can i add another tang

[JKDMan]

i like tangs but i only have one. I would like to have another but i am afraid that my current tang will be too agressive towards it. Are there measures i can take to help lessen the level of agression?
My resident tang is a desjardins sailfin and he is 3.5-3.75 in long.
ive heard adding a different shaped tang can help, but i want to add a purple tang so they would both be zebrasomas. My tank is 210gal

 

[o2manyfish]

Adding just 1 tang will probably lead to aggression issues with costly consequences.

Add several and they might settle out. But a big sailfin that is well established in a tank might go after everyone. Depends on the personality of the particular fish.

Dave B

 

[gdemos]

I currently have a 120g DT
3 Yellow
1 DesJardins
1 Powder Brown
1 Yellow Belly Hippo

unfortunately I lost my Powder Blue Tang yesterday after 9 months of successful cohabitation.
most will say this is overstocked and I am torturing them into stress...there are truths from both camps.

I would say depending on your rock work you have a large enough tank and agree with Dave B; you will have a better chance adding several at once as opposed to just one or two. I would also make the addition at lights out and I would feed heavily throughout the first several days to keep aggression at bay.

in my case Powder Brown was/is the aggressor.

 

[Hal]

It sounds like you have capacity (not overstocked), and yes, there are things you can do to reduce aggression. You already touched on two things to reduce aggression: different body types and colors.

However, the single best thing you can do to reduce aggression is use an isolation box for the new fish for a few days in the main tank. Give the current fish a chance to see the new guy and make unsuccessful runs at him. They'll eventually figure out that he's protected and start to ignore him. I recently added a hippo tang to a tank that had a larger vlamingi tang and a yellow tang with almost no aggression. It was all because of the isolation box.

It also helps to move around the decor/rocks within the display tank when you introduce the new guy. It gives the old fish something to think about and be distracted by instead of focussing on the new fish.

 

[Kirkwood77]

I have a Purple and a Regal living happily together.. different body types.. never a problem.. I would think given the size of your tank that you would be OK to add more zebras... I agree that adding multiples at once is the best thing to do... that way the sailfin will share its aggression towards various tangs hence lessening the punishment each will receive...

You can also add the new tangs at night, and if it is an option you can reconfigure your rockwork... that helps reduce aggression.