too much tangs for my tank?

[Bacon505]

so i got a little obsess with tangs for my upgrade build. My current system is 108g 48x24x21 that hosted 4 current adult tangs( yellow tang, 1 blue hippo 1 yellow belly hippo, 1 Yellow eye kole tang) along with 9 other fishes. i love the view of my current tangs swimming through my full size sps colonly.
im in the process of upgrading to a 160g(60x30x21") and i bought 4 more tangs (Powder blue, powder brown, caribian blue, and squaretail bristletooth tangs) currently in my temporary holding rubbermaid tub.
what is the best way to introduced all the tang to the new system? im thinking putting in all the tangs at the same time except the powder blue and powder tang a few days after since a lot of people said they are agressive. I probably going to get rid of the 2 hippo since they like to nip at my sps.

 

[Tallison]

I think your biggest problem might be mass murder. A couple of those species are fairly aggressive but each case is different, just make sure you have a skimmer rated high enough to handle that bio-load

 

[Bacon505]

yeah my skimmer is rated for 5-700g, im more concerns with aggression. i had 20 fishes in my current system before so nutrient control aren't an issue

 

[Xanthurum]

This will end badly! Your current tank is far too small for even 1 hippo let alone 2 and your upgrade is also too small for 1. A Powder Blue and a Powder Brown will most likely not get along at all and the Atlantic Blue is pretty aggressive as well. Not trying to be harsh but you are begging for problems!

 

[WWIII]

Not really sure your gonna get much info other than that's way too many tangs in either tank. Here's an excellent write up from @4FordFamily...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tang-aggression-understanding-and-combating.215698/

 

[Syed123]

Yes that's way too many tangs. For the 160 gallon you can keep all of those tangs except for the 2 hippo tangs and the Caribbean tang. Those three get too big.

Also, the powder blue may fight the powder brown and same with the kole and the squaretail bristletooth. I would personally ditch the powder blue tang since they can be more of a headache than they are worth and the Kole tang. Kole's can be obnoxious.

As for introduction, yeah the powder tangs should go in last. The others should go in first.

I would also like to add that tangs are the type of fish that are more trouble than they are worth in general. Disease prone, aggressive, territorial, bioload heavy. I mean they are good algae eaters and have nice colours/patterns but as an aquarium fish they are okay at best. Blasphemy, I know.

 

[jda]

If you want any hope, they need to be massively fed. Get them on pellets from an auto feeder... something with lots of spirulina in it like NLS or Formula 2. You can supplement with nori or mysis from there.

This amount of food is not reef friendly, but necessary.

I find tangs amazingly calm when they are well fed, growing and have all of their needs met. If you do manage to keep them this well fed, then both of the Hippos will outgrow your new tank in a few years... maybe the Carib Blue, as well. Be prepared to give them away FOR FREE to a good home that is large enough and then you can say that you are a good steward. If you need to SELL them or otherwise not find them in the best home possible, then you are a bad owner who did not think of the fish first, IMO. There was a restaurant with a 20k tank in KC that I would give my large fish to... they would QT them and we would see them year for years later... this was better for the fish than me selling them to a guy with just a 125 or 180g.

 

[4FordFamily]

I would ditch all three acanthurus tangs as they all outgrow that system almost immediately. The powder blue tang itself needs a minimum 180 gallon tank. They cover many miles of Ocean each day and need to travel. The hippo tangs will outgrow it if they haven’t already. The carribean blue gets very large very quickly.

I overstock my tangs pretty severely but my tanks are 180 gallons. I too have a passion for tangs but I think it’s unfair to house those tangs and that many in a tank that size.