be kept not monetized.

I don't have any recent photos of him. I might take some later today when the lights come on and add them to this thread if there is interest.

Or you can watch the fish yourself on our live webcam - o2manyfish.com - But the lights don't come on till 4pm PST.

Dave B