Multiple tangs in 90 gal. reef?

[reef dude]

Is it safe to have mutltiple tangs in a 90 gal. reef? Powder blue, achilles, blue hippo? I have seen pictures of many tangs in one tank but I have been told that they will fight? true? How about a volitan lion in a reeftank? as soon as my tank is done cycling, im going to load 'er up

 

[jim672]

Dave,
Your signature indicates you have a dsb but no live rock. If that's true, don't add fish yet, especially tangs. All sw fish are used to having lots of nooks and crannys to hid in. If they don't have them, they will stress and when they stress it enables parasites like ick to present themselves. Hippo Tangs, in particular, are hiders. They are very bashful and need places to go when they are scared.
If, in fact, you don't have any rock, you'll need to add lots before you add fish. Adding lots of lr will probably cause your tank to cycle again. Of course, it's a very bad idea to have fish in a tank that's cycling.
Lionfish are great to look at but they are aggressive eaters. They will eat most anything they can fit in their mouths and are particularly fond of invertebrates like snails and crabs. You should decide what else you want in your tank before you decide to add a lionfish.
Jim

 

[me-n-my-fish]

I agree with jim. You need to add some lr. Not just to help with the tank, but to provide nooks and cranys for your fish, not just tangs, to hide. We must relize that most sw fish are used to living in a reef, with millions of places to hide. Also, I would only go with one tang, unless you added both at the same time, but still they might scrap. Most defintly add some live rock and let your tank cycle before adding anything.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[kris]

I don't think you really have room for two tangs--but if you choose to you're best bet would be to get opposites--like a yellow or purple then a powder. Please note I am not saying this would be ideal for them just saying that if you CHOOSE to not take the best advice then that would be the best bet.
As far as the lr goes, I actually assume you do have some if your tank is really reef. Sounds like from stocking ideas you're actually doing a fo. Even fo will benefit from lr but it is not essential. You can create the hiding spots and such from dead corals and other stuff you just won't have the additional filtering, or the more natural appearance. Lions or other big fish (like the tangs you're considering) really have no place in an actual reef IMO as they are big eaters and create alot of waste making it VERY difficult to maintain reef quality water conditions.
Whn you see lots of tangs in a lfs display, they are almost always yellows which will in fact do well in large numbers, just not 2 or 3.

 

[here fishy]

Everyone has covered the basis of Liverock so I will leave that alone. I am a tang person and would strongly suggest only one in a tank that size. Each tang has a distinct personality and I would be careful putting them in with corals etc.. I am partial to hippos but they do hide alot. Achilles, and powders are very delicate. Tangs are partial to ich and keep in mind you can't put copper in a reef tank lest ye kill all the corals and iverts...Do not put a lionfish in there unless you plan on having no other small fish with it. I would stick with a tang such a a purple or yellow-eyed kole, and some smaller fish such as cardinals etc.... Hope this helps

 

[reef dude]

thanks for all the good info guys. Im sorry but it was my mistake when i wrote the topic i forget to say that I plan on adding LOTS of live rock...just havent gotten around to it yet...sorry for all the confusion guys! What i meant was, once all the rock and EVERYTHING else is in there, then i needed to know about the tangs, just trying to plan ahead a little..

 

[seaguru]

Dave,
There was an excellent article in FAMA otherwise known as Aquarium magazine many years ago that addressed Tangs. Don't have it on hand but I do remember that the Achilles and Powder Blue are the most agressive of all the tangs and should not be kept together. The general rule of thumb is do not keep similarly shaped tangs together unless you have a 250+ gal setup. Example: a yellow tang and a sailfin probably will battle...
If I come across the article I will try to post the info for all the Tang lovers out there.

 

[jagnmeg99]

i have heard many times about articles in this FAMA magazine, how do I get ahold of it, would like to check it out. Thanks