Yellow Eyed Kole Tangs make a terrific addition to almost any saltwater aquarium. These active saltwater fish are also called, "bristle tooth" tangs because they feed on the micro algae that grow in the aquarium and are one of the best equipped fish for assisting your cleanup crew in hair algae removal.
The Spotted Yellow Eyed Kole Tang lives in the reefs surrounding the Indian Ocean, it has the brightest blue edge to its fins, with a deep orange-brown color that is covered in small light yellow to blue spots along its body. The eye is big and encircled by a yellow ring. Another closely related species, the Pacific Ocean Yellow-eyed Striped Bristletooth tang (C. strigosus), is very similar in appearance, it has a spotted head, but its body is instead covered in fine light stripes.
Both Striped Bristletooth tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) and the Spotted Yellow Eyed Bristletooth (C. striatus) are commonly referred as a yellow eye kole tang, yellow eye spotted kole tang, or yellow eye surgeonfish, and for some time they were thought to be geographical variants of the same species.
The Yellow Eyed Kole Tang will reach a length of eight inches, is considered to be "reef safe", and should be kept in an aquarium larger than 100 gallons to provide plenty of swimming room. It is aggressive towards other Tangs; therefore, it is best to only keep one per tank. It will not harm sessile invertebrates in the reef tank environment.
Diet: Yellow Eyed Kole Tangs are known to be herbivores and help keep corals healthy by preventing overgrowth of algae by feeding around them. They are happy to graze along rocks and coral for algae in the ocean. But when in a tank, you will need to provide them with little more nutrients. Dried algae are available to buy and recommended for their tank.
