Thoughts on Potential Tang Additions

Ed Chan · Nov 6, 2019

To be honest with you, I'd like to add all the tangs mentioned to my 3 tangs, but was really looking for opinions on which ones out of the group would be best. It does sound like having 8 tangs is more than I should have, but maybe adding 2-3 more that are smaller in size might be more reasonable.

nereefpat · Nov 6, 2019

Ed Chan said:
I currently have a yellow, blue, and sailfin tang in my 150 gallon tank.

Going to my LFS today to potentially pick up a yellow eye kole, two spot bristletooth/blue eye, convict, flame fin tomini, and orange shoulder.

I think the addition of a group will help with potential aggression issues, but wanted to see if there are other concerns that I should consider prior to making this addition.

I've read varying reports about convicts ONLY being successful with it's own kind?

Thanks in advance!

Agree that's way too many.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

Dragon52 · Nov 6, 2019

Ed Chan said:
To be honest with you, I'd like to add all the tangs mentioned to my 3 tangs, but was really looking for opinions on which ones out of the group would be best. It does sound like having 8 tangs is more than I should have, but maybe adding 2-3 more that are smaller in size might be more reasonable.

The 3 you have all are aggressive, adding anymore is just not going to be good in the long run. Not wanting to make you upset or anything it's just to small of a tank for that many Tangs. If you had a 200 or bigger it might work.

Ed Chan · Nov 6, 2019

Dimensions are 72x18x29

nereefpat said:
Agree that's way too many.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

nereefpat · Nov 6, 2019

Ed Chan said:
Dimensions are 72x18x29

Thanks. I thought that was probably the case. But I have seen either an old Perfecto or All-glass 150 that was 4x2x30"H.

Lots of posts here, but to answer your original question:

Potential aggression issues, as you mentioned is a concern, especially if:
There are too many for the space.
There are species that grow too large/active for the space.
There are very closely related species that don't tolerate each other well.

The other issue, is that some mentioned won't comfortably be able to live forever in that tank. Specifically, these are the sailfin, blue, and the orange shoulder.

Ideally, my advice would be to ditch the sailfin and blue, and keep the yellow. Then add the convict and two of the three bristle tooth tangs that you mentioned. Yellow, kole, tomini, convict would be a good combo...in my opinion.

Montiman · Nov 6, 2019

I am going to disagree with the tang police a little. I think the blue tang and sail fin tang can be kept in your tank for life no problem. The largest Chevron tang I ever saw came from a 110 tall and was nearly 12in long. He lived in that tank for 10 years until the silicon gave way and the tank started to leak. The orange should may get too big simply because I have seen 16in orange shoulders that could barely turn around in a 150 tall. The key to managing aggression is feeding a lot and having a lot of tangs. Similar to a freshwater cichlid tank. I might check out the youtube videos by Russ at the American Reef Channel he has a ton of tangs in a 110 tall that all look healthy and get along fine.

lpsouth1978 · Nov 6, 2019

I originally put 6 tangs in my tank (72x26x24). I added 1 from each genus with the exception of the Powder Blue and Chocolate tangs. Most have had NO problems, but there was enough aggression that my Tomini stopped eating and eventually died. There was no damage to his fins or anything, but he was too stressed and starved himself. I also have a Scopas tang that expect to lose in the next few days. He has followed in the Tominis footsteps after his death. I would remove them and take them to the LFS, but trying to catch a fish in a running system (without tearing it apart) is just not easy!

I would stick with the 3 you have and maybe add 1 more from a different genus. Just my thoughts and experience.

Halal Hotdog · Nov 6, 2019

Ed Chan said:
I currently have a yellow, blue, and sailfin tang in my 150 gallon tank.

Going to my LFS today to potentially pick up a yellow eye kole, two spot bristletooth/blue eye, convict, flame fin tomini, and orange shoulder.

I think the addition of a group will help with potential aggression issues, but wanted to see if there are other concerns that I should consider prior to making this addition.

I've read varying reports about convicts ONLY being successful with it's own kind?

Thanks in advance!

You like big fish, and I agree with your tastes. As mentioned, that's a lot of tangs for a 150 gallon tank, and I would not recommend it. The three you have will be fine, and if sailfin or hippo get too big you want options on re-homing. I faced a very similar dilemma as you, and my final decision is not to change my fish wish list but to look for a much larger tank. I have been looking for a large cylinder or octagon, but last week almost bought a 1000 gallon rectangle. The only thing that stopped me was transporting the tank home (2.5 hour drive). There is a 500 gallon cylinder tank on eBay that I have been eyeing, but he is in Ca and asking a bit too much. If you can go big enough you can have every fish on your list.

Dragon52 · Nov 6, 2019

Here's something to read.

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating So what's the deal with tangs? How do I keep them together? Why are they so aggressive and difficult to keep sometimes? It's a common discussion point. Some may dissent with what I have to share but I've never had less than three tanks running at a...

www.reef2reef.com

Steve Fast · Nov 6, 2019

Dragon52 said:
Here's something to read.

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating So what's the deal with tangs? How do I keep them together? Why are they so aggressive and difficult to keep sometimes? It's a common discussion point. Some may dissent with what I have to share but I've never had less than three tanks running at a...

www.reef2reef.com

Best article around on tangs

RtomKinMad · Nov 6, 2019

Ed Chan said:
I currently have a yellow, blue, and sailfin tang in my 150 gallon tank.

Going to my LFS today to potentially pick up a yellow eye kole, two spot bristletooth/blue eye, convict, flame fin tomini, and orange shoulder.

I think the addition of a group will help with potential aggression issues, but wanted to see if there are other concerns that I should consider prior to making this addition.

I've read varying reports about convicts ONLY being successful with it's own kind?

Thanks in advance!

I also have a yellow, blue and dejardini in my 300gal, 6’ tank. Additionally I have a chevron and blue eyed kole. When we first started the tank we put in 11 tangs all at the same time but we lost the naso right away and over a year had to remove 5 other tangs due to agression even in a 300 gal. We removed a powder brown, purple, Caribbean blue, Tomini, and scopa. We just moved them to our other tanks. The Caribbean blue was the most agressive of all. If you were going to try another tang I would recommend a kole tang with the others you already have. It can be done. Just be ready to make adjustments if needed. Good luck!

Bruce17 · Nov 6, 2019

lpsouth1978 said:
I originally put 6 tangs in my tank (72x26x24). I added 1 from each genus with the exception of the Powder Blue and Chocolate tangs. Most have had NO problems, but there was enough aggression that my Tomini stopped eating and eventually died. There was no damage to his fins or anything, but he was too stressed and starved himself. I also have a Scopas tang that expect to lose in the next few days. He has followed in the Tominis footsteps after his death. I would remove them and take them to the LFS, but trying to catch a fish in a running system (without tearing it apart) is just not easy!

I would stick with the 3 you have and maybe add 1 more from a different genus. Just my thoughts and experience.

Why don’t you pull out the Scopas and put him in a qt tank instead of letting him die?

skip0211 · Nov 6, 2019

I currently have a Powder Blue, Kole, Sailfin, Orange Shoulder and a Yellow in my 265 gal SPS reeftank with no problems.. all are 4 to 7 inches, along with two Red Stipe angels, Flame Angel, a Fire fish, 3 Lyrtails, 3 clowns, and a Royal Gramma. I keep them well fed and have no aggression problems..

lpsouth1978 · Nov 6, 2019

Bruce17 said:
Why don’t you pull out the Scopas and put him in a qt tank instead of letting him die?

The only way to get him out would be to tear my system apart and I don't have time to do that right now as I am leaving on vacation tomorrow. Even now, I am typing from my bed while preparing to go to sleep, and I have only been home from work for less than 30 minutes. I have tried to get him out with no success. so as of now he stays where he is. If he is still alive when I get back, I will try to remove him.

Frey · Nov 7, 2019

I would drop the orange shoulder and would be slightly concerned with the yellow eye kole and blue eye killing each other. I just recently tried adding a tenniti tang to my tank with almost the same fish you currently have and for some reason the yellow tang just does not like acantherus tangs. I took the whole tank apart and rearranged everything while i am going fallow for my 78 days to try and end my ich on and off for the past few years. I also have always wanted a convict tang but i hear the problem with them is just getting a healthy one that you can get through qt.
Either way, i love tangs, wish i had a 5000 gallon tank and could keep a few of each species. I wish you luck whatever route you decide to go.

Ed Chan · Nov 7, 2019

Thanks everyone!

The LFS's stock of tangs weren't that good. The convict and kole tangs weren't really eating well and didn't want to risk bringing unhealthy fish home.

With all the input, I'm most likely going to add at most 2 more tangs (Kole and Purple probably) and will not consider the larger of the group (orange shoulder).

Frey · Nov 7, 2019

I would still look into a bristle tooth if you like them. But only go with one. Then you are adding 3 to 3 and would really help with adding the new tangs to redirect some of the fighting. I know from experience adding one new one with multiple established tangs is a recipe for onslaught of the new fish. I also like the bristletooth tangs as they stay mostly smaller in size and do a great job at cleaning algae. But two at the same time will also give them more of a chance.
This is why i finally decided to tear my tank apart set up a 120 gallon quarantine system and move all the rocks and corals around. Figure when they all go back in the older fish don't have a territory and hopefully the tenniti and new powder blue i got at the same time everyone was going to qt can all figure it out when they hit the "new ich free reef" so far 2 weeks in the tenniti and powder blue have gotten along in qt after a few squabbles the first few days but i put alot of pvc in the qt to help them have a safe place to get away from one another.
Keep us updated how you make out!

savoyard · Nov 7, 2019

yeah, way too many for that size. I have a hippo and a sailfin in a 220 and that's pushing it.

sarcophytonIndy · Nov 7, 2019

Ed Chan said:
@Wick , I wouldn't stress too much about being short 25 gallons on what's typically recommended. As long as you have good flow in the tank and a good mix of rock work and swimming lanes, you'll be fine.

Even with my Sailfin, I think the recommended size is a 180, but I've had my sailfin for months without any issues. Loves to swim against the powerheads flow.

My concern in aggression within the tank when introducing new tangs. I wanted to see if anyone out there in the R2R community had any success with introducing and keeping a varied amount of tangs.

I have five (two yellow, scopas, tomini, clown) in a 125 and they get along great