Adding tangs different sizes

[Letterkenny]

I have had two tangs in QT separated by egg crate but the smaller would venture past when it wanted. QT is done. Should I add the smaller first and give it a couple days before adding the larger tang or just at the same time? The smaller is probably a 2-3” blue hippo and the larger is a 4-5” purple.

 

[piranhaman00]

Is there other tangs in the DT? If they are not fighting now then there shouldn’t be any problems. Even if there was some fighting I’d add them together personally. Tangs in DT different story

 

[Letterkenny]

Is there other tangs in the DT? If they are not fighting now then there shouldn’t be any problems. Even if there was some fighting I’d add them together personally. Tangs in DT different story

No tangs in DT. These will be all the ones I add. There was some fighting in QT which is why I added the egg crate for them to get used to each other but haven’t removed during the 6 week QT process.

 

[Letterkenny]

Bump

 

[HB AL]

I would put them in together. In your case it really doesn’t matter , so might as well introduce them together.

 

[Reesj]

Personally I would add the blue hipo 1st. Blue tangs are notoriously aggressive and should be added last. I personally would give at least 2 weeks for hipo in tank be adding a large blue Tang.

 

[Letterkenny]

Personally I would add the blue hipo 1st. Blue tangs are notoriously aggressive and should be added last. I personally would give at least 2 weeks for hipo in tank be adding a large blue Tang.

When you say “blue tang”, I take it you mean “purple tang”?

 

[Reesj]

Yep got one with me also. It's more blue than purple in reality

 

[Letterkenny]

Yep got one with me also. It's more blue than purple in reality

Are we thinking same fish here? Mine is definitely and prominently purple with small black dots that are not very pronounced.

 

[Reesj]

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Add them both at the same time...for sure. When you add tangs they have not established a territory and are much much much less prone to fight.

Neither of those are overly aggressive tangs. The purple is about the same as a yellow tang. Even when established in the tank you could add more tangs without mich difficulty.

The real aggressive tangs... the ones that you definately want to add last. Are
1. Achilies
2. Powder blue
3. Sohal.

My sohal isnt that bad but he is huge. He lets the others know he is the decider and nobody messes with him but he doesnt relentless chase things until they die. That was my achilies. I could not add ANY fish without him kiling them... until i dropped a 7" sohal in there.

Good kuck and thank you for QTing your tangs!!!

 

[piranhaman00]

Purple tangs are known to be very aggressive. Add them at that same time.

 

[seamax]

Add the blue hippo first so he as time alone in the tank . You dont want him to stress and break out in ich. Then add the
other tang. This way you can remove the hippo if he shows any sign of ich right away with out infecting the other new tang. I have had hippo tangs in quaratine moved to display and bam. Ich from stress of the move to the Dt.

 

[Reesj]

Add them both at the same time...for sure. When you add tangs they have not established a territory and are much much much less prone to fight.

Neither of those are overly aggressive tangs. The purple is about the same as a yellow tang. Even when established in the tank you could add more tangs without mich difficulty.

The real aggressive tangs... the ones that you definately want to add last. Are
1. Achilies
2. Powder blue
3. Sohal.

My sohal isnt that bad but he is huge. He lets the others know he is the decider and nobody messes with him but he doesnt relentless chase things until they die. That was my achilies. I could not add ANY fish without him kiling them... until i dropped a 7" sohal in there.

Good kuck and thank you for QTing your tangs!!!

I have no clue how you get your info or if you got some completely diffrent type of tangs.
For me, purple tangs are very very agressive. I have had medium size powder blue and a small purple. Powder blue didn't bother almost anyone although he was the tank boss.
The purple I have now is still small (3") and put in one before as last fish. Still pick fights with almost everything. Chase away every single fish below him in pecking order from his view. Then go on for tail flash fight with others.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I have no clue how you get your info or if you got some completely diffrent type of tangs.

Says the man that calls a purple tang a blue tang??

I currently have almost every type of common tang (sans the gem tang). And have had numerous different tang combinations in different sized tanks. I have also had to employ just about every trick in the book in order to get new fish into a tank full of tangs. Lights out, heavy feeding, acclimation box, mirrors, rearranging the rock work, putting the offending fish in time out..name it.

Obviously every fish is different but there are certainly trends. Having a passive powder blue is DEFINATELY an outlier. Same goes with an overly agreesive purple tang.

Honestly, its posts like that make me think..why even bother giving advice? Now there are posts saying do this or it will break out with ich? Wait... the tank has ich? I thought they were coming out of QT?

These are the tangs that are currently together in my tank.
1. Sohal
2. Blond naso
3. Powder blue
4. Hippo
5. Desjardini
6. Purple
7. Dusamerri
8. Scopas
9. Yellow
10. Achilies
11. Kole

But i digress. If only there was a 5 year old thread filled with tang advice that ranked their agressiveness and offered help on how to deal with it. Oh wait...here it is...

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tang-aggression-understanding-and-combating.76/

 

[Letterkenny]

Says the man that calls a purple tang a blue tang??

I currently have almost every type of common tang (sans the gem tang). And have had numerous different tang combinations in different sized tanks. I have also had to employ just about every trick in the book in order to get new fish into a tank full of tangs. Lights out, heavy feeding, acclimation box, mirrors, rearranging the rock work, putting the offending fish in time out..name it.

Obviously every fish is different but there are certainly trends. Having a passive powder blue is DEFINATELY an outlier. Same goes with an overly agreesive purple tang.

Honestly, its posts like that make me think..why even bother giving advice? Now there are posts saying do this or it will break out with ich? Wait... the tank has ich? I thought they were coming out of QT?

These are the tangs that are currently together in my tank.
1. Sohal
2. Blond naso
3. Powder blue
4. Hippo
5. Desjardini
6. Purple
7. Dusamerri
8. Scopas
9. Yellow
10. Achilies
11. Kole

But i digress. If only there was a 5 year old thread filled with tang advice that ranked their agressiveness and offered help on how to deal with it. Oh wait...here it is...

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tang-aggression-understanding-and-combating.76/

Thanks. I’ve read that thread but I really didn’t see much when considering size differences.

 

[lakai]

sort by size and aggression, add the smallest/least aggressive first

 

[Letterkenny]

I’m not sure how many will read all the way down here but a question for the future. Hopefully in 6 months to a year I will be working with my wife to get permission for a gem tang (I believe NY Aquatics has them for $500 ea and can check my local LA wholesalers). I’m that scenario whereby the purple and blue are already established, would I just trap the purple (and blue if needed), put them in a separate tank for a a couple weeks while the Gem is in QT and then add them back together?

 

[piranhaman00]

There are going to be oddballs for every type of fish but typically purple tangs are one of the most aggressive types.