Looking into a Tang/Foxface - Husbandry Questions

stscream4187

stscream4187

Member
Well, my tank has been up and running with fish/coral/inverts for a little over 3 months now with no issues. I am looking to add some additional fish by the end of the year and I would love a Tang and/or a Foxface Rabbitfish. I currently have a 125G (6 ft long) tank stocked with a Niger Trigger, Coral Beauty Angel, Lawnmower Blenny, Watchman Goby, 2 Black Oscellaris Clowns and an Azure Damsel.

First, I would like to know whether or not adding a Tang and Foxface is appropriate for this size tank and it's current inhabitants. And if not, can you explain why?

I know that there are only a handful of tangs that can thrive in this size tank. I will probably land on one of the bristletooth tangs or if I can find one, a Purple Tang would be my preference. Any other suggestions for my set up?

The last question I have is in regards to food for the Tang/Foxface. I currently feed the tank New Life Spectrum pellets 1-2 times a day and feed PE Mysis along with Cyclopeeze, soaked in Selcon an Vitachem, 4-5 times a week. All of the fish seem to thrive off of this. What should I supplement for the Tang/Foxface diet? I am not sure what is best and what works. I know of all of the different dried seaweeds. But there are many varieties (red, purple, green) and brands. I just want to make sure I know what I need to feed them before I get them. I read the below thread which was very helpful:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=785228

I guess I just want some first hand experience and advice as well.

Thanks for taking the time!
 
I feed my tangs lots of seaweed. The majority I give is green, but once a week I give purple and once a week I give red. No real logic behind it for nutrition reasons, I just find that they eat the green a lot quicker then the other two, so I prefer them to eat as much as possible. I have no experience with a fox face but I currently have a yellow eye kole and a purple tang and they get along great with each other
 
Sorry, meant to write, I feed spectrum pellets about 3x a day and about 3-4 times a week they get mysis, brine, frozen angel formula and a couple small clams on the half shell
 
RayL said:
I feed my tangs lots of seaweed. The majority I give is green, but once a week I give purple and once a week I give red. No real logic behind it for nutrition reasons, I just find that they eat the green a lot quicker then the other two, so I prefer them to eat as much as possible. I have no experience with a fox face but I currently have a yellow eye kole and a purple tang and they get along great with each other
Click to expand...

Thanks! So they are fed seaweed daily correct? How long do you leave it in the tank?

I really like the yellow eye kole's look. I am sure I will change my mind multiple times before ultimately deciding, but I really like the combo you have as well and will be considering it.
 
your tank size is fine for quite a few of the popular tangs. there is a sizing chart on here somewhere that is more specific as to what species needs what. your current stocking level seems reasonable to me for that size tank as well.

i've kept both a yellow tang and a kole tang. loved them both, unfortunately my yellow tang incessantly bullied the kole tang. :(

i feed a sheet of nori each day for the tangs, and i rotate it between green, red, and brown, and different brands, mostly depending on what is available at the LFS.. i usually feed when i get home from work, about 5:30PM, and leave it on the clip till the next day when i feed. i also, whenever possible, feed live macro to them in the form of either grape caulerpa or red gracilaria.

the tank itself also gets fed with other meaty foods once a day. the type varies, but is generally one or more of the following:

NLS pellets
Serra pellets
Nutramar Ova (frozen - mostly for mandarin)
Frozen Cyclop-eeze
Frozen PE-Myses (mostly target fed to corals about once every 1 - 3 weeks, but plenty escapes)

when feeding any of the frozen foods i typically add a few drops of Serra vitamins to them as they thaw out.

- edit -
here is the tang sizing chart thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946007
 
MondoBongo said:
your tank size is fine for quite a few of the popular tangs. there is a sizing chart on here somewhere that is more specific as to what species needs what. your current stocking level seems reasonable to me for that size tank as well.

i've kept both a yellow tang and a kole tang. loved them both, unfortunately my yellow tang incessantly bullied the kole tang. :(

i feed a sheet of nori each day for the tangs, and i rotate it between green, red, and brown, and different brands, mostly depending on what is available at the LFS.. i usually feed when i get home from work, about 5:30PM, and leave it on the clip till the next day when i feed. i also, whenever possible, feed live macro to them in the form of either grape caulerpa or red gracilaria.

the tank itself also gets fed with other meaty foods once a day. the type varies, but is generally one or more of the following:

NLS pellets
Serra pellets
Nutramar Ova (frozen - mostly for mandarin)
Frozen Cyclop-eeze
Frozen PE-Myses (mostly target fed to corals about once every 1 - 3 weeks, but plenty escapes)

when feeding any of the frozen foods i typically add a few drops of Serra vitamins to them as they thaw out.

- edit -
here is the tang sizing chart thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946007
Click to expand...

Thanks! I will get the different varieties of seaweed then and interchange them during the week.

And in your experience, adding 2 more fish (whether it is 2 tangs or a tang/foxface) would be ok given my current stock?
 
a 6' tank is a pretty large tank, but you've got some decent fish stock already in there now.

i think i'm going to defer on answering that one, because i'm really not sure what the best advice would be.

likely it will depend on which fish you decide to introduce, what their max size is, swimming habits, etc...

my yellow tang is still small, only about 3.5" long, but he like almost all tangs is a swimmer, and uses every inch of my 75G when he decides to do laps.

the biggest concern aside from tank size/bio load when introducing tangs would be potential aggression issues. but again, this is something that will depend highly on what type of fish you choose and even the individual fish. they all have their own personalities.
 
stscream4187 said:
Thanks! So they are fed seaweed daily correct? How long do you leave it in the tank?

I really like the yellow eye kole's look. I am sure I will change my mind multiple times before ultimately deciding, but I really like the combo you have as well and will be considering it.
Click to expand...

Yes I feed nori daily, I put a piece on a clip and leave it, it normally takes them about 1.5-2 hours to finish it all. The piece I put is about 6" x 3"
 
MondoBongo said:
a 6' tank is a pretty large tank, but you've got some decent fish stock already in there now.

i think i'm going to defer on answering that one, because i'm really not sure what the best advice would be.

likely it will depend on which fish you decide to introduce, what their max size is, swimming habits, etc...

my yellow tang is still small, only about 3.5" long, but he like almost all tangs is a swimmer, and uses every inch of my 75G when he decides to do laps.

the biggest concern aside from tank size/bio load when introducing tangs would be potential aggression issues. but again, this is something that will depend highly on what type of fish you choose and even the individual fish. they all have their own personalities.
Click to expand...

Yea I see what you are saying. That is also why I waited until the end to add any Tangs because I read that they should be added last and added at the same time if you want to keep more than one. That is why I want to make sure if I want to go with 2, they will work. Because if I end up deciding to go with just 1, but down the road it appears I could add another would be a potential issue because the first one would be established already.

Just making sure I think everything through. Thanks!
 
Be careful adding a tang with a fox face, my one spot and my Desjaradini have it out every now and then. Nori, sea veggies, spectrum pellets and mysis are all good things to feed. Biggest thing is variety, I feed much less frozen now then I use to and more pellets and flake food and my fish get fatter everyday
 
Dmorty217 said:
Be careful adding a tang with a fox face, my one spot and my Desjaradini have it out every now and then. Nori, sea veggies, spectrum pellets and mysis are all good things to feed. Biggest thing is variety, I feed much less frozen now then I use to and more pellets and flake food and my fish get fatter everyday
Click to expand...

My Magnificent and my Desjardini don't have a problem yet, but the Desjardini is still 1/5 the size of the Foxface. I'll see what happens as he gets bigger.
 
DopeCantWin said:
I'd recommend against a tang in the Ctenochaetus genus, there is a good chance it will be incompatible with the Blenny.
Click to expand...

since you mentioned this it actually reminded me, my kole tang didn't tolerate seeing my lawnmower blenny out in the open.

whenever he noticed the blenny out, unless he was preoccupied with something else, he would immediately chase him back in to the rock work.

a yellow eyed kole tang is a Ctenochaetus strigosus. i had not heard that before as far as incompatibility, but it fits with what i have experienced.
 
Dmorty217 said:
Be careful adding a tang with a fox face, my one spot and my Desjaradini have it out every now and then. Nori, sea veggies, spectrum pellets and mysis are all good things to feed. Biggest thing is variety, I feed much less frozen now then I use to and more pellets and flake food and my fish get fatter everyday
Click to expand...

Hmmm thanks. I'm pretty determined on the purple tang so maybe I will just go with him and leave it at that. I will do some more research but I definitely don't want to put the fish in a situation for failure.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of flakes do you feed? I have read mixed reviews regarding flakes.
 
stscream4187 said:
Also, for dopecantwin and dmorty, what size tanks did you guys have the tang and fox face in?
Click to expand...

220g other tangs in the tank include tomini, orange shoulder, and a maculiceps. I feed formula 1 and 2 flakes and pellets along with spectrum pellets and omega one veggie kelp pellets, nori and mysis with selcon, vitamarine c and a few other vitamin additives. As far as mixed reviews on flake feed less rather then more, since it can pollute the water more easily IMO
 
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