Three Acanthurus tangs walk into a bar...

[4FordFamily]

Appreciate that. I'm currently stocking a 300 gallon with a tang gang.

In the 300 currently are a:

• Naso (largest and most docile),
• Blue Hippo (small and docile),
• Powder Blue (mid-size maniac who attacks his reflection all day long),
• Blue Throat Trigger (timid)
  
• Clownfish (docile), and a
• Six-Line Wrasse (docile)

In my QT tank currently are:

• 9 baby Yellows (all know their role as runts),
• 1 medium Scopas (somewhat aggressive),
• 1 medium/large Purple (chill, but will defend himself),
• 1 large Kole (very aggressive towards the Purple), and
• 1 baby Sohal (unknown temperament, as he's currently in a separate container within the tank, but I'll assume he's on the aggressive side).
• All but the Scopas were purchased in the last few days. The plan is to watch them for 30 days and then add them as a group to the 300 to minimize aggression since there's no already established territory.

My questions:

• Will the Sohal and Powder Blue co-exist since they're both Acanthurus (didn't realize this before today since their body shape looked different)?
• And would it be crazy to attempt to add a Clown Tang to the mix, assuming I get him quickly so I can QT them all together? I initially didn't plan on it, but seeing this thread now makes me curious.

That is a ton of tangs, I think you’ll regret that many conspecifics, personally. More because it will limit the variety you can add later.

I think your list is a lot, even for a 300 gallon but no I wouldn’t add a clown tang to that mix. Sohal and powder blue may get along but may not. If adding several tangs concurrently your chances increase but a resident territorial PBT defending his tank currently is nearly the worst case scenario you can come up on.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[4FordFamily]

I'm going to imagine that adding another Acanthurus to an established and a very aggressive Powder Blue is likely to be a problem. The Clown tang is potentially even more aggressive than anything else you'll have in that tank. @4FordFamily may provide you with further info for discussion.

On a side note, and some sad news, the Powder Brown, who was transferred back to the sump, had likely been injured by a Fluval power head that had fallen on the poor tang. When I went to feed him a few mornings ago, it didnt come out to beg for food. I later found em in the filter sock area and a goner. ☹

The other two, the Goldrim and Achilles, are getting along just fine.

Sorry for the loss, glad the others are coexisting well!

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

Bummer.

Just curious, How does a powerhead fall on a tang? I mean, if I put a tang in a 5g bucket, half full of water, I don't think I could hit it if I tried 100x.

The powerhead was suction cupped to the wall of the sump, just above the exit for the water flow from the filter socks. That's where the tang hid most of the time when it wasnt swimming around the rest of the sump. All three suction cups lost their hold.

Though I did not witness this, it's the only thing that kind of makes sense of the situation.

 

[1stNoel]

That is a ton of tangs, I think you’ll regret that many conspecifics, personally. More because it will limit the variety you can add later.

I think your list is a lot, even for a 300 gallon but no I wouldn’t add a clown tang to that mix. Sohal and powder blue may get along but may not. If adding several tangs concurrently your chances increase but a resident territorial PBT defending his tank currently is nearly the worst case scenario you can come up on.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the reply.

I initially didn't plan on keeping that many of one type, but then I kept seeing all these tanks on R2R filled with tangs. I figured as long as I introduce all at once (except the PBT which went in one week earlier...more on that later), and keep plenty of food available (I bought some ogo and nori, plus I have Hikari seaweed pellets in an automatic feeder), that it should produce a similar result of peaceful coexistence.

One thought was to catch the PBT, and keep him in QT with the Sohal (with the Sohal still in his individual chamber). Allow the other tangs to go in the 300 at once, then re-introduce the PBT and Sohal together in the 300 a week or so later. So far the most aggression I've seen is the resident Scopas attacking the Yellow runts. He respects the Purple and the Kole, but not anything smaller.

The good thing is that the school of Yellows keeps it from being an attack on one individual, and if he gets too close to the school they kind of gang up on him and defend themselves (it's kind of interesting to see, and watching the school move in sync around the tank grazing is exactly the look and feel I was hoping for). If the Scopas doesn't chill out when he enters the 300, then I'll have to catch and re-home him.

 

[1stNoel]

That is a ton of tangs, I think you’ll regret that many conspecifics, personally. More because it will limit the variety you can add later.

I think your list is a lot, even for a 300 gallon but no I wouldn’t add a clown tang to that mix. Sohal and powder blue may get along but may not. If adding several tangs concurrently your chances increase but a resident territorial PBT defending his tank currently is nearly the worst case scenario you can come up on.

Good luck and keep us posted!

When you say it limits what I can add later, did you mean other types of fish or other types of tangs?

Since my tank is catered to corals, I will not be adding any "with caution" fish except for my Copperband. My preference would be to have a ton of angels (Queen, Emperor, Regal, etc.) but my experience with any of them is that they always end up being coral munchers, so that's why I went Tang heavy (and I thought I grabbed at least one from every category). I like wrasses but I have an SPS barebottom tank, so I only have a 6-line. The only fish I intend to add after this is a school of Lyretail Anthias and a Cleaner Wrasse (and maybe a Mandarin), and then I'll consider my tank fully stocked.

 

[4FordFamily]

When you say it limits what I can add later, did you mean other types of fish or other types of tangs?

Since my tank is catered to corals, I will not be adding any "with caution" fish except for my Copperband. My preference would be to have a ton of angels (Queen, Emperor, Regal, etc.) but my experience with any of them is that they always end up being coral munchers, so that's why I went Tang heavy (and I thought I grabbed at least one from every category). I like wrasses but I have an SPS barebottom tank, so I only have a 6-line. The only fish I intend to add after this is a school of Lyretail Anthias and a Cleaner Wrasse (and maybe a Mandarin), and then I'll consider my tank fully stocked.

It means you’ll have a full bio load, you’ll want to add fish later but not have a lot of space as they grow out.

 

[Kmsutows]

Appreciate that. I'm currently stocking a 300 gallon with a tang gang.

In the 300 currently are a:

• Naso (largest and most docile),
• Blue Hippo (small and docile),
• Powder Blue (mid-size maniac who attacks his reflection all day long),
• Blue Throat Trigger (timid)
  
• Clownfish (docile), and a
• Six-Line Wrasse (docile)

In my QT tank currently are:

• 9 baby Yellows (all know their role as runts),
• 1 medium Scopas (somewhat aggressive),
• 1 medium/large Purple (chill, but will defend himself),
• 1 large Kole (very aggressive towards the Purple), and
• 1 baby Sohal (unknown temperament, as he's currently in a separate container within the tank, but I'll assume he's on the aggressive side).
• All but the Scopas were purchased in the last few days. The plan is to watch them for 30 days and then add them as a group to the 300 to minimize aggression since there's no already established territory.

My questions:

• Will the Sohal and Powder Blue co-exist since they're both Acanthurus (didn't realize this before today since their body shape looked different)?
• And would it be crazy to attempt to add a Clown Tang to the mix, assuming I get him quickly so I can QT them all together? I initially didn't plan on it, but seeing this thread now makes me curious.

That really is a heck of a lot of potentially big fish for that tank. You may have problems later if not now. I would highly recommend a huge UV if you dont already have have one. Best investment you could make for that tank.

 

[1stNoel]

Update.

For the most part, QT went well. The Scopas did get to one Yellow at night, who didn't make it. Scopas was then caught and isolated.

The Sohal, who was extremely pale when I bought him, is coloring up beautifully. He's still in the acclimation box, but he's now been moved to the 300...so he has a better window view.

Speaking of the 300, the remaining tangs all are doing well, but are a bit stir crazy; so today I decided to place them in the 300. The Powder Blue initially went batty, but the Purple and Kole are slightly larger and were able to check him. So the PBT went back to chasing his reflection.

I also placed 5 sheets of nori throughout the tank to make sure everyone has enough. Plus I didn't clean the glass, so maybe they can get to work if the mood strikes.

Here are some pictures (sorry for the poor quality...I'm working on that):

Yellows schooling with the Purple. The Purple is a gentle king.

Group shot...

Yellows roaming their new pad. You can see there's plenty of swimming room.

PBT still shadow boxing! So far he hasn't noticed the Sohal.

In summary, I like the dynamic in the tank and I love the added movement. The largest fish are chill (Purple, Kole, and Naso). I'm still nervous about the PBT long-term, and about how the Sohal will be when I finally let him out.

As far as bioload, I added a reactor with 2L of Matrix and I'll soon be plumbing in a 30 gallon refugium...so hopefully that takes care of the extra nutrients.

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

Good luck ::thumbs up::