Another Tang?

briterco

Member
I am considering adding another tang to the current population of:
1 yellow tang
1 blue tang
1 maroon clown
1 flame angel
5 greem chromis
1 spotted hawk
inverts, polyps, shrimp, star
125g w/ 100# LR
Tank is a year old and going great. The last addition was the blue tang, in May, and he was barely noticed when he moved in. He likes to hang out with the chromis.
My short list of candidates from my LFS:
achilles
naso
blue
The current blue, yellow and flame are obviously the "stars" of the tank, and I definitely want everyone to have plenty of room for growth. All are still small, with the yellow being largest at 3".
Thoughts/recommendations?
 

marineman

Member
I have a naso in a 175g with 4 other tangs and he is not very aggressive or causing any problems. But there will always be some risk in mixing tangs and what works in one tank may not in another. You resident tangs may not welcome him and go on their own attack. I always put a new fish in the main tank for 5-7 days but isolated in a breeder net so everyone get aquainted before direct expose that may lead to fighting and stress. This has worked very well for me!
 
O

osufarker

Guest
I have a 12" blonde naso, and I wish all fish behaved like him. He just swims, does his own thing, and ignores everyone else.
I have a 125 with a 20 gallon sump a 40 gallon refugium. I keep several tangs together:
12" blonde naso
4" yellow
6" sohal
7" hippo
3" purple
I added them in that order. I had a little aggression between the sohal and the purple for a couple of hours, but they get a long just fine now. My biggest problem was actually my coral beauty who still ocasionally fights with the purple tang.
So yes, you can keep multiple tangs; just be careful to of relative sizes and aggression when deciding what order to add them.
You may want to be wary of the achilles, they are quite difficult to keep.
 

seaguru

Member
Marineman, have been waiting for you to post to contact you... Please PM me regarding Clown Tang. You have your PM turned off so I cannot contact you!
If you have trouble please let me know.
Thanks.
 

seaguru

Member
Marineman... Never mind, I jumped the gun and did not even read this before I posted...
Can we chat here? Am a fellow Tang lover myself... had my
7" Naso for about 9 years... and
5" Achilles 4 yrs
Old 5" Hippo 4 yrs recently replaced w/ 3 month 1.5" hippo
2-3" Yellow 5 months
2+" Desjardini 5 months
and last week just put a 2" Clown in my Q. system for at least 4-5 weeks...
Have read most of your posts on tangs... Please how large is your Clown and do you feed any special algae's regularly such as gracilaria? I had feedback from a reefer with a custom appx 90g system that kept 4 tangs (a Clown was one) and his secret to success he claimed was regular Gracilaria fed daily. Is he the King of your group?
Any tips will be appreciated as I am still debating adding mine for sure... By the way I will add him along with the yellow that is in my rather large sump/fuge awaiting any other tangs I intend to add at the same time I newly landscape my partially completed 200g display setup (300+ total)... So they all get completely confused and have to each agree to new boundaries.
Thanks
 

marineman

Member
yeah seaguru
I have had my clown tang for over 2 years now. He was around 3.5 inches when I got him and now is about 6.5 to 7 inches long. He is feed plain dried nori seaweed 4-5x a week, frozen brine/mysis shrimp, formula 2 pellets and zooplankton as well.
He is my most aggressive tang but is keep in check by my powder blue tang. No one is really fighting just some mild chasing occasionally. The order I added them to the tank went purple-clown-yellow-naso-powderblue. Its an awesome display of tangs and color mixing.
 

seaguru

Member
Wow Marineman,
I'm glad I found you! Yours is one of a dismal few success stories... and you were able to add 3 more to boot AFTER the Lineatus!
Now are you concerned that he is going to become a terror and start cleaning house as he gets even larger? I am surprised that he is in check at the size he is at! The powder blue keeping him in check is exactly what I am hoping my Achilles AND my PinkSq Anthias (which I have read can get quite bossy as well) will give mine a run for his money! (presuming I really go thru with this).
I am debating weather to also add my Naso's replacement now as I wonder how much longer he will be with me at 9 years and counting... My option is to add probably a powder blue or brown NOW (after Q. of course) along with the Clown and Yellow OR just add the Clown and Yellow and then if and when the Naso passes away in a few years... just get another Naso and pray that the others will let him join the club since his ancestor had territorial rights? What do you think?
Regards and thanks again for the helpful info... I'll take all I can get... So what do you think?
 

marineman

Member
my clown tang has been with other tangs for a long time without getting overly aggressive even when he is feed very little when i go on vaction he still has not hurt any of my other fish or tangs that share the tank. i arranged my LRock in a long central mound so the fish can swim in back, the sides or behind the rock away from each other. I also put a school of 7 blue chromis to swim in the open water as i read this has a pacifing effect on territorial fish. Your naso may be around for still quite some time. The order and method of adding tangs is part science and luck but i increased my success tremendously by isolating and feeding the fish in a large breeder net for 5-7 days in the main tank before releasing them.
 
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