5 Tangs in Quarantine

T

tri88

New member
Hi,

I have 5 tangs in a 20 gallon quarantine tank and I'm worried this is somewhat small, but some have told me its ok due to the fact they will only be there for 3 weeks. Here are the tangs:

Blue tang
Tomini tang
Powder Brown tang
Sailfin Tang
Lipstick Tang

I'm thinking of getting another 20 gallon plastic tub to seperate them as they look at little tight and I'm worried the blue tang could break out in ich. Advice?
 
I'm getting a tub tonight and moving half the fish to give them more room. Going to get some rocks / decorative things so they can hide in
 
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Well, first of all 3 weeks isn't nearly long enough. Second, a 20 gallon is far too small for more than a single tang, let alone 5. Third, adding five tangs to anything short of a huge tank is unwise.
 
I moved them all out into seperate quarantine tubs for the moment. The display tank is 300G looking forward to getting them in there.
 
:lmao: Welcome to Reef Central :D

Simon is correct in what he said and it's always a good thing to check here before any purchases due to the sad fact that MOST not all but MOST LFS will only care about the sale rather than the fish themselves.

Good luck with your fish and your tank, we do love pictures and I highly recommend that you start a build thread for your tank. There is a forum here that is for Large Tanks if you just look down the forum list you will find it.
 
In your other thread, you mention that you have fish that have been dying.

The last thing I would do is add 5 fish to a tank that is you are having problems keeping fish alive in.

That is without even considering the questionable decision to add 5 tangs to a 300 gallon tank.
 
Hey yea, the tank has been fallow since i made the post, and so these guys will be in quarantine until then making the fallow period more than 6 weeks. Is 5 tangs really too much for a 300g tank? I know i still have heaps to learn. Apologies if I come off as quite unknowledged because I am!!

I did some reading around and saw people's tank with more tang's than what I'm shooting for so I thought it was ok. I'll eventually start a post in the big tank forum but I just want to do more reading and prep of my tank before I let it get scrutinised to hell and back lol.
 
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When choosing how many tangs can be put into a large tank alot look at which family do the tangs come from there are 3 families and if you have 1-2 of each family I think you will be okay but if you pick 5 from the same family then thats doomed for trouble imo
 
The 3 out of the 5 Tangs can get 15 inches or bigger. Then you have a Hippo, Powder Blue, and the Salfin that can become very aggressive. I would do 3 and pick neither the Hippo or the PB. Good Luck!
 
tri88 said:
Hey yea, the tank has been fallow since i made the post, and so these guys will be in quarantine until then making the fallow period more than 6 weeks. Is 5 tangs really too much for a 300g tank? I know i still have heaps to learn. Apologies if I come off as quite unknowledged because I am!!

I did some reading around and saw people's tank with more tang's than what I'm shooting for so I thought it was ok. I'll eventually start a post in the big tank forum but I just want to do more reading and prep of my tank before I let it get scrutinised to hell and back lol.
Click to expand...

No apologies necessary. We are all "unknowledged" to some degree.

If you would have said 5 of any species of fish I would have been concerned, it isn't just because they are tangs. If I had lost fish (especially a fish as hardy as clownfish typically are), I would want to go slow adding fish to make sure whatever caused the issue has been resolved.

The tangs only make the problem worse because of both their delicate nature and the mature sizes of the tangs you have picked.
 
One certainly can keep 5 tangs in a 300 - I have 6 in my 265 - but I would hesitate to suggest it to somebody new to the hobby. The single, best piece of advice ever, hands down, without peer, unassailable ...... hyperbole anybody? ..... is to take it slowly. Nothing good happens by rushing things in this hobby .... you simply get separated from your $$ more quickly.
 
Just an update

Naso, Tomini and sailfin integrated into the display tank nicely.

Powder brown tang and blue tang died in quarantine. Lesson has been most definitely learnt about tang quarantine requirements
 
Sorry to hear of your losses. A powder brown is my favorite of the tangs and one of my favorite reef fish overall and the blues are quite attractive.
 
Adding that many fish to a new tank is also a recipe for disaster. Tanks develop bacteria that consume fish waste. This takes time and more importantly, bio-load. You may have some bacteria in there from cycling the tank, but not enough to suddenly support the bio-load of 5 tangs.

I recommend adding new fish more slowly - add one, then wait 5-6 weeks, then if the original fish are doing well, add another and wait 5-6 weeks again. It takes a while to fill your tank this way, but you drastically reduce the odds of crashing the tank and losing a lot of fish.

Once your tank is "mature", you can add several fish at once, but even then you should be careful.
 
Good luck. I'm also about to begin TTM on 5 tangs. Wanting a blue hippo, white cheek, purple, naso, and yellow tang. They will be my main focal point along with a blue jaw trigger.

Post pictures!
 
pinnatus said:
Adding that many fish to a new tank is also a recipe for disaster. Tanks develop bacteria that consume fish waste. This takes time and more importantly, bio-load. You may have some bacteria in there from cycling the tank, but not enough to suddenly support the bio-load of 5 tangs.

I recommend adding new fish more slowly - add one, then wait 5-6 weeks, then if the original fish are doing well, add another and wait 5-6 weeks again. It takes a while to fill your tank this way, but you drastically reduce the odds of crashing the tank and losing a lot of fish.

Once your tank is "mature", you can add several fish at once, but even then you should be careful.
Click to expand...

Yea definitely. I've stopped buying fish and will probably buy the next one after July. Going to put my focus on setting up a little planted freshwater tank in the meantime.
 
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