Entering the World of Tangs

[DocRose]

So I decided to enter the world of tang keeping. I've been successful with my other fish (except the things out of my control) keeping them healthy and disease/pest free. I'm familiar with isolating/QT'ing and I have done that with everything else that has gone into my display. However, I'm aware that tangs are notorious for disease and pests...so I'd like to brush up on the best practices for QT'ing it when it arrives. I'm considering going with either a Clown Tang or a Sailfin Tang. Both are very affordable, and as much as I'm going to do my best to make sure it survives, I won't be as angry with the $$$ loss if it doesn't, as compared to the highly coveted Yellow Tang (which goes for upwards of $500 right now). Any suggested reading, resources, or even personal knowledge (gained from experience) is much appreciated.

 

[i cant think]

So I decided to enter the world of tang keeping. I've been successful with my other fish (except the things out of my control) keeping them healthy and disease/pest free. I'm familiar with isolating/QT'ing and I have done that with everything else that has gone into my display. However, I'm aware that tangs are notorious for disease and pests...so I'd like to brush up on the best practices for QT'ing it when it arrives. I'm considering going with either a Clown Tang or a Sailfin Tang. Both are very affordable, and as much as I'm going to do my best to make sure it survives, I won't be as angry with the $$$ loss if it doesn't, as compared to the highly coveted Yellow Tang (which goes for upwards of $500 right now). Any suggested reading, resources, or even personal knowledge (gained from experience) is much appreciated.

Be careful with a clown tang, those are the worst of the worst with aggression. I’ve found them to be easy with disease but a pain with aggressive tendencies.

Both tangs you’re considering are generally easier with diseases but need a rather large tank (neither are scared to attain a size of 9 inches or more in captivity). If you have a 6’+ tank then I wouldn’t worry about it but if it’s 5’ or less I’d reconsider the choices and go for a Zebrasoma, smaller Acanthurus or a Ctenochaetus species.

 

[zhenya]

The sailfin can be very (very) aggressive to whatever it does not like. But...I just introduced a 3” clown and neither of the sailfin (an inch and 2 inches bigger then the clown) cared. They were more interested in the little powder blue that is flashing every fish it can swim up on (within minutes in the tank).
My Biota blue hippo was very calm (but tiny), however you’ll get the “ich magnet “ deal I’ve been reading. Mine has had it on 3 separate occasions (much better each time) but is alive and swimming actively. Also a very popular fish so can be found cheap.

 

[Dbichler]

If your plan is for a tang in a reefer 250 neither of your options will end well. You may be okay with a bristletooth or tomini but I wouldn’t even think of a sailfin or clown without a large tank.

 

[CincyReefer07]

So I decided to enter the world of tang keeping. I've been successful with my other fish (except the things out of my control) keeping them healthy and disease/pest free. I'm familiar with isolating/QT'ing and I have done that with everything else that has gone into my display. However, I'm aware that tangs are notorious for disease and pests...so I'd like to brush up on the best practices for QT'ing it when it arrives. I'm considering going with either a Clown Tang or a Sailfin Tang. Both are very affordable, and as much as I'm going to do my best to make sure it survives, I won't be as angry with the $$$ loss if it doesn't, as compared to the highly coveted Yellow Tang (which goes for upwards of $500 right now). Any suggested reading, resources, or even personal knowledge (gained from experience) is much appreciated.

I wouldn’t recommend either of those due to aggression and the size of your tank if it’s the one in your build thread. Those tangs need a decent sized tank and the smaller the tank, the more aggressive they’ll become over time, and those are already known to be more of the aggressive tangs. Like mentioned above, I’d consider a tomini or bristletooth tang. Much better in the smaller setups that range in the 60-90 gallon range