Shawn C
Active member
Are tangs compatable with each other?I now have a sailfin tang and would eventually like to add a sohol tang and and a clown tang is this a safe thing to do in a 135 gal tnk?
Tangs
- Thread starter Shawn C
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steve-s
Well-known member
On a 72" tank you can get 2-3 tangs in a tank like that but personally I wouldn't go beyond 2. Just because they fit to some degree doesn't mean you truely have the "room" for them. The sailfin (Zebrasoma veliferum) is a large puppy and not really all that tollerant of other tangs unless the system is quite large and completely unrealted to it's own genus. I would be very careful what you add and be sure it can be removed just as easily.
The Sohal is a very aggressive and territorial fish. In your tank size along with the sailfin, WWIII comes to mind. The clown tang would be pretty much the same story if you where actually to get a healthy one that survived the collection/transport process.
Cheers
Steve
The Sohal is a very aggressive and territorial fish. In your tank size along with the sailfin, WWIII comes to mind. The clown tang would be pretty much the same story if you where actually to get a healthy one that survived the collection/transport process.
Cheers
Steve
Shawn C
Active member
does it make any difference in the size of the sailfin the one i have is only 3" in size
If you are going to do multiple tangs do something like a regal and a yellow. Something with unlike boby shapes. I would also highly recommend a convict tang. Best personality of any fish I have. Stay away from the sohal with your size tank. Mine becomes a idiot when I put my hand in the tank to feed. He has actually wedged himself in my fist trying to get food.
Here is a pic of my convict when he was little. (Pic is over a year old)
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=14222&d=1153345523
Here is my sohal
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12700&d=1147741164
Here is a pic of my convict when he was little. (Pic is over a year old)
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=14222&d=1153345523
Here is my sohal
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12700&d=1147741164
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A group of Convict Tangs is possible (size of tank being appropriate). They are one of the least 'bossy' of the tang group.
I have in my 300 gallon tank, these tangs:
Powder Blue
Powder Brown
Convict
Clown
Naso
Desjardini
Chevron
I have in my 300 gallon tank, these tangs:
Powder Blue
Powder Brown
Convict
Clown
Naso
Desjardini
Chevron
In the wild, Convict Tangs school together for self defense. But it was learned not too long ago that they also school together for getting food. As mentioned before, they are a peaceful tang. But they seem to have an art at obtaining food from other, aggressive tangs.
In the wild, a school of Convicts will circle a good algae feeding patch that is defended by, say a Sohal or Clown Tang (a pair, small group, or individual). While they circle, getting closer and closer to the algae, a single or two Convicts slip out of the pack and go toward the food ahead of the circling Convicts. The other aggressive tang(s) to protect its food territory, chase the single or two Convicts away. When that happens, the entire school of Convicts descend upon the food algae and gorge quickly before the defending tang returns to once again guard the grazing ground.
The Sohal (or other tang(s)) return and chase the whole school of Convicts away. The school goes up, begins to circle again and this time a single (or two) Convicts (different than the ones before) swim out of the school and get the Sohal to chase them. The Convicts play this same decoy trick that seems to never fail in order to bait the defending tang away from the algae patch so the school can feed!
This behavior was only recently reported, earlier this year.
In the wild, a school of Convicts will circle a good algae feeding patch that is defended by, say a Sohal or Clown Tang (a pair, small group, or individual). While they circle, getting closer and closer to the algae, a single or two Convicts slip out of the pack and go toward the food ahead of the circling Convicts. The other aggressive tang(s) to protect its food territory, chase the single or two Convicts away. When that happens, the entire school of Convicts descend upon the food algae and gorge quickly before the defending tang returns to once again guard the grazing ground.
The Sohal (or other tang(s)) return and chase the whole school of Convicts away. The school goes up, begins to circle again and this time a single (or two) Convicts (different than the ones before) swim out of the school and get the Sohal to chase them. The Convicts play this same decoy trick that seems to never fail in order to bait the defending tang away from the algae patch so the school can feed!
This behavior was only recently reported, earlier this year.
shallowreef
Well-known member
Thats so cool Lee!
To be honest with you shawn i am a firm believer that the order in which you place fish in the tank matters the most. I f you want to do three tangs thats fine but make sure that you go from least aggressive to most aggressive. Also keeping the clown and sohal tang in the same tank could lead to some serious fighting in the future. I would stick to one or the other.
Nick
To be honest with you shawn i am a firm believer that the order in which you place fish in the tank matters the most. I f you want to do three tangs thats fine but make sure that you go from least aggressive to most aggressive. Also keeping the clown and sohal tang in the same tank could lead to some serious fighting in the future. I would stick to one or the other.
Nick
reefmarker
Member
I personally think food is the limitting factor in getting tangs together. If you provide a constant supply of grazing food (nori), you won't have too much problems. I also constantly relocate the feeding clips so no tang starts to think this is his clip. This doesn't mean they won't fight at first, it just means it won't be to the death. After a while, the tangs will learn to tollerate each other just fine. I don't have torn fins after about a month of "aggression," and everyone has stopped really fighting by then.
My baby sailfin and regal do not tollerate being picked on at all. They do not fight back, but they swim directly in front of the tang attacking and it really seams to confuse them since they like the side on tang attack best. This is not running away as they swim in front and stop turning their body sideways to the attacker and hanging in mid-air. Neat to watch and they don't get even touched normally.
My tangs were added one at a time months to years apart into a 125G tank. I upgraded to a 210G tank and have added the sailfin since then (3 months ago). (Trying to get the wife into likeing a 400G tank currently! )
210G reef tank (Overgrown with coral!)
Sohal Tang (huge - 10" +)
Regal Tang (4-5")
Scopas Tang (full grown 4-5")
Yellow Tang (~3-4")
Sailfin Tang (baby ~2" grew from 1")
Powder Brown Tang (full grown 3-4")
Other fish: 2 fire clowns, royal gramma, scooter blenny, navarcus/regal/blue-girdle angel (I like tangs best).
My baby sailfin and regal do not tollerate being picked on at all. They do not fight back, but they swim directly in front of the tang attacking and it really seams to confuse them since they like the side on tang attack best. This is not running away as they swim in front and stop turning their body sideways to the attacker and hanging in mid-air. Neat to watch and they don't get even touched normally.
My tangs were added one at a time months to years apart into a 125G tank. I upgraded to a 210G tank and have added the sailfin since then (3 months ago). (Trying to get the wife into likeing a 400G tank currently!
)210G reef tank (Overgrown with coral!)
Sohal Tang (huge - 10" +)
Regal Tang (4-5")
Scopas Tang (full grown 4-5")
Yellow Tang (~3-4")
Sailfin Tang (baby ~2" grew from 1")
Powder Brown Tang (full grown 3-4")
Other fish: 2 fire clowns, royal gramma, scooter blenny, navarcus/regal/blue-girdle angel (I like tangs best).
shallowreef
Well-known member
Wow you keep all those tangs in your 210?!
I bow to the master of tang keepers!
I bow to the master of tang keepers!
Something Fishy
Member
Some pretty impressive setups there.
reefmarker, what's the secret to keeping a yellow & scopas tang together? My yellow bashed my scopas until I moved scopas to my other tank, that's what makes me hesitant about getting a purple, but I'm told it is possible.
I like clown tangs, but I've had 2 & they just didn't last, are they particularly difficult to keep?
In my (approx 210g) reef tank I have what I call the Tang Gang :
Baby Blue (Hippo) Tang
Yellow Tang
Sailfin Tang
Unicorn Tang
Lipstick Tang
Orange Spot/Shoulder Tang
Rabbitfish & Foxface are in the gang too.
The Yellow & Sailfin tangs have been there well over a year, & have been accepting of all the other newcomers except the clown tang which was chased.
Other fish (all small) : tomato clown, rockskipper, gold headed sleeper goby, dragon goby, fire goby, lined blenny, valentini puffer, green spot puffer
I know it sounds overcrowded, but they stay out of each other's way for the most part, & there's plenty of corals to shelter in or behind
All get along fantastically, touch wood
reefmarker, what's the secret to keeping a yellow & scopas tang together? My yellow bashed my scopas until I moved scopas to my other tank, that's what makes me hesitant about getting a purple, but I'm told it is possible.
I like clown tangs, but I've had 2 & they just didn't last, are they particularly difficult to keep?
In my (approx 210g) reef tank I have what I call the Tang Gang :
Baby Blue (Hippo) Tang
Yellow Tang
Sailfin Tang
Unicorn Tang
Lipstick Tang
Orange Spot/Shoulder Tang
Rabbitfish & Foxface are in the gang too.
The Yellow & Sailfin tangs have been there well over a year, & have been accepting of all the other newcomers except the clown tang which was chased.
Other fish (all small) : tomato clown, rockskipper, gold headed sleeper goby, dragon goby, fire goby, lined blenny, valentini puffer, green spot puffer
I know it sounds overcrowded, but they stay out of each other's way for the most part, & there's plenty of corals to shelter in or behind
All get along fantastically, touch wood
bradreef
always kidding
sohal is one of the tangs that I feel a minimum is 180 or more. clown tang is an awesome looking fish but there is a reason that more people dont have them. the are always affordable. they just suck. mean mean mean. sailfins also get big.
Here are groups I would pick from
group 1 Ctenochaetus
Chevron
kole
tomini
Group 2 Zebrasoma
Yellow tang
Purple Tang
Scopas tang
Sailfin tang(too big)
group 3 Acanthurus
Powder blue
mimic eibli tang
caribean blue tang
mimic lemonpeel tang
orange shoulder tang (gets too big for 135)
sohal(up to a foot and a half)
achilles tang
powder brown
clown tang
convict tang
group 4 naso (all too big)1'6" to 2'
Naso
Vlamingi
unicorn
blonde naso
group 5 Paracanthurus (lonely)
Blue regal tang
I would recomend 1 from a couple of these groups but then order of introduction is important. i would go Chevron, blue regal, and achilles or so on.
Here are groups I would pick from
group 1 Ctenochaetus
Chevron
kole
tomini
Group 2 Zebrasoma
Yellow tang
Purple Tang
Scopas tang
Sailfin tang(too big)
group 3 Acanthurus
Powder blue
mimic eibli tang
caribean blue tang
mimic lemonpeel tang
orange shoulder tang (gets too big for 135)
sohal(up to a foot and a half)
achilles tang
powder brown
clown tang
convict tang
group 4 naso (all too big)1'6" to 2'
Naso
Vlamingi
unicorn
blonde naso
group 5 Paracanthurus (lonely)
Blue regal tang
I would recomend 1 from a couple of these groups but then order of introduction is important. i would go Chevron, blue regal, and achilles or so on.
reefmarker
Member
No, just the master feeder! I have to put nori on clips 4 to 8 times a day! It is a blast to watch them eat, and the sohal will take it from my hand! I also noticed the more nori and the less pellets / flakes / frozen, the cleaner the entire tank stays. I do spot feed quite a few corals so the extra mysid and cyclops ease does junk up the tank some, but not too bad.
Aren't Achilles supposed to be extremely difficult to keep?
