Will my tangs get along??

asn-naso

Dolphin
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#1
For starters my tank is a 105 gal, and is 6 feet long. It has plenty of swimming room. My current fish load is on the lighter side. Most fish are pretty small, other then a Foxface (3-4 inches), and a purple tang (3-4 inches).

I would like to add a bristle tooth tang, a naso (maybe blond) tang, a blue (regal/hippo) tang, and my wife would like a powder blue tang. I know the powder blues can be mean, so it will have to be the last fish.

After digging around, these all appear to be different genus, but with that said, a couple of them are similarly shaped. Should I be ok? I would not be happy if a $30 fish ends up killing my purple tang.
 

scchase

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#2
That would be a lot of tangs more or less what I have in my 480
 

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
currently in my 180 (you can look at my signature for the full list of whats in my tank), i have a Vlamingi, Orange Shoulder, Naso, Blue Hippo, Desjardini and a Yellow tang. i knowingly put them in there and am fully aware of their species and temperaments. I also know that when they all get "full size" that i have a place i can put the tangs to live out the rest of their life... but currently these tangs get along, the desjardini and yellow are larger than the rest, by a good 2 inches, but those 2 swim sleep and eat together, the other 4 cruise around together and school together, eat and sleep together.

Personally i would not think any of those would mess with the purple, if any the powder and bristle or powder and naso would be the issues in my eyes. Honestly try it out and see, if you see aggression in the first few days, feed nori from both hands at different sides or areas of the tank, get them used to feeding together and what not... transgress to a veg clip that they both feed off and so on. no one can say whether youll have problems or not, but in my opinion i think a 6ft 105G tank is rather small for THAT many tangs... but thats just my opinion.
 
#5
I had an orange shoulder tang and a yellow tang that got along great in my 100 gallon tank (4 feet wide). I introduced a purple tang a few months ago because I just had to have him. He was bigger than the other two, and I found the orange shoulder tang dead a few weeks ago.

Very unfortunate, but a learning experience.

The purple tang is the most aggressive fish I've owned to date. I would be cautious. He is territorial with all of the fish in my aquarium (clowns, green chromis, six line wrasse), but noticeably more aggressive to other tangs.
 

asn-naso

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
So it sounds as if it may be too many tangs, which I had an idea it may be. But I needed a starting point for my wishlist.

I've seen larger tangs in tanks half this size, and felt bad for the fish.

Plum - You've got 6 tangs in your 180, just wondering how long your tank is.

What is everyone's opinion on the number of tangs in a tank like this? 2, 3, 4? Also, should I count the foxface as part of that number?
 

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
ive seen first hand what a foxface can do to a tank and its nasty... so id be careful and watch aggression... my tank is 6x2x2. my tangs are all also small at this point other than the desjardini and yellow. i use to have the des, yellow and hippo in a 75g while the hippo was tiny tiny and the yellow and des were starting to "establish territory and get along." once i moved them to this tank and got the newcomers in, havent seen or had an issue yet. none even flair their fins at each other.

in my opinion, 105g thats 6ft long means ur tank is what? 72x17x20 (in inches)?
 

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
sorry in my opinion, id keep the purple and foxface, add the hippo and bristletooth, and if you wanna get frisky id add the powder OR naso... not both. sorry i got sidetracked with my ADD on the tank size/volume question
 

jda123

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#9
Even in the best scenario, most of those are rent-a-fish. They will also need to eat a LOT, or they will get aggressive and even start to eat coral (especially zoas)... so even though they are somewhat/mostly reef safe, they aren't really all that reef friendly once you consider the waste that they make.

"Genus, "shape" etc are hobbyists trying to make sense out of something nonsensical, at least on that level. Non-stressed tangs get along well and are well behaved. If you crowd them and starve them for higher water quality then they act like the idiots on Reality TV when crowded, forced to be together and provoked by the producers.
 

ReefCheif

Reef Shark
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#10
Youll be fine IMO. I have 2 yellow tangs, sailfin, powder blue, orange shoulder, naso, and the dark colored one that looks like a yellow tang but wth a brown/black body (cant think of his name) all in my 180. The powder blue was actually the first one added and Ive had no trouble with him at all. All my tangs swim and eat together with no aggression towards each other at all.
 
#12
ReefCheif;260157 said:
Youll be fine IMO. I have 2 yellow tangs, sailfin, powder blue, orange shoulder, naso, and the dark colored one that looks like a yellow tang but wth a brown/black body (cant think of his name) all in my 180. The powder blue was actually the first one added and Ive had no trouble with him at all. All my tangs swim and eat together with no aggression towards each other at all.
In my 180 I have a hippo, naso, yellow, lavender, scopas, tomini, and some other common reef fish and they all do great together no fighting, all of them eat lots of different foods and are very healthy.


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#13
Ahhhh...asking if tangs will get along. You might as well play the lottery every week. You will drive yourself crazy picking numbers! Throwing tangs together is like throwing a bunch of teenagers in a room. You do it then you sit back and watch! Some will get along, some will bicker, there will be a bully, there will be a coward, there will be a smart one, there will be a crazy one...some will share, some will play nice, some will fight. You can't answer if tangs will get along. Yes, your tank is small. You might want to rethink which tangs you pick. But if you want to try something, then try it. I had an Achilles, powder blue, Chevron, purple, and yellow in my 180. My purple tang was a big baby. He was so timid and shy. The powder blue ran the tank even though he was the second to last tang added.
You will drive yourself crazy trying to figure out a combo. Just try it. But as with teenagers, be prepared to clean up a mess at some point...
 

Ahhshoot

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
When my 180 was up and running I had a Desjardin already in it and established. He was so established that when I threw in a Blue Eyed Kole and a Mimic the Desjardin went nuts on the Mimic, so aggressive that I immediately got the Desjardini out and into the sump and eventually went to Ambrosiozoas. I also had a Foxface that was fine with all his tank mates to include tangs and corals.

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ReefCheif

Reef Shark
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#15
asneiman;260040 said:
For starters my tank is a 105 gal, and is 6 feet long. It has plenty of swimming room. My current fish load is on the lighter side. Most fish are pretty small, other then a Foxface (3-4 inches), and a purple tang (3-4 inches).

I would like to add a bristle tooth tang, a naso (maybe blond) tang, a blue (regal/hippo) tang, and my wife would like a powder blue tang. I know the powder blues can be mean, so it will have to be the last fish.

After digging around, these all appear to be different genus, but with that said, a couple of them are similarly shaped. Should I be ok? I would not be happy if a $30 fish ends up killing my purple tang.
Sorry man, just saw the size of your tank, your gonna have issue with that many tangs in a 105 gallon. I have a strong beliefe that tangs shouldnt be housed in anything smaller than 180, but thats just me. But i can tell you a Naso, and hippo will all get way to large for a 105 gallon tank.
 

ReefCheif

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#16
PlumCrazy;260158 said:
Scopas tang?

Thats the one! LOL, hes one of my faviorites too, BRAIN FART!
 

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
lol poor mans black tang! i never had one, got a yellow and desjardini kinda handed to me so i never got to choose whether i wanted one or not. U like yours Reef?
 

asn-naso

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
how quickly will a naso grow? Let's say I find a nice healty 4" naso, and want to add it to my tank. After digging around, it looks like they get HUGE. Should I plan on an inch a year, or ???? I'm trying to guage how long I can keep it in my tank, before having to find it a new home.

Also, I found an article last night that said they can scratch your glass and acrylic when they become larger. At what size does this normally happen?
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#19
If you feed any tang appropriately - as in enough so that it grows and is not aggressive - they grow very quickly. I think that a naso will be a 2-4" a year growth fish. I think that a 4" naso could outgrow my 240 in a year. I got one once as a donation (zoa eater) and I had a hard time moving it on.

Not too many people can care for a large naso - I ended up finding a 1500 display that took it and it did not eat zoas for them because they properly fed it.... and some of those people are really picky as to not introduce any disease into their tanks and might/will be very selective.

Also, are you willing to give it away? A large naso is not desirable. I doubt that anybody will pay you for it.

Don't under estimate what feeding a group of tangs will do to your reef. I am talking about a lot of food. People always say that they get how much food we are talking about, but few really do - this could become a N and P disaster very quickly if you don't double up your skimming, religiously clean/replace your sand or the like. With 3-4 tangs, I would be looking at the 5lb bucket of pellets and not the ones at the LFS.

I don't know if they can scratch glass, but they can certainly scratch the acrylic. I imagine that they could do it at 3-4" when their razor thingy (industry term) develops, but they are a real risk when they get crowded and cruise.
 

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
asneiman;261696 said:
how quickly will a naso grow? Let's say I find a nice healty 4" naso, and want to add it to my tank. After digging around, it looks like they get HUGE. Should I plan on an inch a year, or ???? I'm trying to guage how long I can keep it in my tank, before having to find it a new home.

Also, I found an article last night that said they can scratch your glass and acrylic when they become larger. At what size does this normally happen?
My vlamingi grew 4" in 6 months. Between him and my lunare wrasse and Niger trigger, I was feeding a can of flake and a package of elite reef feast every 2 weeks. I was fairly new to the hobby, so I was still learning. If that gives you any idea. I would really like to get another vlamingi again in the 210, but I fear I'll be begging the Aquarium downtown to take him in a few years...
 
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