Jestersix

Tangs

Hey Everybody,

I wanted to ask you guys your opinion on keeping Tangs together. "The Reef Aquarium" says yes you can keep Zebrasoma Tangs (Yellow, Purple) together if you introduce them at the same time otherwise they will fight.

I've also heard that if you're going to keep Zebrasoma's together that you should get at least 3 or more as it will keep them from fighting. True?

Different Tang Species (body shapes) are generally ok to keep together? As in it would be all good for me to add a Naso or Sohal.

Then I couldn't believe this at all but I was at a LFS and was talking to them about my tank. Told them I have a 6 foot long 135 and they said that I could keep a Tang per foot so up to 6 Tangs. I was like, I think that's too much. Not true right?

I ask because I recently added an Atlantic Blue Tang to a tank with an exisitng Yellow Tang. I did some research before and read that it wasn't the ideal way to do it but it could be done. So I caught the Yellow, put him in my sump, aquascaped my tank, introduced the Blue and then reintroduced the Yellow. At first they fought a bit but as of yesterday and today have been swimming together and grazing on algae around my tank together (they're friends! I hope). I think they're good now but I'll be keepin an eye on them. So what's what?
 
I would have done what you did. Their attitude to each other may change with time or with other additions to the tank. But, a little aggression between fishes is not a bad thing.
 
I agree with you... 6 tangs in a 135 gallon tank sounds like a very bad idea. I had a friend with a 360 gallon tank, and he had about 7 or 8 tangs. Sounds like your method of acclimating the blue tang while the dominant yellow tang was in the sump was a good idea. When I moved, my yellow tang went into a friend's 135 gallon tank, where it peacefully cruised around with another mellow yellow tang, so it is possible for two Zebrasomas to coexist, although a bit uncommon.
 
6 tangs in a 135? Get the tang police! :p 50/50 chance with the yellow and purple tang getting along. The purple is more aggressive I've read to add the purple after the yellow tang. I have a large yellow tang in my tank already and will have a small purple tang arriving tomorrow. I'm hoping they can get along. If not, I'll end up selling one of them. I also have a blue hippo tang but I don't think any aggression will happen between the purple and the the blue hippo.
 
GARBLE&@*#&(*@&# 1 tang per foot? Good god man where are you getting this?

1: tangs get large, easily over a foot. And they will get bigger faster than you think

2: Zebrasoma tend be some of the more aggressive tangs as a species, and that aggression will not simply be aimed at other tangs

3: Tangs are very far swimming fish, and I think you really are at the minimum size you should think keeping a tang in as far as the ones you listed, plus those 135s are awfully skinny, they have the swimming length, but no depth to make them feel secure might be bad

4: If you have any tangs in your tank, I'd probably drop the idea of adding a Sohal regardless of when you add them, he most likely will dominate everything in your tank.

5: Nasos, IME, are quite docile but man they get large as all hell. I wouldn't put a naso in small tank (and yeah I'm calling 135g small) regardless of what others have done

6: Tangs are herbivores, which means they'll pick at rocks for algae, which means if you don't have enough food for them to graze they will attack each other due to limited food resources, unless you supply a lot of nori.

7: Ctenochaetus (bristletooth) species tend to be a little more mellow of tang species, so if you want more than one, those would be what I'd aim for, also they don't get AS big as some of the others.

That being said, (i'm sure there are quite a few other points I've missed) I would NOT put more than 2 tangs in the tank, I sure as hell wouldn't put 1 tang per foot, not even if that tank was 6 feet by 6 feet (ok maybe then I'd put 6 tangs in it :D). Having 3 tangs of the same species won't do squat, as the dominate one will pick on the others, and the next dominate one will pick on the last guy, and the last guy will most like get quite beat up. You already have two tangs in there? I'd stick with that, you're really asking for disaster if you want to put in a purple, Naso and Sohal in there, and IMO you'd be killing fish unnecessarily.
 
Sohals require a lot of space. I remember looking them up back awhile back and recommended tank size was ~180g for one. They're also extremely aggressive and should be the last fish to be added.
 
I used to have a 425g tank at a shop I worked at eons ago, the Sohal would beat the crap out of every fish in that tank, bad idea. Also, I have to echo the point that Mike is driving home, some of the smaller tangs might work in a small tank like a 135g, mimics, combtooths, but Naso, Acanthurus, no way, if you've ever swam with them in the wild you would quickly see why they need HUGE tanks in order to have a normal lifespan.
 
This is why I cannot have my favorite fish (orangespine unicornfish) in even my big new tank--150 gallons. I have been snorkeling with beautiful orangespines in Kauai, and know they need a ton of swimming room.
 
hehehe yeah I remember seeing those, one also got awfully close to me, too close for comfort actually, man I could see those tail daggers very clearly, and even the "oooh ahhh" moment didn't get me out of worrying that thing was going to gut me... ditto with the large (and too damn curious) Humahumas, those beaks on those guys are scary!
 
Mike, a few parallel slashes would make a great story upon returning to the mainland! Has anyone ever seen a yellow tang while snorkeling in Hawaii? Bob Fenner's book, the Conscientious Marine Aquarist, says that they are sustainably harvested from Hawaii, but I didn't see any on the north shore of Kauai. Sorry to derail Viet's thread... I thought mentioning yellow tangs would get back closer to his original question!
 
That's a can of worms, the snorkel industry vs. the MO industry.

I've seen nasos at Anini, tunnels, hidden and a few other places on the North Shore of Kaui, not too many YTs there, they are harvested from one major collecting area on Oahu where they are prevalent, mostly recruiting juveniles in the 3-4" range.
 
I've seen pretty much all the common Hawaii fishes in Hawaii but then again I go every year!

I wasn't planning on adding a Sohal, just used that as an example of the things I heard.

I won't say who told me a Tang per foot, but it was from a shop I thought wouldn't steer you wrong, bad economy means make a sale I guess.

Thanks for all the comments, I don't think I plan to add anymore fish but the keyword is think. It would be cool to have a Blue, Yellow, and Purple though but I won't try it.

As of today the Atlantic Blue and Yellow are like homies.
 
I saw some yellows at Molokini but on all the places on the west coast I went on Maui nada one I didn't see any Yellows, an absolute ton of Nasos and Orange shoulders though. On Kauai didn't do much snorkling, only in a "kiddy pool" area on the East coast, went North but the surf was too hard they closed the beaches all together.
 
Viet, glad to hear that your blue & yellow tangs are still getting along. Since we have been discussing tangs in Hawaii, I thought I would share this very disturbing article:
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/01/29/local/local01.txt |(
 
I've seen yellow tangs and humu's all the time when I snorkel in Hawaii. Believe it or not my favorite fish that I have hardly seen is a moorish idol. I see more heniochus more than moorish idols. The only place I've seen moorish idols is in Maui (molikini and fish bowl in makena). I've never seen a moorish idol at hanauma bay. Shoot thinking bout it I think I've seen more turtles swimming than moorish idols.
 
No not your shop Robert....no worries...

99sf, Thanks, I'm glad to. That article is nutz. Some collector probably screwed up somehow and killed all the fish and wasn't sure what to do...such a shame.
 
99sf said:
Viet, glad to hear that your blue & yellow tangs are still getting along. Since we have been discussing tangs in Hawaii, I thought I would share this very disturbing article:
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/01/29/local/local01.txt |(
Did they really feel the need to lay out all the dead fish like they did? Photo op moment for them?
 
sfsuphysics said:
99sf said:
Viet, glad to hear that your blue & yellow tangs are still getting along. Since we have been discussing tangs in Hawaii, I thought I would share this very disturbing article:
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/01/29/local/local01.txt |(
Photo op moment for them?


Yes Mike it sure is, that photo is going to help Bob out a lot huh?

We need to get some shots of a snorkel gide trampled reef stat!
 
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