When to add tangs?

[Picassoclown]

Hey everyone! I have a 6 week old cycled tank with quite a few inhabitants:

Clown pair
(3) neon blue gobies
(3) masked gobies
Royal gramma
Blackcap basslet
Helfrichi

(14) different zoanthids

I have a 215 gallon system and I do not have any signs of coraline algae yet. I do have some pieces from an established tank that have been given to me. I have very low nutrients and I am currently in the process of dealing with a very small onset of Dino. How long should I wait until I add in the tang gang? I was thinking of getting no more than 4 of them, and of course they would all be babies when I do. I would like to add a Desjardini, White tail, purple tang, & a blonde Naso tang. Your feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone! I have a 6 week old cycled tank with quite a few inhabitants:

Clown pair
(3) neon blue gobies
(3) masked gobies
Royal gramma
Blackcap basslet
Helfrichi

(14) different zoanthids

I have a 215 gallon system and I do not have any signs of coraline algae yet. I do have some pieces from an established tank that have been given to me. I have very low nutrients and I am currently in the process of dealing with a very small onset of Dino. How long should I wait until I add in the tang gang? I was thinking of getting no more than 4 of them, and of course they would all be babies when I do. I would like to add a Desjardini, White tail, purple tang, & a blonde Naso tang. Your feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!!

At least 90 days of running as water quality should be optimum

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Could that purple change to a yellow? Just sayin. Good luck though.

 

[JPM San Diego]

I presume you have your lights running as you mentioned zoanthids.
Do you have any herbivores in your tank? (snails, etc.)
If not, and the lights are on, you are going to get algae, typically green hair algae.
Best to get herbivores before you see algae. By the time you see it, the horse is out of the barn.
It would be a risk to add tangs (or any four sizable fish) to a new tank.
However, avoiding the "ugly phase" is key.
Either add invertebrate herbivores or herbivorous fish.
If you go the fish route, keep a watch and take action if you trigger another round of ammonia, etc.
You have a large tank. In my option, you should be ok adding small herbivorous fish.

 

[wculver]

Hey everyone! I have a 6 week old cycled tank with quite a few inhabitants:

Clown pair
(3) neon blue gobies
(3) masked gobies
Royal gramma
Blackcap basslet
Helfrichi

(14) different zoanthids

I have a 215 gallon system and I do not have any signs of coraline algae yet. I do have some pieces from an established tank that have been given to me. I have very low nutrients and I am currently in the process of dealing with a very small onset of Dino. How long should I wait until I add in the tang gang? I was thinking of getting no more than 4 of them, and of course they would all be babies when I do. I would like to add a Desjardini, White tail, purple tang, & a blonde Naso tang. Your feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!!

Keep in mind that everything in a reef tank goes slowly so just when you think things are going well suddenly it can go poorly very quickly. Ammonia in a tank this age is a challenge because the tank will not process it fast enough at some point. Adding a set of larger fish and all the waste that goes with it is probably not the best option. It is a good idea to see coraline growing in the tank because this means the water is stable. Not going to get coraline if the water is all over the place. That said, I usually say 3-9 months for the tangs or even the larger fish for that matter.

One other tip, if you haven't already done it you can seed the coraline with a bottle of additive of your choice. I was able to turn my 250 gallon tank of live rock totally purple in 9 months using it. These things are spores so when they're ready they will begin to grow, which gives you a sign things are going well.

 

[Picassoclown]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I really appreciate it. I will hold off on them for now. Towards the end of the year I shall buy them.

 

[Picassoclown]

I presume you have your lights running as you mentioned zoanthids.
Do you have any herbivores in your tank? (snails, etc.)
If not, and the lights are on, you are going to get algae, typically green hair algae.
Best to get herbivores before you see algae. By the time you see it, the horse is out of the barn.
It would be a risk to add tangs (or any four sizable fish) to a new tank.
However, avoiding the "ugly phase" is key.
Either add invertebrate herbivores or herbivorous fish.
If you go the fish route, keep a watch and take action if you trigger another round of ammonia, etc.
You have a large tank. In my option, you should be ok adding small herbivorous fish.

Hey JPM. Yes, I do have my lights on. I bought some crabs in the beginning, but they did not make it, as my PH was very low. After raising the PH, my snails pulled through and all (7) of them eat all day, but crabs did not make it. I am going to order a few more, I think they should be fine.

 

[Picassoclown]

Could that purple change to a yellow? Just sayin. Good luck though.

Haha. I actually do not like yellow tangs, I prefer the purple ones.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Haha. I actually do not like yellow tangs, I prefer the purple ones.

No problem. A buddy of mine has a purple tang. Beautiful fish no doubt. Just a little too much attitude. Hope you get a good one.

 

[bnord]

not sure you should set a date, as much as watch the tank and pick the right time. - adding really efficient grazers like you’re bristle tooth (white tail) before the algae takes hold is a good idea. And Ctenocaetus types are less agressive and benefit socially from early entry

As to purples v yellows, i think the rap on purples is accurate, though i have one that lords over two smaller yellows “kindly”

personal opinion is that Nasos can get big fast and even in a 200G you may have to plan for the next tank for it sooner than later. I know others will disagree, but i had to re-home my all time favorite Vlamingi only 14 months after adding to a 180 -

 

[Picassoclown]

not sure you should set a date, as much as watch the tank and pick the right time. - adding really efficient grazers like you’re bristle tooth (white tail) before the algae takes hold is a good idea. And Ctenocaetus types are less agressive and benefit socially from early entry

As to purples v yellows, i think the rap on purples is accurate, though i have one that lords over two smaller yellows “kindly”

personal opinion is that Nasos can get big fast and even in a 200G you may have to plan for the next tank for it sooner than later. I know others will disagree, but i had to re-home my all time favorite Vlamingi only 14 months after adding to a 180 -

Oh wow, he's huge! Hahaha. Beautiful fish though! Do you think it would be wise to add in a white tail in the next month or two? That would be around the 3-4 month point since the end of cycling.

 

[bnord]

Oh wow, he's huge! Hahaha. Beautiful fish though! Do you think it would be wise to add in a white tail in the next month or two? That would be around the 3-4 month point since the end of cycling.

If i were to add one, it would be that one, or flame fin, or whatever great looking member of the genus you can lay thought eyes on. and hope you have a standard QT set up - best of luck

 

[Sir Kon Salty Sox]

I added 1 blue eye kole tang when my tank starting showing signs of algae. I think I hit the timeline about perfect. Needed more waste to keep nutrients from bottoming out, kole tang poops a lot so good there. Wanting to keep algae growing but not get out of hand, bristletooth tang nailed that one too.

my tank has never looked better it’s about 7 months old, my $0.02 is add a bristletooth when you start getting uncontrollable algae growth and/or need more pewp to keep from bottoming out

 

[bnord]

If i were to add one, it would be that one, or flame fin, or whatever great looking member of the genus you can lay thought eyes on. and hope you have a standard QT set up - best of luck

And supplement its diet with an algae/nori clip

 

[Picassoclown]

If i were to add one, it would be that one, or flame fin, or whatever great looking member of the genus you can lay thought eyes on. and hope you have a standard QT set up - best of luck

Currently I am facing a small onset of Dino with low nutrients. I am doing very small water changes a week (15-20 gallon) and cycling my skimmer on a 12 hour schedule to get the nutrients up a little more to out compete the Dino's. My original plan was to actually get a tang end of August, prior to making this post. Would this seem like a logical step in the right direction?

 

[Picassoclown]

And supplement its diet with an algae/nori clip

I also invite your opinion to what I said above ^^^

 

[bnord]

Currently I am facing a small onset of Dino with low nutrients. I am doing very small water changes a week (15-20 gallon) and cycling my skimmer on a 12 hour schedule to get the nutrients up a little more to out compete the Dino's. My original plan was to actually get a tang end of August, prior to making this post. Would this seem like a logical step in the right direction?

Tangs will not effect Dino’s in any real way. Have seen good data lately about pod supplementation and support and dinos. - and a tang a nori clip will indeed get the nutrients up - and I also supplement with MB7 - just because and it does no harm

 

[Picassoclown]

Tangs will not effect Dino’s in any real way. Have seen good data lately about pod supplementation and support and dinos. - and a tang a nori clip will indeed get the nutrients up - and I also supplement with MB7 - just because and it does no harm

I know the data you are referencing; the BRS investigates. Strangely enough, I have been in the hobby for 15 years, but have been absent for 12 of them and have forgotten a lot that I learned, but I always knew back then that copepods were really important. Coincidentally, I added about 8 jars of ecopods as soon as my tank was finished cycling, this could be why my Dino has not exploded and just been very lite. I am going to be buying more next week actually to help eliminate the issue.