Gem Tang Fish - Luxurious, high-class marine aquarium fish

Gem Tang (Zebrasoma gemmatum), a marine ornamental fish that represents class, luxury and high value, is sought after by professional aquarium hobbyists.

When it comes to the most high-end marine aquarium fish, we cannot fail to mention the Gem Tang fish (Zebrasoma gemmatum), a type of fish belonging to the surgeonfish family, possessing a perfect appearance with a jet-black body, dotted with sparkling white spots like diamonds. This is not just a simple aquarium fish but it also represents the class of professional, high-end hobbyists.

To learn more about the Gem Tang fish, please explore the detailed content shared by nice fish below!

Information about Gem Tang fish :

Origin of Gem Tang fish

Gem tang fish possess a luxurious and classy beauty.

Gem Tang, English name is Gemmatum Tang, scientific name is Zebrasoma gemmatum, one of the rarest and most expensive tang fish in the world. They are endemic to the Southwest Indian Ocean, mainly distributed as follows:

• Seas around the islands of Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar.
• And some small populations in the Mozambique Channel.

In general, their distribution range is quite narrow, usually living in coral reefs with depths of 10 - 40 m.

Currently, overfishing of this fish to meet the demand for the aquarium industry has seriously threatened the population of this fish in the wild. Fortunately, some research projects on breeding Gem Tang fish in artificial environments have begun to be successful.

The name "Gemmatum" is Latin for "gem-spotted", referring to the fish's characteristic jet-black scales with white spots.

Gem Tang fish appearance

Close-up of the appearance of a Gem Tang fish.

Gem Tang fish are considered one of the most luxurious and sought-after marine aquarium fish. Let's learn a little about their appearance to know why.

• Color : The whole body is black or dark purple, covered with small, round white dots that look like gemstones - this is also the most recognizable feature of this fish species.
• Size : Average 18 - 22 cm in adult fish.
• Shape : Flat, oval, typical shape of Tang family (spintail fish)
• Muzzle : Pointed, small, forward
• Dorsal and anal fins : high, extending from head to caudal peduncle, have the same color as the body with black spots but have an additional jet black border.
• Caudal fin : Fan-shaped, small, light yellow, beautiful gray border.
• Eyes : Round, large, with a striking jet black color.
• Spines at the base of the tail fin : There are sharp spines at the base of the tail fin, used for defense.

Gem Tang fish behavior

Gem Tang fish prefer to live alone, not in groups.

To learn more about the Gem Tang fish, let's see if this fish has any interesting habits!

Lives alone or in pairs

Gem Tangs are solitary or pair-based fish, rarely found in schools in the wild. In captivity, they are territorial, defending their territory, and can be aggressive towards other fish, especially other members of the Surgeonfish family.

Is a fish that eats plants (algae)

Gem Tangs are herbivores, feeding mainly on algae, especially filamentous algae and microscopic algae that cling to the surface of live rock. They will occasionally eat frozen food or pellets if introduced from a young age.

Gentle swimming

Like most other surgeonfish, Gem Tangs are very graceful and graceful swimmers. They often swim slowly around rocky reefs and corals in search of food.

When threatened, they will swim faster to find a hiding place, or use the spines on their tails to defend themselves and threaten enemies.

Gem Tang Fish Breeding Guide

Gem Tang fish are for experienced keepers only.

Gem Tang is a rare and valuable ornamental fish, so when deciding to raise this fish, you must learn detailed instructions on how to raise and care for it so that the fish can grow well, be healthy, and live for 10-15 years. To understand these things, please refer to the instructions below.

Preparing the tank for Gemmatum Tang

To help Gem tang have a comfortable, spacious living environment, corresponding to the natural environment, you need to design an aquarium that meets the following criteria:

• Tank capacity : Minimum 400 - 500 liters, Ideal over 650 liters
• Pool length : Minimum over 1m2
• Filtration system : Overflow filtration combined with strong skimmer membrane to help water circulate well, ensuring quality.
• Light : Choose LED lights specifically for marine fish.
• Lid : Required as this fish can jump if frightened.
• Aeration : Choose a strong, continuous aeration system.
• Wavemaker : To simulate ocean currents
• Aquarium decoration : Choose live rock at a ratio of 1 - 1.5 kg live rock/10 liters of water, stack them to create gaps and holes for the fish to hide in. The tank floor should be made of fine, white coral sand 3 - 4 cm thick. When stacking rocks, leave a large space in front for the fish to swim.

Water parameters suitable for Gem Tang fish

After preparing a suitable tank, you need to prepare a more important step, which is the water quality in the tank, which must at least meet the following criteria:

• Temperature : 24 - 27 degrees Celsius
• pH : 8.1 - 8.4
• Salinity : 1.023 - 1.025 SG
• Ammonia/Nitrite : 0 ppm
• Nitrate : < 10 ppm
• Alkaline : 8 - 12 dKH
• Ca, Mg : Balance if the tank has live corals.

Cycle the tank before releasing the fish.

Before releasing fish into the tank, you need to perform a biological system start-up cycle in the tank 3 - 4 weeks in advance according to the following instructions:

• Add sea water to the tank (Use dechlorinated water mixed with synthetic sea salt)
• Run filter + skimmer + continuous wave generator
• Add live rocks and sea sand to create layout and microorganisms.
• Bottled microorganisms can be added to promote faster microbial growth.
• Check NH3, NO3, NO2 concentrations first
• When NH3, NO2 are 0, NO3 is low, the ecosystem is ready to release fish.

Gem Tang Fish Diet

As you know, Gem Tang is an algae-eating fish, so when kept in an artificial tank, you can feed them the following foods:

• Main food : Dried seaweed (Nori), seaweed, spirulina.
• Additional food : Pellets for herbivorous fish, frozen Artemia, Mysis
• Feeding schedule : feed fish 2-3 times/day with just enough food, avoid excess.

To stimulate fish to eat, you should stick seaweed on rocks or use food clips to clamp seaweed to the side of the tank so that fish can nibble on them comfortably like in a natural environment.

Fish matching and tank mates

Gem Tang is a territorial and somewhat aggressive fish, so you should and should not keep them with the following types of fish:

Fish should be kept together :

• Goby
• Clowfish
• Wrasse
• Coral

Fish should not be kept together :

• Fish in the same family as the yellow mullet , green mullet, Japanese mullet,...
• Aggressive fish like lionfish , large predatory fish.

Care and disease prevention for Gem Tang fish

Gem Tang also often suffers from some common diseases in marine aquarium fish such as white spot disease, velvet, fungus, bacterial ulcers, stress, and unsuitable living environment.

Prevention :

• Quarantine newly purchased fish for 10 - 14 days before releasing them into the main tank.
• Keep water quality stable, limit sudden changes.
• Add garlic and vitamins to food to strengthen the fish's immune system.
• Do not keep with aggressive, territorial fish that will fight and stress the fish.

Treatment when fish are sick :

• Isolate sick fish into separate tanks
• Use specialized medicine to treat fungus, white spots, velvet, and ulcers according to recommended dosage.
• Change water, clean tank.

Gem Tang fish price list updated 2025

As shared, Gem Tang is a beautiful, rare and relatively expensive marine aquarium fish, only suitable for professional hobbyists with good economic conditions. Please refer to the detailed price list below for more information!

Image of beautiful and noble Gem Tang fish

Please take a look at the super beautiful, super clear images of Gem Tang fish compiled below to understand why this fish is known as one of the most luxurious and noble marine fish!

A beautiful Gem Tang fish swimming around in an aquarium.

Close-up of the appearance of a Gemmatum Tang fish.

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Gem Tang fish are foraging in the aquarium.

Thus, through the article on nicefish.net, we have shared detailed information about the origin, habits, care and price of Gem Tang fish . It can be clearly seen that this is a high-class marine ornamental fish, only for professional, rich and experienced players.

If you want to find many other beautiful ornamental fish to raise in your aquarium, please visit our Blog section right away, there are many saltwater and freshwater fish waiting for you to discover.