Are we too hard on people asking if they can mix tangs

[4FordFamily]

Haha, I wouldn't dream of mixing them, especially as a first timer.

I would pick one out of the three and keep it as the sole Acanthurus tang.

I find that acanthurus tangs vary greatly in shape and temperament — PBT, powder brown, achilles, and goldrim are very similar and risky to mix, Clown and Sohal too similar and often don’t play well together, etc.

 

[Faisal27]

I'm only interested in a few tang, mainly the powder blue, white cheek and the achilles. Would either of these be ok in a 180?

Yeah any of three can work in that size of a tank .. each one comes with its negatives like the powder blue and Achilles are ich magnets but two of the most beautiful tangs out there .. good luck and update us

 

[outeastreefer]

I think if you have enough caves to hide you can have several tangs. I have a 300 gallon DD. I have 3 yellow, 1 chevron, 1 purple, and 1 naso. some times there is aggression so they duke it out and go to there respectable corners after a round or two.

 

[Faisal27]

I think if you have enough caves to hide you can have several tangs. I have a 300 gallon DD. I have 3 yellow, 1 chevron, 1 purple, and 1 naso. some times there is aggression so they duke it out and go to there respectable corners after a round or two.

Thanks for the reply .. same thing with me the more caves the more comfortable they get

 

[cumbeje]

They do much better if they are different shapes I find. I keep Achilles, naso blonde male, purple, and bristle tooth together now. Getting ready to add a blue tang to the mix. My achilles runs the tang.

 

[PeterG]

I wish I had read this thread or did more research before adding two tangs (Kole & Powder Grey) to a 90 gal.
You can read about the unfortunate outcome here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-died-what-to-do-now.344831/#post-4299662

 

[Faisal27]

I wish I had read this thread or did more research before adding two tangs (Kole & Powder Grey) to a 90 gal.
You can read about the unfortunate outcome here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-died-what-to-do-now.344831/#post-4299662

Yeah that tank size ain’t enough for tangs and given that you have two didn’t help I guess .. at least I learned from it and should help him the next time

 

[Faisal27]

I have a skimmer for twice the size of my tank .. has anyone here tried refilling the nori once it’s done throughout the day ( after they wake up and stop when they go to sleep ) .. I’ve been trying this for the past few days and noticed that not only are the tangs grazing through it and finish it every i time refill the clips but my wrasses and swallow tail and now eating directly from the clip throughout the day ..

 

[Killamanjaro]

Yeah any of three can work in that size of a tank .. each one comes with its negatives like the powder blue and Achilles are ich magnets but two of the most beautiful tangs out there .. good luck and update us

Careful what you wish for. Once this tank is purchased and up and running, you guys will be sick of my posting!

I've had a few setbacks as life gets in the way, but it has meant I've been able to go for a bigger tank than I had initially planned for so I don't mind the wait knowing I'm getting a bigger tank.

I'll just use the time to read and learn more. I've come to find that just when you think you've learned it all, you find you really know nothing at all lol.

 

[Monkichi]

Firstly, I admit I didn’t read the whole thread. So if this had already been said I apologize.

My opinion is it is more important to be prepared and aboserve the fishes behavior closely if you want to experiment with possible known aggressors. E.g, have a trap or easy way to catch an aggressive fish and a place to put it both short and long term if it does not work.

You also have to be willing to spend a lot of time watching them at all hours of the day and night to make sure it will work long term.

If you witness continued aggression you need to be able to act safely and quickly with another solution for the fish you are removing at hand.

This is what has worked for me.

 

[Faisal27]

Firstly, I admit I didn’t read the whole thread. So if this had already been said I apologize.

My opinion is it is more important to be prepared and aboserve the fishes behavior closely if you want to experiment with possible known aggressors. E.g, have a trap or easy way to catch an aggressive fish and a place to put it both short and long term if it does not work.

You also have to be willing to spend a lot of time watching them at all hours of the day and night to make sure it will work long term.

If you witness continued aggression you need to be able to act safely and quickly with another solution for the fish you are removing at hand.

This is what has worked for me.

Great advise very true .. this thread is about the different ways people have kept different tangs in different tank sizes ( different used three time so know haha)..

 

[Tek]

I haven’t had big issues mixing tangs or most fish as long as each was fed well. My auto feeder drops pellets 4x a day. I noticed aggression during feeding and it would get worse if the feeding was not adequate. When each was fat and happy they got along.

 

[Faisal27]

Careful what you wish for. Once this tank is purchased and up and running, you guys will be sick of my posting!

I've had a few setbacks as life gets in the way, but it has meant I've been able to go for a bigger tank than I had initially planned for so I don't mind the wait knowing I'm getting a bigger tank.

I'll just use the time to read and learn more. I've come to find that just when you think you've learned it all, you find you really know nothing at all lol.

I love any posting on tangs .. bring it on heheh .. just make sure you have caves caves caves worked for me with nori always available for them .. hope I didn’t get lucky and it works for you

 

[sanchoy]

Started with many, now down to these 2 gems. Once they matured, very hard to add new tangs with these 2 vets

 

[SpartaReef]

What kind is that one. Not the Achilles

 

[RichCalvo]

I have a 150g mixed reef tank and I have been very lucky to accommodate 6 tangs with a magnificent foxface and a Harlequin Tusk, they all live together with no aggression. Below the list in the order that I added them to the tank:

1. Blue tang, 2. Yellow Eye Kole, 3. Powder Brown tang, 4. Sailfin tang, 5. Yellow tang, 6. Magnificent Foxface, 7. Purple Tang and 8. Harlequin Tusk.

What did I do or could recommend?
- Always quarantine the fish to prevent health issues and improve his immune system.
- Always introduce them to the tank using an acclimation box (I keep them there for 2-3 days).
- I feed them twice a day and give them nori once a day.
- I try to keep enough rocks for them to hide.

Is this the magic recipe? Not at all, this worked for me but not saying it would work for everybody. To a certain degree I feel I was lucky but definitely always observing for any aggression and I plan to upgrade my tank size to ~300g in the near future. A picture of my tank before I introduced the Tusk.

 

[Erwan E]

thank you finally for your comments .. this thread (in my mind ) was supposed to be about successful stories about people who have kept tangs from the same family or different 1 tang or 5 tangs so we can start to see if there are ways for fellow members , reeefers , casuals , etc to successfully keep tangs in a variety of aquarium sizes .. we all agree that a tang in a 30 gallon won’t work but I’m was talking about 100 gallons and up with their success stories .. like I said I have a 500 gallon tank with 8 tangs so I didn’t need to start this thread in the first place cause I’m all set because my tank size helps ..if this thread can be about this topic then let’s do it but if it’s going to be about why( justifying ) we can’t keep tangs or that it’s either you did ur research ( mostly no tangs in a certain sized aquarium or these two tangs in a 1000 gallon tank wont work) then I ask the admin to close this thread ( because I actually don’t know how to or if I can ) ... this isn’t a shot at any of the members in this forum but I was hoping this wouldn’t Become another “either ur with us or against us thread ”

How many tangs can I have in my Red Sea 750 (160gl)? I introduced 3 yellow and a clown tang at the same time. They are all doing well. I would rather not get another Zebrasoma type due to the 3 yellow and no more Acanthurus because they are generally very aggressive. I was thinking about powder blue. Should I get 2 so that the current tangs do gang on a single one or is it a bad idea? Suggestions please

 

[Erwan E]

I think something else to touch on is that success is by no means assured as you progress. Having 5 tangs in my tank might work for me (and for now) but introducing another tang could throw the entire dynamic into chaos and result in failure. If you're reading this thread and planning to have multiple tangs either introduced simultaneously or through least to most aggresive temperament, you need to realize that this is less like building with Legos and more like Jenga.

very true