Reef nutrition

Tangs question - trying not to hijack nly04!

aqua-nut

aqua-nut

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Similar 120g - 24x24x48.

My current fish -
Yellow eyed Kole Tang
one spot Fox Face
Starry Blenny
two Ocellaris clowns.

I'd also like to add a Purple Tang. Perhaps in a few months. I'd like to get a purple about half the size of the Kole. My working theory - too small for the Kole to be all territorial about and the purple hopefully won't want to be the boss.

So, is there room? I'd appreciate any thoughts on achieving this fish grouping.

Tank is mostly peaceful now. The Kole wants to be boss. Tries to bully Fox Face but FF goes all spike and tang mellows. Tang also chases the Blenny. No damage has been done.
 
I had a kole, flame tip, and yellow tang in a 180g, they all seemed to get along fairly well. Yeah they had "I'm the boss" moments but overall they did fairly well together. Purples however are different beasts, they can be nice and mellow or they can go all 6-line wrasse and harass fish many times their size.
 
I would see less issues between Purple and Kole tangs. But really not sure.
Different genus. Somewhat different feeding habits.

Note that rockwork can make a difference.
Are there separate territories? Can they hide from each other?

FYI : I have a Yellow Tang, Sailfin Tang, and Foxface in a 240G.
They are getting good sized, and still get along great. I have toyed with 1 more, but held off.
 
J
If you can resist...don't get more fish.
After the resistance breaks down, yes smaller is better and less threatening.
When adding the new tang, feed the fish on the other side of the tank and shortly before lights out.
If aggression persists, you may have rearrange the reefscape.
If that doesn't work, remove the kole tang to allow for the purple tang to adjust and feel comfortable.
And then reintroduce the kole in maybe 2-4weeks

Love, the tang police :)
 
I'm with Erin.

When my 180g was up my maximum fish population in was about 6 fish, good sized fox face, good sized yellow tang, flame tip tang (same family as Kole), couple anthias and a solon wrasse (going by memory) issue here and there and I was left with the 3 larger fish (2 tangs and a foxface) and that was more than adequate for what I had (with plans on the horizon).

When I get my 375 up, I'm going to get a few more fish to be certain, but I'm going to focus more on the smaller types of fish more so than go tang crazy like I see a lot of large tanks getting, things like blennies and cardinal fish (the smaller ones). I have a yellow & purple tang, and a foxface currently, the foxface is the king of eating any algae that can fit in his mouth, the two zebrasoma tangs are my biggest worry but hopefully there will be plenty of space to coexist, I'll probably get a Ctenochaetus type of tang (Kole, Flame tip, Chevron, etc) simply because they're more scrapers than pickers but they'll definitely have a useful niche in the tank. That's 4 "large" fish, the rest will be small/medium size (probably no clown goby sized fish :D)
 
I think my 120 is too small for my purple tang. Ive seen them in smaller tanks but these guys are swimmers and need space. If I had a 200 or bigger Id say yes get one. I dont think the purple and the Kole will be a problem but as we all know each fish will be different. Some more attitudish than others. My purple doesnt bother anyone but Ive seen others just go on a rampage
 
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