My Tang Gang, Maybe?

[PapaDragon]

I need a little help picking some tangs for my 180g aquarium. I have a couple questions, but first I want to say that I normally wouldn’t consider adding 5 fish like these at the same time. I was just trying to follow the advice of adding all your tangs together to minimize aggression. The immediate issue I have with this advice is that my quarantine system can’t support 5 tangs for a month. My only option is to put them directly into the DT. Don’t like that especially with tangs, but I didn’t like my orange shoulder tang going nuts and killing my achilles tang even more. In my last tank I had a beautiful achilles tang that was fat and doing great until I added an orange shoulder tang. Initially I was worried that the orange shoulder tang was going to get bullied by the established achilles. Immediately I noticed some pushing to get to the nori with a little nipping at each other. After a week of the fighting not settling down I decided to try and catch the orange shoulder. I waited one day too long. The orange shoulder killed him.

Anyway, first are these tangs compatible:

Red Sea Desjardin Sailfin Tang-3"
Blue Hippo Tang (2-3")
Purple Tang | Zebrasoma xanthurus | 4"
Hawaiian Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) 3-4"
Gold Rimmed Surgeonfish

Second, is that too many tangs for a 180g (72x24x24)?

Finally, can I add them at different times instead of all at once if I pair them up in a certain order?

 

[Musovski]

@4FordFamily

 

[ca1ore]

Hippo tang is a separate genus (hepatus) and generally ignored by other tangs, well beyond a little initial hazing. Some will say an 8’ tank is needed, but I’ve kept one in a 6’ without issue. Sailfin will definately get too large for a 180. Other three should be Ok. I generally only keep a single acanthurus genus per tank. Probably you’d want to add the yellow and purple at the same time, but the others could be done sequentially. Of all those tangs, the purple is likely to be the most aggressive.

 

[4FordFamily]

Hippo tang is a separate genus (hepatus) and generally ignored by other tangs, well beyond a little initial hazing. Some will say an 8’ tank is needed, but I’ve kept one in a 6’ without issue. Sailfin will definately get too large for a 180. Other three should be Ok. I generally only keep a single acanthurus genus per tank. Probably you’d want to add the yellow and purple at the same time, but the others could be done sequentially. Of all those tangs, the purple is likely to be the most aggressive.

I agree with all of this, and I wouldn’t skip quarantine this will not end well. Introduce fish in batches. Orange shoulder is likely to be OK with gold rim particularly if it’s larger. They’re different enough acanthurus that it usually works out.

Ive QT’d tons of fish together thanks to biospira for ammonia. But I would split fish batches before skipping QT you’ll absolutely regret that, but especially your fish will.

I’d add a trio of zebrasoma first and then the two acanthurus concurrently.

 

[PapaDragon]

Thanks so much. The sad thing is the Sailfin is my favorite. So I need to find an alternative for the Sailfin?

 

[ca1ore]

CAN YOU have a sailfin …… yes, certainly you can. 180 will house it for a while, maybe a long while. Just be prepared for it to outgrow the tank and have a plan for that.

 

[4FordFamily]

CAN YOU have a sailfin …… yes, certainly you can. 180 will house it for a while, maybe a long while. Just be prepared for it to outgrow the tank and have a plan for that.

Agree. Sailfin are useful because they can be good “aggression diffusers” if it’s your largest tang and docile. Some Sailfin are far from docile though. The best tang aggression neutralizer/referee is a naso tang but they will outgrow that tank even faster and I don’t recommend them in less than an 8 foot tank, typically. I’ve housed them in 6 footers for a few years if purchased small.

 

[PapaDragon]

CAN YOU have a sailfin …… yes, certainly you can. 180 will house it for a while, maybe a long while. Just be prepared for it to outgrow the tank and have a plan for that.

@ca1ore Well I am always looking for a reason to upgrade :)

 

[jschultzbass]

@ca1ore Well I am always looking for a reason to upgrade :)

Some good advice I got is don't plan your fish based on an upgrade that might, might not, happen. A lot of people get Blue tangs as babies for example with the thought that they'll get a bigger tank in the future when it gets older but there is a good chance that that future tank never happens. I know you were saying it jokingly but just something to keep in mind.

 

[RazorD]

Agree. Sailfin are useful because they can be good “aggression diffusers” if it’s your largest tang and docile. Some Sailfin are far from docile though. The best tang aggression neutralizer/referee is a naso tang but they will outgrow that tank even faster and I don’t recommend them in less than an 8 foot tank, typically. I’ve housed them in 6 footers for a few years if purchased small.

@4FordFamily , not to get too far off here, but what size does the Naso generally have to be to serve as referee? Larger than everyone, or does the two scalpel serve enough as the neutralizer regardless of size compared to tank mates

 

[Brian Saxby]

I added a 3” purple and 3” kole into my 180 at the same time. I already had a 5” powder blue in there that owned the tank. Couldn’t catch him so I risked it and now all 3 are my Silly Tang Gang. At first the PBT whoop the crap out of the two little guys. I phoned a friend and he told me to try the mirror trick for the PBT and it worked perfectly. This could help in adding tangs at different times. Now the purple is the captain of the Silly Tang Gang. He defiantly has short man syndrome