Safe to add another Tang?

[TexanCanuck]

I've recently setup a new 130 gal display (between it and my sump I have 140 gals of working volume) and have 120 pounds of rock in the tank - so lots of free swimming space. The tank has been running for 3 months now and water parameters are very stable.

Currently, I only have 3 fish in the tank - all tangs:

• Yellow Tang (3")
• Purple Tang (3")
• Sailfin Tang (2")

I REALLY would like to add either a Whitecheek Tang or a Blonde Naso Tang.

Based on the thread "Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combatting" (thank you 4FordFamily!!), if I am careful to find a fish that is smaller than what I've got now (say 2"), and am careful to feed heavily for the first few weeks, do you think I can get away with it?

Thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to kill a fish.

 

[ScottR]

Welcome to REEF2REEF!!! I’ve got a 130g tank but that includes sump. I forget how many gallons the display is. But it’s 4ft long. I had 3 tangs and my rockwork is pretty shallow. I lost a white cheek tang that couldn’t hack it. But I see no problem with adding in another tang. I plan to keep 4 eventually as well.

 

[hds4216]

Both the sailfin and the naso will eventually outgrow a 130 gal imo.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

Both tangs are different enough in shape, and color that either should be fine. My suggestion would be to add several new fish at once, so it's not just one interloper coming into the existing tangs territory.

 

[polyppal]

Naso would grow up to twice the size of your other tangs, they can get huge. Most people keep mature Nasos in several hundred gallons... Id add any new fish right after switching around some rockwork. This can work to help 'reset' precieved territories with the current livestock and curb aggression.

 

[Zionas]

Your display is 119 gallons, let’s just make it 120.

It’s a RSR Peninsula 500.

 

[Zionas]

Sailfin and Naso will eventually outgrow a 130. Maybe a Bristletooth (Tomini, Kole- if you can still find one, White Tail, Square Tail) or a smaller Acanthurus?

 

[TexanCanuck]

Thanks for all the guidance, folks.

My plan is to use this tank as a staging ground for a 250 gallon I'm planning for the fall (as soon as I convince my wife it's a good idea).

So for now, I took the plunge and added a small (~2.5") blonde Naso. I made sure there was lots of Nori on offer in 2 different places, and added some live Red Ogo Macroalgae in 2 different places, and then hosted the Naso in an acclimation box for 24 hours before releasing to the aquarium.

It worked out great. There were no more than a few minutes of awkwardness between the Naso and the Sailfin, but that quickly disappeared. The Naso has been in there swimming around with everyone else for the past 24 hours and they look like old friends.