Mixing tangs with small fish

[fish fry]

Hello,
I am wondering if it is possible to mix tangs with small fish such as Blennies, Jawfish, Grammas, Clownfish, Dwarf Angels.
I'm planning a tank probably at least 72 inches long possible a little more. But I'm worried that with a foot long Tang (such as Achilles, Naso, Hippo etc.) will be aggressive towards something so small.
As long as there is enough rock will I have any problems?
Thanks
Fish Fry

 

[von_rahvin]

tangs are mean towards other tangs. I have never kept a foot long tang, but i have 3 (p brown, sailfin and a hippo) in my 135 and they all kinda just chill out. my gobies jawfish and firefish sometime run sometime charge. it depends alot on the fish. when you go into the store buy a nice one. do not get the one that is chasing all of the fish in the display tank

 

[fish fry]

Rob,
So you actually have 3 in a 135? How big are they? I would love to be able to mix tangs, but I figured that they would need at least 180 gallon tank, well at least for the adults.
Thanks

 

[flamehawk]

Small fish already established in a tank should do fine with large or small tangs. I've had that combo for over 2 years. I also have 3 tangs in a 125(sohal, yellow, hippo) along w/ an emperor and they are all doing fine and have done well for over two years. The sohal is about 8in, yello is 6, hippo is 6 while emperor is 6-7. Everything is fine and I expect it will stay that way. Ihave 110 lbs of L/r , UV, PS, Fluval, flud. bed filter, polyops and mushrooms.

 

[fish fry]

When I say foot long, I mean more like keeping an juvenile Naso, or Hippo and not having to worry about upgrading if they get to big. I know in the wild they can get even bigger.
I assume lenght is more important to them then swimming room. I'm looking at 72 inch tanks with various heights and depths ranging from 24-36 inches. Would it be better to plan for an 8 foot tank with a smaller height and depth?
Thanks
Fish Fry

 

[jeff903]

I have to tell you, I had a yellow tang and 2 percula clownfish. They got along great and I had plenty of live rock for hiding places and all that, but, when I had all these the clowns never went anywhere near the tang. They didn't bother each other but the clowns definitely kept thier distance. It got to be annoying after a while because the clowns would stay at the very top of the tank by the water line and the tang would hide behind the live rock all day. So basically I would be looking at a tank of live rock. As soon as I took the tang out everything was more normal. Just letting you know that they won't bother each other, but that this might happen.

 

[fish fry]

Hey Jeff,
Out of curiosity how big was your tank and did you have any other fish in it?
Thanks
Tom
[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: Fish Fry ]

 

[ironreef]

green chromis are good dither fish= a school of 6-7 to lesson aggression. they will school for protecting which will keep the aggression even in the tank= not one fish at a time getting picked off. i would add the tangs last after the small fish since the tank isn't set up. it will help the biofilter also so the water will be of better quality for the tangs.

 

[here fishy]

I had several tangs in a 125 for a while and they never bothered other fish..What I did notice however is that tangs of the same shape (tangs versus surgeonfish) were agressive towards each other. Example The Yellow tang I aquired with the tank was the most established and was agressive to the brown and sailfin tang. The sohal(My prize fish) was agressive to my naso and as he got larger was agressive to all tangs..He has never bothered any other fish in the tank..I would only buy one tang (Perhpas a naso) so It can grow and be your show fish.....Hippos like to hide under rocks and will not be a visible....If you opt for yellows or something similar buy only one or school them with at least three. Have a great day