Just how "same time" is the old mantra "you have to add all of your tangs at the 'same time'"?

[DrewFish]

I am in the cycling phase of my Red Sea Reefer XXL 750. While not a monster, it is 200 system gallons and should be able to support a few tangs. While I sit and daydream of my stock list, reading how to do it right, I see over and over again that one should add all of the tangs at the same time to limit aggression so that a dominant tang does not have an established territory when the others go in.

But that seems to present some issues, particularly as it comes to quarantine. Most quarantine tanks are not that big, 20-30 gallons at most. Tangs are already sensitive fish to begin with, and I would hate to think about holding 3-4 in a 20 gallon at the same time. Even in the main display tank, plopping 3-4 fish, depending on the size might cause a mini cycle which would stress out hyper-sensitive fish.

So how "at the same time" is "at the same time?" Is one or two a month fine?

I am thinking of the usual suspects, blue tang, red sea sailfin tang, purple tang, maybe powder brown or naso tang.

 

[ca1ore]

Without excessively butchering the English language, same time means ….. drumroll …. same time. The idea is to not allow a new fish to establish its territory/dominance before adding the next. Probably a few hours won't hurt, but a month won't help. Fortunately it isn't really necessary, and largely impractical too. As long as you fatten new fish up in QT, use an acclimation box, observe basic common sense with fish and tank size and avoid the hyper-aggressive species; introducing a new tang has a pretty good chance of success. Sometimes things still do go sideways, so always have a plan to isolate/remove an aggressor if necessary.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

It’s a bit of a novel as far as threads go, but here’s a thread that made me feel like I have some idea of what to expect with my future stock list:

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating So what's the deal with tangs? How do I keep them together? Why are they so aggressive and difficult to keep sometimes? It's a common discussion point. Some may dissent with what I have to share but I've never had less than three tanks running at a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Phycodurus]

i have multiple quarantine tanks set up in anticipation of this (re: tangs).

yeah, it takes up space ... but it's short-term.

 

[Qasimja]

Fortunately it isn't really necessary, and largely impractical too.

this is true at least for me i added my tangs over the last 9 months at different times months apart and they didn't fight at all maybe its because they are all from a different genus i did have a yellow and sailfin in the tank added months apart and never fought once the yellow died for some unknown reason months ago thou

 

[Kostas G.]

I have added my tangs as I found them, months apart. While adding at the same time might be advantageous, you can also add them more gradually, adding the more aggressive species or the larger specimen, last. But as long as they have some size difference, they won’t care much about each other. And you also have the mirror trick in case you see them put too much attention on a newcomer. Each mirror is a new enemy to them to beat all day long. The mirrors can stress them out though too

The tangs May decide to go after other wide bodies fish added too so adding all tangs together does not guarantee peace. You can work your way to it though using lots of food & frequent feeding and mirrors