Tang Tally: How many Tangs can I keep in my tank?

[McPuff]

Darn I'm vested in this question now...

I'm considering the following 2-3" in my build

Achilles
Purple
2x Yellow
Gem
Yellow eye kole
White tail
Sailfin
Convict
Powder blue


Tank is 72" x 24" x 29"... with sump it's 300g system.

I do have a 96" x 36" x 30" 400g that I can eventually move bigger fish into... again these are all going at the same time as 3" juveniles... but I was also assuming not all would survive to adults as this is the sad reality of the hobby. This thread is making me doubt the plan tho :$

I think the hardest part will be getting them all in a close enough time frame so you can stock at once. I had a hard time doing that for 4 tangs as I had a similar plan. Ended up settling for 3 of them... the 4th was an achilles but that never happened. It's a good list though. I am considering adding a convict at some time if I can find a healthy one.

 

[CoralB]

As many know, I have 25 tangs and I stocked them in order of temperament and the plan has worked. Do they squabble occasionally- Of course they do but they never strike each other or cause injury. I have no secret to having so many other than maintaining good water quality and best diet possible.
Those who have seen my tank in person say the tank is well balanced with fish and the behavior is unbelievable with over 40 fish in the tank.

Now your just showing off lol!!! . Hope all is well and that you finished getting your house repaired after the storm ? That was a far reaching storm and sad that you were in the direct path !!

 

[Digitalfirex]

I think the hardest part will be getting them all in a close enough time frame so you can stock at once. I had a hard time doing that for 4 tangs as I had a similar plan. Ended up settling for 3 of them... the 4th was an achilles but that never happened. It's a good list though. I am considering adding a convict at some time if I can find a healthy one.

This is true. I have a red sea reefer 250 as dt currently running. I'm upgrading it. I also have a 20g red sea nano, a 20g long, a 20g tall, a 50g low boy, a 60g tall and a 33g fluval currently up and running. So my plan was to qt and acclimate etc. Also have acclimation boxes. Ultimately I can put them in any of these running tanks (2-3" fish should be fine) until I can get the new tank running and be able to add them at the same time.

 

[SepiaOfficinallis]

Depends entirely on the size of the tank.

I've worked in a 50,000 gallon tank that had more than 100 tangs/surgeonfish/unicornfish in it.

Clown surgeons, vlamingis, hippos, powder blues, powder browns, yellows, purples, orange shoulders, gold rims, sohals, to name a few.

If the fish have the room, you can put them there, so without knowing the approximate size of the tank in question there's no way to give an answer that means anything.

Even when you do have the tank in front of you, it's going to depend on both the species and the temperament of the fish of that species.


If I knew someone had a 200 or so gallon tank and they were looking to get some tangs.amd.had the right setup, I would recommend that they get a tang of each body shape (if they are looking for that many. Purple, yellow, scopas, etc for triangle, powder blue, powder brown, gold rim, hippo, for oval, and/or a twospot, tomini, or lavender for the rectangle shaped tangs (bristle tooths).

Not to say that you can only get three tangs at a tank, again it's going to depend on your tank size and the fish themselves.

I would say it's also important to make sure that your tangs are going to get to be about a similar size and toss in nori like

 

[katonge]

I currently have 3 - yellow, hippo & a blonde Naso along with an Emperor Angel, an anthia, a lattice butterfly, a file fish, a pair of mandarins and a couple of gobies in a WB 220.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Ah, mines a 125 six foot. All my tangs hang out on one side of the tank except for my kole. She has her cave on the other side. Its super weird. My clowns, butterfly, angel and trigger all chill on that side of the tank with them!

I'm wondering if that's the side you feed them on lol

 

[ForTheLoveOfCoral21]

I will only add tangs of different body shapes, i have found zero issues in my years of reefing doing it this way.

 

[Troylee]

I'm wondering if that's the side you feed them on lol

Mine chase me around the tank! It doesn’t matter where I feed them or how many times I feed them They act like they’re starving! They get fed 4 times a day. Plus nori in the clip 24/7

 

[littlefoxx]

I'm wondering if that's the side you feed them on lol

Ah yeah it is lol

 

[o2manyfish]

With my previous 400g (prior to a wipe out) I had the following Tangs:
(9) Yellows
(3) Purples
(5) HIppos
(1) Powder Blue
(1) Achilles
(1) Black
(1) Gem
(3) Chevron


Restocking the new 750g and tang collection has been slow

Currently

(3) Yellow
(3) Purple
(5) Hippos
(1) Achilles
(1) Desjardini - The Rabbi Tang
(1) Yellow Mimic
(1) White Tail Flame
(1) Lavendar

In my experience if you exclude Sohals and Clown Tangs - then you can have bigger populations with less aggression because there is so much chaos that they don't pick out one fish to go after.

In my 30+ years of keeping large quantities of tangs and angels I have had to remove only a few that caused trouble - I've had 2 purples, on different occassions, that grew faster than the rest and became pricks. I also had an Atlantic Blue that I had for 3+ years in a 180g and stayed at 3". It went into the 400 and within 8 weeks had doubled in size and beat an Achilles to near death.

With the larger populations of tangs adding additional tangs is less of an issue. The first day may be an issue - But shutting the lights off on the tank and getting the fish out of their normal routine will normally break up any initial bossy issues and by the next day everyone is getting along.

Most enjoyable for me about having all these tangs is that my pumps shut off for 90mins at sunrise and the hour before the lights turn on (4pm). When the pumps shut down all the tangs move like a pack amoung the rock work picking at algae they can't get to or inbetween tight corals that would be dangerous with the flow running. I've had this pumps off schedule for 20+ years and with all the different tangs in those decades they always pack up tight and go on an eating spree with the pumps off.

Dave B

 

[Mike1970]

With tangs it’s all about food the more you feed the more you can have once a day is not going to cut it. i Feed my tangs, 4 times a day (3 automatic feeder frozen at nigh) and nori on a clip everyday. There is some aggression But nothing to bad. keep them fed and everyone is happy. please feed your fish!
my current tang list
1 purple 5 years old
2 yellows 5 and 3 years old
1 powder blue new guy
1 scopas tang 2 years old

 

[Rennurdoar]

Here's our 90g with two tangs. A 3" Blue eye bristletooth and a 3" lieutenant tang. We got the Lt. Tang when it was 1.5" a few months ago. Everyone seems fine and happy. I do figure we'll have to rehome the lieutenant tang at some point though. At the time I didn't realize how large they got.

Will hopefully be upgrading to a 150g this winter. Don't mind the bryopsis and little algae, it'll be getting cleaned up Wednesday

 

[Saltees]

I have the following in my Peninsular RS500P (4'x2'x2') ~ 120G.

ACANTHURIDAE (7)
1 Whitetail Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus flavicauda) - 4”
1 Powder Blue Tang (Acanthurus leucosternon) - 6.5“
1 Orange Shoulder Tang (Acanthurus olivaceus) - 3.5"
1 Desjardin Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardini) - 5"
1 Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) - 4"
1 Gem Tang (Zebrasoma gemmatum) - 4“
1 Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum) - 4”

My tank has lots of open space and I feel the length of the tank has more in the determination of the number of tangs. No aggression whatsoever, they just keep to their business, their issue is not so much with each other but with the CopperBand Butterfly which they pick on rather frequently.

 

[mikeg18]

I have a cooperband as well. He’s completely left alone. The three pyramids on the other hand, if they get in the desjardin’s way, he lets them know. With 3 of the same fish, it confuses him so each takes a little. So no real damage to one individual whatsoever.

I have many smaller fish as well: 12 anthias, 3 assessors, 2 Royal gramma, 3 helfrichi, captive bred regal, 2 captive bred mandarins, flame hawk, coris and leopard wrasses. I find the smaller fish keep everyone calm. Works for me

 

[CookietheSeahare]

Maybe a few tangs can be kept...

(Picture New England Aquarium)

 

[reefsamurai]

I think the hardest part will be getting them all in a close enough time frame so you can stock at once. I had a hard time doing that for 4 tangs as I had a similar plan. Ended up settling for 3 of them... the 4th was an achilles but that never happened. It's a good list though. I am considering adding a convict at some time if I can find a healthy one.

You would need more fish for the convict to survive for any length of time. It's been my experience and theorized by others that these tangs do poorly because part of their dietary requirements is predigested algae. So they will eat the fish poo and cast offs from other grazers that mow through harder algae beds. Not exclusively but enough to make sure that they are not long lived without the right nutrition.

 

[Saltees]

You would need more fish for the convict to survive for any length of time. It's been my experience and theorized by others that these tangs do poorly because part of their dietary requirements is predigested algae. So they will eat the fish poo and cast offs from other grazers that mow through harder algae beds. Not exclusively but enough to make sure that they are not long lived without the right nutrition.

So it's a TANG EAT TANG'S POO world.

 

[LPS Bum]

Totally situationally dependent. I have 3 big Tangs in my Reefer 625 and they do great. Occasional bickering but nothing serious. And I have 5 Tangs (and 8 Angels) in my 240 FOWLR and they also do great.

Lots of rock, lots of caves, lots of food and proper stocking order really help to limit aggression.

 

[mdanchqst]

I have a 175 gallon Peninsula with 5 tangs, 1 Gem, 1 purple, 1 hippo, 1 white tail bristletooth, and a desjardini. They were all small when introduced and all went in about the same time. The hippo was two weeks later. I have had no issues. I am feeding them a lot. I have an auto feeder going off every 90 minutes with plankton, daily nori, and daily frozen mysis and/or brine shrimp. So far so good. I hope as they all mature, they stay friends

 

[mdrobc13]

As many know, I have 25 tangs and I stocked them in order of temperament and the plan has worked. Do they squabble occasionally- Of course they do but they never strike each other or cause injury. I have no secret to having so many other than maintaining good water quality and best diet possible.
Those who have seen my tank in person say the tank is well balanced with fish and the behavior is unbelievable with over 40 fish in the tank.

have Purple Tang now and Yellow Tang and all was well...lost a Chocolate Tang and a Blue Tang and 2 Hippos and Bristletooth Tomini prior due to some issue...so two purple and yellow are left. Have plans to add a few more but correct order of temperament and size play a huge part. So have a Powder Blue and Clown Tang and Sailfin currently in my QT of smaller size than my Purple and Yellow as not to threaten too much and of similar size. Will add according to temperment with two similar species tangs Clown and Powder blue likely at same time or all at same time to minimize issues with each other and existing fish. As said its an art to a degree and some luck for tang stocking! LOL