Need Tang Opinion

[aLu]

I need some advice/help. I am newer to this and made a bad decision upfront. I purchased a powder brown tang pretty early after the tank was cycled. He has been doing great and for the most part gets along with everyone else including other new arrivals. I added a sailfin tang and they did not get along. Long story short I removed the PBT and then reintroduced but in a fish box for about a week. After adding the aggression went way down but they still caught quite often and the sailfin had lost a lot of fins. I have since removed the sailfin and am now thinking about getting rid of one of them. Obviously the sailfin and PBT aren’t going to coexist. I want to have more then one tang but am wondering if it’s in the cards for that PBT. Anybody with similar experience with tangs?

 

[theMeat]

I have a large Sailfin, a large purple, and a medium pbt. They get along fine.
what size is your tank?

 

[RDtrack]

It really depends on tank size. The other question I would have is did you move the rock work around a bit after adding the PBT back in? Just reintroducing him might not work as he is familiar with the rock work and sleeping areas. Re-arranging can help with aggression as both tangs are in new areas.

 

[Dave1993]

Put a mirror up

 

[PatW]

I have a powder brown in a 6’ X 36” (depth) X 27” height. He is in with a Kole Tang and a Yellow Tang. He can get hyper and ALL the fish dive for cover. He can also turn pretty aggressive against new arrivals. From my experience (remember N=1), powder browns can be pretty aggressive. Ditch the powder brown and keep the Sailfin.

 

[theMeat]

I have a powder brown in a 6’ X 36” (depth) X 27” height. He is in with a Kole Tang and a Yellow Tang. He can get hyper and ALL the fish dive for cover. He can also turn pretty aggressive against new arrivals. From my experience (remember N=1), powder browns can be pretty aggressive. Ditch the powder brown and keep the Sailfin.

Hmm. Out of my tangs (sailfin, purple and pbt) the pbt is the least aggressive. Used to have a humongous naso in with them too but he passed.
Out of the two pbt i’v had over the years would also say they are more prone to ick that even a naso, and more likely to nip at corals

 

[i cant think]

I have a powder brown in a 6’ X 36” (depth) X 27” height. He is in with a Kole Tang and a Yellow Tang. He can get hyper and ALL the fish dive for cover. He can also turn pretty aggressive against new arrivals. From my experience (remember N=1), powder browns can be pretty aggressive. Ditch the powder brown and keep the Sailfin.

Sailfin tangs can get equally as aggressive when they’re bigger though, so with that theory get rid of both.

 

[KrisReef]

Thanks for the question.
I believe this question may have been helpful in spawning the following axiom:

Fish are a lot like politicians. They are all full of sunshine, hope and promises but you won't know how they will behave until they get empowered and start dominating the world they live in.

 

[cancun]

The size of the tank is important for sure......all 3 of my tangs are jerks...including my Dejardini. They are fine most of the times, but occasionally chase each other. No damage done though. Non of them bother my other fish though.

 

[Blakjax]

I need some advice/help. I am newer to this and made a bad decision upfront. I purchased a powder brown tang pretty early after the tank was cycled. He has been doing great and for the most part gets along with everyone else including other new arrivals. I added a sailfin tang and they did not get along. Long story short I removed the PBT and then reintroduced but in a fish box for about a week. After adding the aggression went way down but they still caught quite often and the sailfin had lost a lot of fins. I have since removed the sailfin and am now thinking about getting rid of one of them. Obviously the sailfin and PBT aren’t going to coexist. I want to have more then one tang but am wondering if it’s in the cards for that PBT. Anybody with similar experience with tangs?

I have a tang heavy tank. I agree with the previous posters, the size of the tank and the rock makes a big difference. I currently have 2 blue hippos, 1 sailfin, 1 yellow, 1 powder brown and they all get along great. They live in a 220g.

 

[MarshallB]

Keep in mind not all fish are equal. Some folks might have 0 issues with mixing specific fish, others have issues. It comes down to the temperment to that particular fish. Even clown fish can be extremely aggressive.

Fish develop a territory. Rocks help, but not always. One fish just might decide the whole tank is its territory.

My suggestion is try to introduce them both at the same time. Before you do that I would rearrange all your rock work so they are both coming into "new territory". If you decide to get rid of them, but still want tangs, then I would decide up front on how many and what kind of tangs you want and place them into the tank at the same time. It's no guarantee they will all get along fine, but it will increase your chances.

 

[aLu]

Thank you for all the information and I currently have a 90. Also I can’t change the rock work as they are cemented to each other. Lastly I currently have a mirror up and am trying this method now. The sailfish is in a box now while he gets reacclimated and giving the PBT time to be mean while there is plastic between them.

 

[aLu]

If this doesn’t work then I might just move try to rehome them. I have a mixed tank and wanted something with the bigger look.

 

[Billldg]

A 90 gal tank, it may be a challenge, sorry. I have a Purple, D. sailfin, and Gem tang Zebrasoma, along with a Achilles, Blonde Naso, and Tomini tang. I have them in a 225 gal tank. They have plenty of space currently, but, in a 90 gal tank, that space is limited. My Desjardini Sailfin is the most aggressive in my tank currently. Space and tank size means everything when tangs are a factor.

 

[Lineatus]

im guessing your 90 is around 4 feet long? Personally, I think that’s a little to small for either of those fish, even on there own

 

[i cant think]

Thank you for all the information and I currently have a 90. Also I can’t change the rock work as they are cemented to each other. Lastly I currently have a mirror up and am trying this method now. The sailfish is in a box now while he gets reacclimated and giving the PBT time to be mean while there is plastic between them.

I’d get rid of both if it’s a 90, IMO the only tang that can fit in the 4’ tanks are Bristletooths (Not striated or chevrons). Some say a yellow could fit but to me that’s borderline, they’re highly active and not fit for tanks under 5-6’ IMO.

 

[aLu]

So I am just going to get this thread going again. I am working to find somewhere for the sailfin and the PBT to go per the advice above. If tangs aren’t a good idea for my tank then what other options are out there for the larger colorful look? I have a few corals so small angels make me nervous and not a huge fan of the fox face.

 

[i cant think]

So I am just going to get this thread going again. I am working to find somewhere for the sailfin and the PBT to go per the advice above. If tangs aren’t a good idea for my tank then what other options are out there for the larger colorful look? I have a few corals so small angels make me nervous and not a huge fan of the fox face.

Other than the smaller butterflies not much will do that. If you need help here’s my tank stock (4’x2’x2’):
- Magnificent foxface
- Twinspot bristletooth tang
- Jade wrasse (My group of wrasse is not recommended unless you know what you’re doing and even then most of the time it’s still not recommended)
- Radiant wrasse
- Both variants of Lubbock Fairy wrasse
- Melanomarginatus fairy wrasse
- CBB
- Melanospilos swallowtail angelfish
- flashing tilefish

If you want an Angel that isn’t RSWC, best bet is a deep water genicanthus (G. semifasciatus and G. melanospilos are the best ones for this).

 

[Zionas]

A 90 really isn’t big enough for more than one Tang, and even then I would hesitate to do anything than a smaller Bristletooth species. That means Tomini, Kole (Indian Ocean or Hawaiian), White Tail, and a couple others. There is an orange striped one called C. cf Stratus. A 90 would be borderline for a Yellow, but as @i cant think pointed out a Yellow really needs that 5-6’ of swimming space to feel happy and not be a jerk (even then not a guarantee).

Sailfins just get too big for the vast majority of hobbyist systems, and Powder Blue / Brown are even more active than the Zebrasomas (along with being aggressive), so 7-8’ if left to me.

 

[i cant think]

A 90 really isn’t big enough for more than one Tang, and even then I would hesitate to do anything than a smaller Bristletooth species. That means Tomini, Kole (Indian Ocean or Hawaiian), White Tail, and a couple others. There is an orange striped one called C. cf Stratus. A 90 would be borderline for a Yellow, but as @i cant think pointed out a Yellow really needs that 5-6’ of swimming space to feel happy and not be a jerk (even then not a guarantee).

Sailfins just get too big for the vast majority of hobbyist systems, and Powder Blue / Brown are even more active than the Zebrasomas (along with being aggressive), so 7-8’ if left to me.

+1 to this, when I get home I can give you all if not most of the smaller Ctenochaetus species, Off the top of my head the ones I can remember are:
- C. binotatus > Blue eye kole
- C. cf striatus > Lined bristletooth
- C. flavicauda > White tail bristletooth
- C. tominiensis > Tomini bristletooth
- C. cf trunctatus > SquareTail Bristletooth
- C. strigosus > Kole

The ones with “CF” are not to be mixed up with the true ones, the true C. striatus and C. truncation get rather large. Even the regular kole IMO isn’t best for a 4 foot tank but it can survive. If you really want a tang, you can have one but it would only be one (I know the want for more, I’ve been there with the gold rim).