Mixing New Tangs With Established Tangs

fishguy597

fishguy597

Member
I have a 200 gal reef tank with 2 tangs in it already. They are a Timiny and an Atlantic Blue. The Timiny is about 4-4.5" long and the Atlantic Blue is about 3".

The tangs Im getting are a cheveron and a purple. Im setting up a 30 gal qt . The tangs are 2-2.5" in size. I will be doing hyposalinity if needed. I have never attempted this before so any tips would be great.

When I add thses fish to the dt any tips other then shutting the lights off? If i have to I could move around a few rocks but not many. Im just a little concerned since the Timiny and the Cheveron are in the same family. Should I just ditch the TIminy ? If I have to I will but I would like to keep him. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Do you mean Tomini? If so, I have kept a Tomini tang before and it was very peaceful. It was housed with a Lavendar tang and Sargassum trigger along with a variety of fairy/flasher wrasses, the obligatory clowns, etc in a 5' 150g.

There may be some interaction between the chevron and Tomini. I would bet since they are both smallish that any aggression would be minimal. I would be more worried about the Atlantic blue. I have never kept one but have friends who say they become bullies as they mature.
 
Its the purple that you should be worried about. I ordered one and should be getting it this wkend if all goes well. I was warned by many about them bieng very aggresive.
 
Ya sorry I'm a terrible speller. Yes the Tomini tang is the one I'm concerned about. I know they are in the same family as the chevron . The tomini has been a little aggressive towards the abt and my pofrees angel . it likes to Chase them around the tank. the abt is very well behaved right now but I plan to keep an eye on it as it grows. I Am aware that it can get aggressive as it gets bigger.
 
The new fish are going to a QT first, I assume?

Your question is very common and I think its a classic ''individual fish" thing. I keep a lot of tangs in several tanks and over 30+ years have done just about everything imaginable to introduce new tangs to established tangs. The only thing I know for sure is that nothing works all the time. However, if the tank is big enough (a real key, IMO) , most tangs will establish a pecking order and co-exist with only minor squabbles. Some folks panic as soon as there is a little trouble; but it usually works itself out. If an established tang is just too belligerent, I put it into the QT for a week while the new fish acclimate; then reintroduce it. If I add any fish to a tank with a real Alpha Tang, like my Sohal, I always put the dominate fish in the QT for a while. Nothing works all the time, IME, though.
 
Thanks mrturkfish . yes I will be qting them. now I found out the purple won't be in this week because of lateral line. something I have been kicking around is giving them a bath in prozipro. is this a good idea or would hyposalinity. be better? since I will be getting the chevron this week it will be in qt. first. so when the purple comes in should I pull the chev out and keep it in a bucket for a while? then put the chev. back in?
 
Hypo & PP are two entirely different things. PP is a wormer and (IMO) should be used on all fish; its safe and can be used in the DT or QT. A PP bath will only help with some external parasitic worms, putting it in the tank kills internal worms as well. Hypo is only used to cure/prevent ich. Its difficult and demanding. If you want to use a preventative measure for ich with new fish, I'd suggest tank-transfer. I don't see any point in removing the Chev. tang; the purple will be the most aggressive of the two.How big is your QT? Two tangs in a small QT could be a problem. Be sure to start the QT clock at day 1 when the new fish is added.
 
I had a Yellow tang in my 175g that would bully any other tang i added to the tank..and actually killed a Blonde Naso. I learned about the "mirror" trick, which is hanging one or more handheld mirrors on the outside of the tank. It keeps the aggressive fish occupied for (thinking there is another similar fish in the tank) and gives the new fish a chance to get comfortable. I started hanging the mirror 2 day prior to introduction of a new tang and for a few days afterwards until I see aggression subside. Very easy to do and has worked for me with dwarf angels as well. Also, anytime i start to see some consistent bullying going on I just put the mirror back up.
 
Ok I have had my qt cycling for a week with water from the dt along with some liverock . I have a 30 gal with an aqua romora protein skimmer, mag 350 canister filter, &a maxijet ph . The water is really moving . Since its a qt should I take the water movement down a notch? My tangs should be here tomorrow.
 
I have a qt tank set up for the tangs that should be coming soon. I have a ton of flow in the qt tank. should I dial the flow back in the tank or keep it going?
 
I would dial it back until the fish get settled and are eating, and then increase it a bit. You want plenty of flow throughout the tank but not so much the fish have to struggle and they will be weakened a bit from capture and transport.
 
you can get different opinions but to be honest you really wont know until you put them in! every fish is different. the purple is the most aggressive per the book, but seems to me the 200g should be big enough to house them peacefully. hopefully...lol good luck!
 
Well I got the purple today and it's acclamating right now. So the clock starts now. I decided to pull the powerhead and there is plenty of flow. The chev didnt come in today but hopefully it'll be here in a few days. The purple is bigger then I thought it would be.

Here is my plan for the qt. Since it's only a 30 gal I think I will divide the tank in half with eggcrate when the chev comes in. then I will let them sit for a week and keep an eye on them. I think I'll stay away from the hypo , but will use the prazi. The question is can I do just a bath with it or do I have to treat the tank? Will the pazi kill the bacteria and spike the NO3? I'd like to keep using the dt tank water since its areef tank with no chemicals . This way I know they will be used to that water and there wont be a problem. Any other suggestions would be great.
 
Do you have a break in your rockwork that would let you divide the tank with eggcrate? This is a great way to get new fish used to your tank and each other.
 
Your clock will restart when you add the chevron. My preference is to treat the entire tank with prazipro, typically 2 or 3 rounds. It won't impact your biological filtration. In my experience, a skimmer isn't necessary on a hospital tank, especially if you do regular water changes. Plus, you won't run it while dosing prazipro.

What media do you have in your canister filter?

Using water from your display tank for water changes is fine too.
 
fishguy597 said:
Well I got the purple today and it's acclamating right now. So the clock starts now. I decided to pull the powerhead and there is plenty of flow. The chev didnt come in today but hopefully it'll be here in a few days. The purple is bigger then I thought it would be.

Here is my plan for the qt. Since it's only a 30 gal I think I will divide the tank in half with eggcrate when the chev comes in. then I will let them sit for a week and keep an eye on them. I think I'll stay away from the hypo , but will use the prazi. The question is can I do just a bath with it or do I have to treat the tank? Will the pazi kill the bacteria and spike the NO3? I'd like to keep using the dt tank water since its areef tank with no chemicals . This way I know they will be used to that water and there wont be a problem. Any other suggestions would be great.
Click to expand...

PraziPro will not hurt a thing. You won't even see any symptoms on your fish as it is very safe. It will also not harm your bio filter and should be added directly to the QT. Let it stay for 5-7 days in the water as 1 treatment (minimal WC unless you have ammonia issues). Most people do 2 treatments during QT just to be safe (1 at the beginning and 1 a week before they go into the DT). My personal regimine consists of PraziPro on day 3 of QT and then again one week before I am to put them into the DT.

Also, with those tangs, you should keep a close eye on them to verify they don't have any ich. If you see ich, I would either use the tank transfer method or use cupramine as hypo seems to be pretty difficult to get correct. Cupramine is also effective against marine velvet which can also be misdiagnosed as ich sometimes. If you do use cupramine, just make sure you DO NOT use an Amquel or Prime or any other dechlorinator in the QT!
 
I only put a few peices of lr for a place for them to hide .

I'm using chemipure for the media in the canister filter.

as far as using the cupramine after the prazi how much of a water change do you need to do before adding the cupramine? how long do you use the cupramine for? I think I would only use it if I see ich or do you think I should use it regardless?
 
I typically treat with Cupramine and PraziPro regardless of whether I see signs of disease. You risk losing a fish but you protect your DT. Others observe the fish for 6 weeks and only use Cupramine if they see signs.

I get the fish eating in my QT, and then dose PraziPro for 5 days, do a water change and another round of PraziPro. Do another water change and then start Cupramine. If I see no signs of parasites, I will run the Cupramine for 3.5-4 weeks. If there are any signs, I keep the fish in the Cupramine for 6 weeks.

You will need to remove the live rock while you dose Cupramine. Get a couple of pieces of pvc pipe from Home Depot or Lowes (I use a 3" T and a 4" elbow) for hiding.

The live rock is ok while you are dosing only PraziPro.

Remove the ChemiPure and all carbon while dosing either Cupramine or PraziPro.
 
Ok so the clock reset last night as I got my chev . I feed it this morning and so far its only eating mysis .The purple is eating everything but is very shy, which concerns me a little. I have them separated with eggcrate. The chev is also swimming all over the place. On Monday I will start the prazi . What is the tank transfer method? Does it stress the fish out if it is what I think it is. BTW I only have one tank for qt . I have been doing some reading and found an older thread on another site about using garlic. basically just mince up some garlic let it soak,strain it,and add it to the tank. supposedly it helps with ich and is reef safe. I am not to crazy about using copper since it won't be in the dt when they finally go in. Has anyone used the garlic method before or is it a waste of time?
 
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