Three tangs in a 5’

[littlefoxx]

Kinda hard to see him since he is a bit camera shy, but the sail fin is 8 inches, the sohal is around 5/6 inches for size reference

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Yes a purple would for sure. Mine is already around 4 inches, got him when he was about 2 inches a few months back

Do you see more aggression from him towards other similar fish or kinda doesn’t discriminate?

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Kinda hard to see him since he is a bit camera shy, but the sail fin is 8 inches, the sohal is around 5/6 inches for size reference

Gosh man they are so pretty though.

 

[littlefoxx]

Do you see more aggression from him towards other similar fish or kinda doesn’t discriminate?

Right now he really only beefs with the sailfin over an overhang they both like. He does like to chase my grouper around sometimes though. He tries to chase my baby unicorn sometimes but the sohal gets mad and chases him off cause he likes the unicorn for some reason

 

[W31Olds]

Small spats here or there with the hippo and foxface. No serious aggression or segregation with them. However, I'm convinced he would kill my lawnmower blenny if he could catch him. He has a bunch of hiding spots and seems to get enough to eat when he comes out. Thats what so strange to me as the blenny is nothing like a tang so it must be a grazing thing. I feed heavily and all eat a lot except the blenny only eats turf algae. My fish and snails don't seem to make much of a dent in my algae.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Your plan to add all three at the same time each of similar size is the key! I have 4 in mine and at this point, I'm not able to add any more tangs. I've added smaller fish, but only able to add in batches. Single additions are doomed to be bullied to death as all the fish have established areas and sleep space.

 

[nickng]

Hey all, I plan to make an actual fish stocking list and get opinions but wanted to ask this one up front. My ideal is to have a tomini tang, bristle tooth (havnt decided on witch one exactly) and a purple tang. I know aggression is key so when the tank gets built first off it’ll be a 60x24” tank. Plan to design the scape with three main island. Two islands on the left and right of the tank going I’d say 2/3-3/4 of the way up with tons of arches and swim through. Middle island will be more of a small cove for a higher light clam and easy sps but should also give a nice swim lane from one island to the other. My goal was to add all three at the same time and hopefully roughly the same size. What are the chances of success here? I’ve my lfs have all three of these in a 4’ Red Sea with not noticeable issues.

I have 2 tangs and a harlequin tusk in a 4’ IM100 ext. A 5.5 inch white tail bristle tooth and a smaller 4 inch yellow tang. The harlequin is about 6 inches but looks smaller than the white tail tang. No problem at all. The yellow tang gets along well with the bristle tooth, follows it everywhere. The yellow tang was the last fish added, it was also only 2.5 inches when I added. Both fish had their scalpels out and aggression on first day. I added a mirror to distract the larger tang. next day no more aggression.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Small spats here or there with the hippo and foxface. No serious aggression or segregation with them. However, I'm convinced he would kill my lawnmower blenny if he could catch him. He has a bunch of hiding spots and seems to get enough to eat when he comes out. Thats what so strange to me as the blenny is nothing like a tang so it must be a grazing thing. I feed heavily and all eat a lot except the blenny only eats turf algae. My fish and snails don't seem to make much of a dent in my algae.

Seems like for the most part to me it sounds like a typical tang tank. From what I read they are labeled as agressive so, correct me if I’m wrong but small spats should be normal when what to avoid and control of is the tire up fins and constant non stop aggression. I mean my clown fish pair have small spats to the point my male flicks water out the tank. But also out of curiosity have you tried sticking the agressive tang in an acclimation box inside the tank to kinda reset his demeanor? If so did that do anything notable?

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Your plan to add all three at the same time each of similar size is the key! I have 4 in mine and at this point, I'm not able to add any more tangs. I've added smaller fish, but only able to add in batches. Single additions are doomed to be bullied to death as all the fish have established areas and sleep space.

Do you have issues adding any other kinda fish out side of tangs? Say like wrasses, mandarins, clowns or even fox face to the tank?

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Right now he really only beefs with the sailfin over an overhang they both like. He does like to chase my grouper around sometimes though. He tries to chase my baby unicorn sometimes but the sohal gets mad and chases him off cause he likes the unicorn for some reason

Tbh I love the whole dynamic there you described lol

 

[littlefoxx]

Do you have issues adding any other kinda fish out side of tangs? Say like wrasses, mandarins, clowns or even fox face to the tank?

No I dont typically. My trigger does get mad but the tangs dont usually care

 

[littlefoxx]

Tbh I love the whole dynamic there you described lol

yeah they all have little personalities

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

No I dont typically. My trigger does get mad but the tangs dont usually care

Because my other concern was if the tangs are the first to be introduced is that now gonna to be a constant battle if I want to add any other kinda of fish what so ever

 

[Reef Wizard]

I plan to keep three in my five footer. I made a point to only add one species of each. I plan to have atleast 3 nori holders.

Also getting them small letting them grow up together

Convict Tang-Acanthurus
Purple Tang- Zebrasoma
White tail Tang- Ctenochaetus

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

yeah they all have little personalities

I miss personable fish man so much. Only personality I have is from my male clown and that’s in the form of nawing on my finger webbing when my hands in the tank little *******.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I plan to keep three in my five footer. I made a point to only add one species of each. I plan to have atleast 3 nori holders.

Also getting them small letting them grow up together

Convict Tang-Acanthurus
Purple Tang- Zebrasoma
White tail Tang- Ctenochaetus

So what I can say and I am prepared to do is fully remove a bristle tooth tang if ultimately it’s not going to work. Before out right refining though I would like to try putting him in time out in an acclimation box for a week or two to see if that resets anything if I come across really bad aggression. Having multiple food clips doesn’t sound like a deal breaker to me and my daily tasks nor would be say filling them twice a day. What would your thoughts be on that?

 

[Reef Wizard]

So what I can say and I am prepared to do is fully remove a bristle tooth tang if ultimately it’s not going to work. Before out right refining though I would like to try putting him in time out in an acclimation box for a week or two to see if that resets anything if I come across really bad aggression. Having multiple food clips doesn’t sound like a deal breaker to me and my daily tasks nor would be say filling them twice a day. What would your thoughts be on that?

One thing I would say is try to get one of those Nori holders thats not letting it move in the flow. One that kinda keeps the sheet locked in place. That will reduce waste.

The only issue Id say with having TWO tangs is the aggression is going to be one against the other.

I have an acclimation box I havent used yet. My purple is in Copper right now.

Another thing is in my situation i have a large one spot foxface who IS the tank boss. So hopefully with the tangs being smaller than him and the spike show he does will deter the aggression

My convict is half his size and there was some aggression from the foxface to the convict just some minor chasing

 

[kboogie]

Hey all, I plan to make an actual fish stocking list and get opinions but wanted to ask this one up front. My ideal is to have a tomini tang, bristle tooth (havnt decided on witch one exactly) and a purple tang. I know aggression is key so when the tank gets built first off it’ll be a 60x24” tank. Plan to design the scape with three main island. Two islands on the left and right of the tank going I’d say 2/3-3/4 of the way up with tons of arches and swim through. Middle island will be more of a small cove for a higher light clam and easy sps but should also give a nice swim lane from one island to the other. My goal was to add all three at the same time and hopefully roughly the same size. What are the chances of success here? I’ve my lfs have all three of these in a 4’ Red Sea with not noticeable issues.

I can only speak from my personal experiences. I have found when dealing with Tangs and Angels, the key is to have a bunch and to add them at the same time. I would go with five and not just three. Keeping to the normal rules, such as different genus, makes it easier to keep multiple Tangs. Also, remember that most of aggression comes from the competition for food, specifically leafy algae. If you ensure there are always multiple algae clips with nori on them (wound up tight to allow for contrasting grazing), that will increase your success. If you don't have the ability to add all your Tangs at once, then you should start with the smallest and least aggressive and end with the largest and most aggressive.

I've kept a Hippo Tang, Purple Tang, Naso Tang, and Powder Blue Tang in the same six foot aquarium with ZERO issues amongst them. The Powder Blue and Purple Tangs didn't like any new additions (not just tangs) so I used the mirror trick on them with great success. The only reason I still don't have them is a marine velvet outbreak that wiped out everything in less than three days. I'm restocking and currently have a 1.5" Purple Tang in the display and a 4" Desjardini in the final three weeks of QT. I plan on adding a Blonde Naso, Yellow Belly Hippo, and Powder Blue to my quarantine tank in the next three weeks. To complete my Tang Gang. After the Tang Gang is complete, I will add a Regal Angel, Blueface Angel, and Female Japanese Swallowtail to go along with my 3" Majestic in the DT and 6" Asfur in QT with the Desjardini. Then I'll just need my Aussie Tusk, Falcula, Semilarvatis, Maroon clown, and Cuban Hog to complete the stocking plan. It should take me through the end of next year to complete my stocking plan because of my small QT tank but I can't wait for everyone to be in!

It might sound like a lot to some but it is a 300G with an oversized skimmer and oversized sulfur denitrator so water quality is and will be pristine (working on an algae scrubber for phosphates).

 

[littlefoxx]

Because my other concern was if the tangs are the first to be introduced is that now gonna to be a constant battle if I want to add any other kinda of fish what so ever

Then maybe add them last!

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Then maybe add them last!

Ohh that’ll take for ever I plan on making a build thread and there I will probably post a stocking list or a list of ideas here soon. I don’t even the tank yet. Waiting on it to be built and waiting for a quote from an electrician. But I’d love for all yall to follow the build thread so if there are any critiques on the stocking list I can be informed.