Introducing my first tangs

rynosaurus · May 3, 2019

My 150 gallon tank is finally up and running, now time to get my fish lost! Looking for advice any and all information is appreciated.
I plan to get 4-5 tangs for my tank but I only have a 20g quarantine. My thought are why can’t I introduce all 5 tangs to the DT and for the first month it will in a way be my qt? I have nothing else in the DT other than rock so if I get them all in the tank together will I be ok? I don’t think it’s a good idea to have 5 tangs, no matter how small, in a 20 gallon tank but I know it’s best to have them all introduced at the same time.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

Wanted fish:
Dj sailfin
Powder blue
Naso Tang
Yellow tank
And maybe a vlamingi or a clown tang.

James M · May 3, 2019

You can add them to DT and if you see something bad then qt.

ajhudson15 · May 3, 2019

one bad thing is if you do see something pop up you cant treat the tank with certain chemicals because they can leach to your rock and sand. tangs are notorious for ick and if you have just one tang get ick in your dt you will have to remove all the tangs and fish to get the tank to go fallow

BestMomEver · May 3, 2019

I would definitely get one at a time and quarantine them first. On another note, that’s a lot of tangs for a 150, especially the Naso, Vlamingi, and Clown. Why don’t you go with a sailfin, yellow, powder blue, and a purple and powder brown?

Reefpuck · May 3, 2019

Agreed with ajhudson15....if one of them brings ich into the dt...it's gonna be a lot of work and waiting fixing it. My buddy uses a 55g he found used on craigslist as a qt when he bought several tangs at once.

ajhudson15 · May 3, 2019

I would buy the less aggressive couple first. qt them and then place them in dt and then buy the other couple and do the same. if you see aggression I have heard that rearranging your rock work will reset the tangs territory and helps with the aggression.

rynosaurus · May 3, 2019

Thank you for the info. I’m going to try getting the sailfin and yellow first, qt them and than get the others, although the 20 gallon qt is still small I hope that should work. I’ve also read using egg crate to separate them in qt works well.

Is there a better success rate from fish bought from lfs or is it just as safe to buy online?

ajhudson15 · May 3, 2019

for tangs id recommend lfs but that is depending on the lfs. if it is a specialty lfs that knows what they arte doing id go there so you don't have the tang stressed during overnight shipping.

rynosaurus · May 3, 2019

Just had another idea if I can talk my lfs into qt’ing the fish for me would that work? He’s a ton of help but not sure if he would help me that much lol.

ajhudson15 · May 3, 2019

some lfs do this already you just run the risk of not knowing if they did it right or have any other disease in their qt tank. I would say that route would still be better than just throwing them in your dt

Cment · May 3, 2019

rynosaurus said:
My 150 gallon tank is finally up and running, now time to get my fish lost! Looking for advice any and all information is appreciated.
I plan to get 4-5 tangs for my tank but I only have a 20g quarantine. My thought are why can’t I introduce all 5 tangs to the DT and for the first month it will in a way be my qt? I have nothing else in the DT other than rock so if I get them all in the tank together will I be ok? I don’t think it’s a good idea to have 5 tangs, no matter how small, in a 20 gallon tank but I know it’s best to have them all introduced at the same time.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

Wanted fish:
Dj sailfin
Powder blue
Naso Tang
Yellow tank
And maybe a vlamingi or a clown tang.

Cment · May 3, 2019

Your tank looks newly cycled and adding all those tangs which carry a heavy bio load at once isnt something I would suggest. I also dont think the majority of your choices are appropriate for your size tank. The sailfin, naso, vlamingi, clown all get really large and should be in tanks at least 6ft but in reality something even longer than that. Why not just get the yellow, PB, and a bristletooth?

ajhudson15 · May 3, 2019

Cment said:
Your tank looks newly cycled and adding all those tangs which carry a heavy bio load at once isnt something I would suggest. I also dont think the majority of your choices are appropriate for your size tank. The sailfin, naso, vlamingi, clown all get really large and should be in tanks at least 6ft but in reality something even longer than that. Why not just get the yellow, PB, and a bristletooth?

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I agree. I don't think I would even put that many in my 220. Although im sure you will find people putting that many tangs in a 90 gallon. Its a rough topic. If you can get them small it might be ok for a little bit but eventually youll need to upgrade or trade them in.

Cment · May 3, 2019

and in all honesty I would avoid the powder blue. Theyre ich magnets and usually become very aggressive. I would add they fish you want in order of least aggressive to most aggressive, which usually means adding tangs last. Proper QT and taking your time will increase your success for an enjoyable tank. Nothing worse than stressing out when your fish get ich or worse velvet and then you have to catch and QT all them.

rynosaurus · May 3, 2019

Your probably right I forget sometimes how large these tangs really get, the powder blue is my favorite of them all they look amazing to me but I haven’t done my research yet. My tank is 6ft so I believe the sailfin will do ok.
I assumed 4-5 would be a good number to keep the tank looking full but I’m sure y’all have more experience than I.
And I’m ok with getting tangs last if that is suggested I only thought of this due to it being advised that you add tangs at the same time. I’ll start taking a good look at the rest of the fish I want and fill that list first, that will give the tank plenty of time to mature for a while also.

Cment · May 3, 2019

rynosaurus said:
Your probably right I forget sometimes how large these tangs really get, the powder blue is my favorite of them all they look amazing to me but I haven’t done my research yet. My tank is 6ft so I believe the sailfin will do ok.
I assumed 4-5 would be a good number to keep the tank looking full but I’m sure y’all have more experience than I.
And I’m ok with getting tangs last if that is suggested I only thought of this due to it being advised that you add tangs at the same time. I’ll start taking a good look at the rest of the fish I want and fill that list first, that will give the tank plenty of time to mature for a while also.

The sailfin can actual get huge and out grow a 6ft tank pretty quick. If your favorite is the PB, then give it a try. Just make sure your QT protocol is down. Your tank can look plenty full even with smaller fish i.e. groups of anthias. You do have limited rock work, which I personally prefer, so when choosing your fish make sure they occupy different levels of the water column. Take your time, do your research, ask as many questions as you need to here. Were all here to help you have a successful tank and enjoy it as much as possible!