To tang or not to tang

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

Hi R2R friends,

We're thinking about adding a tang to our 100g tank to combat the hair algae showing up in the tank, we have snails but thought a more active eater would help. Want to get some thoughts from the community on these two tangs

Does anyone have experience with them? I'm generally aware of tang's semi-aggressive behavior but wanted to get community feedback.

Kole Yellow Eye

Squaretail Bristletooth

Our tank currently houses the following species:
Two Ocellaris clownfish
Hawkfish
Lawnmower Blenny
5 Double-banded Chromis
Valentini puffer
Watchmen Goby

Inverts:
Snails

Thanks in advance!

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

We're also open to suggestions

andrewey · Jun 7, 2020

Assuming your 100 gallon is the traditional dimensions (72"), I think both tangs you've selected would make fantastic additions! I've only owned the kole yellow eye, but I added it to a similar setup (minus the puffer) and it got along fantastically. Are there any particular questions or concerns you have about the tangs?

h2so4hurts · Jun 7, 2020

A 100g is right on the edge of what is acceptable for keeping 1 tang. They're very active swimmers and need a ton of room. I'd suggest something else, like a sea hare if the true reason is to get rid of GHA.

User1 · Jun 7, 2020

Both of those tangs are bristletooth and great work horses. Great utility. However, not sure they are great at GHA. Also I personally do not like adding something for a specific short term task. So my only suggestion, well one anyway, is that if you are wanting to introduce a tang solely for helping GHA then I would probably not add one. Not for that. There are other options like adding a few more snails and manual removal. Manual is slow but workable then introduce vibrant if you have a great working skimmer and it will be gone.

Manual remove is like this:

1. Cup or bowl of tank water
2. gloves of your choice but I prefer shoulder length
3. put on some music
4. reach in, pinch GHA, gently pull left to right and lift out of tank
5. place finger tips in glass / bowl of water to rinse and leave GHA there
6. rinse and repeat for about 20 minutes or until you have had enough
7. better half can take a turn

Back to tangs. Bristletooths are great for rocks and glass. My suggestion is to leave one glass pane alone cleaning wise so they always have a source of food. If you want a tang that is GHA friendly I've personally had great luck with Scopas and Lavenders. I have both in my 210 now.

In any case best of luck.

Bossman · Jun 7, 2020

I've had both the kole and squaretail bristletooth in different tanks. They harassed the blennies both lawnmower and starry. And in general, they were agressive chasing my wrasses all over the tank. I traded them both in at the LFS after some time. The tanks are much more peaceful now.

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

andrewey said:
Assuming your 100 gallon is the traditional dimensions (72"), I think both tangs you've selected would make fantastic additions! I've only owned the kole yellow eye, but I added it to a similar setup (minus the puffer) and it got along fantastically. Are there any particular questions or concerns you have about the tangs?

Thank you for the response! The only concern is really how good of a community member it is, we try always to make sure that we're adding contributors and not harassers

. I also was hoping that there might be experiences with them eating hair algae which is the primary reason for adding them. Both are also beautiful fish to add to our tank

I added a picture of our tank to give folks an idea of the space.

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

h2so4hurts said:
A 100g is right on the edge of what is acceptable for keeping 1 tang. They're very active swimmers and need a ton of room. I'd suggest something else, like a sea hare if the true reason is to get rid of GHA.

Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look into that... we were looking for a herbivore and we don't want anything that will be restricted because of our tank size.

andrewey · Jun 7, 2020

Is that a 48" long tank? Sorry, I was assuming it was a 72" tank.

lefkonj · Jun 7, 2020

Those tangs are great for algae maintenance but if you buy one it is a keeper for life. They will graze all day long

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

saf1 said:
Both of those tangs are bristletooth and great work horses. Great utility. However, not sure they are great at GHA. Also I personally do not like adding something for a specific short term task. So my only suggestion, well one anyway, is that if you are wanting to introduce a tang solely for helping GHA then I would probably not add one. Not for that. There are other options like adding a few more snails and manual removal. Manual is slow but workable then introduce vibrant if you have a great working skimmer and it will be gone.

Manual remove is like this:

1. Cup or bowl of tank water
2. gloves of your choice but I prefer shoulder length
3. put on some music
4. reach in, pinch GHA, gently pull left to right and lift out of tank
5. place finger tips in glass / bowl of water to rinse and leave GHA there
6. rinse and repeat for about 20 minutes or until you have had enough
7. better half can take a turn

Back to tangs. Bristletooths are great for rocks and glass. My suggestion is to leave one glass pane alone cleaning wise so they always have a source of food. If you want a tang that is GHA friendly I've personally had great luck with Scopas and Lavenders. I have both in my 210 now.

In any case best of luck.

Thank you! We're just getting ahead of the game on the GHA in the 100g, we've had experience with it in our original tank and we tried everything (brushing, flossing, dosing, vibrant nuking and finally fluconazole which did the trick!) we didn't get a tank for the exact reason most folks recommend not enough swimming room. We definitely are reefers that only add things to the tank that will hopefully be long term and beneficial. Obviously, if the tang got too big we would try to find a bigger home for it... we appreciate you looking out for our fish friends

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

andrewey said:
Is that a 48" long tank? Sorry, I was assuming it was a 72" tank.

Ya it's a 48" most places for these two species recommend at least a 70g tank. I always add 10-20% on to tank as a failsafe. We're hoping that a combination of a tang, snails and if the puffer will allow emerald crabs will keep the GHA down. We don't have a major outbreak but I see some places where it's showing up... could be residual from some of the frags we moved over from the old tank.

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

Bossman said:
I've had both the kole and squaretail bristletooth in different tanks. They harassed the blennies both lawnmower and starry. And in general, they were agressive chasing my wrasses all over the tank. I traded them both in at the LFS after some time. The tanks are much more peaceful now.

Thanks for the response! This is one of my concerns we don't have a wrasse but we do have the blenny fish harassers

I was hoping our tank would be big enough to keep the peace.

User1 · Jun 7, 2020

BighohoReef said:
Thank you! We're just getting ahead of the game on the GHA in the 100g, we've had experience with it in our original tank and we tried everything (brushing, flossing, dosing, vibrant nuking and finally fluconazole which did the trick!) we didn't get a tank for the exact reason most folks recommend not enough swimming room. We definitely are reefers that only add things to the tank that will hopefully be long term and beneficial. Obviously, if the tang got too big we would try to find a bigger home for it... we appreciate you looking out for our fish friends

I'm not judging tang by size of the tank - maybe that was someone else. I was just focusing on utility, long term vs. short term problem. I've kept a bristletooth tang, Yellow Eye / Kole, in a 100 gallon before. Sounds like you are on the fence and if I was in those shoes I'd probably try and fix the issue before. On the other hand if you want a tang or had plans for one then see if you like the Scopas. I've read, and experienced, that they are good at GHA management. Bristles I've not experienced that with my Kole.

revhtree · Jun 7, 2020

I have Kole experience and mine was a good community member.

LRT · Jun 7, 2020

The wife has been wanting to get a tang but we just cant house one in the shallow tables.
I've had really good luck with the Mexican turbos you can literally watch the mow the nuisance algae down. I actually just picked up 4 more. One for each table.
Next step will be sea hare. Our local lfs has some really small ones I think I'm going to give a shot.

ca1ore · Jun 7, 2020

As noted, bristles are not much good for hair algae .... you might luck into an individual that is, but the likelihood is not. Tomini is an excellent choice for a smaller tank if you are set on one. I wouldn’t personally have a reef tank without a bristle tang. Chevron is my favorite, but requires a larger tank.

BighohoReef · Jun 7, 2020

LRT said:
The wife has been wanting to get a tang but we just cant house one in the shallow tables.
I've had really good luck with the Mexican turbos you can literally watch the mow the nuisance algae down. I actually just picked up 4 more. One for each table.
Next step will be sea hare. Our local lfs has some really small ones I think I'm going to give a shot.

Haha... @LRT that's how this tang convo started. Wife wanted one sadly I can't say that the tank is too shallow. lol

I agree with you on the turbos, they were back-ordered when we got our first batch... debating putting the order in if we get the tang. What are your thoughts on the sea hare? I've read if startled it'll release a toxin to protect itself... not sure the puffer would ignore it not to mention I don't know if our filtration would pick it up the toxin.