Multiple tangs together.

balz3352

balz3352

New member
Hello. So finally getting to upgrade my 29 biocube and therefore can finally own tangs!! I'm upgrading to a 210. I'm wondering what tangs can be tank mates. I have ready that tangs don't play well with other tangs. Id love to keep
Regal, purple, yellow, powder blue, naso, and chevron tangs. (not necessarily all at once but I I could that'd be cool)


I really want an achilles tang but I'm going to gain more experience before I even think about owning one and I'd like a bigger tank for him too but anyway.

How could I successfully care for multiple tangs?
 
Introduce the ones you want at the same time. Made the mistake of having a yellow tang as one of my first fish and he turned into a big bully. I'm currently trying to give him away because he will harass any new additions. Tried everything to make him stop, even put him in a different tank for a couple days and still he's being an *** . My advice would be to add all of them so one doesn't get use to being the boss of the tank. I've also heard it's best to keep them in odd numbers: 3,5,7. Don't know how true that is though but I've heard it a lot.
 
Just one persons experience - I have a 220g tank with a Purple, Powder Blue, Naso, Kole Eye, Sailfin and Hippo. I've had no issues. They were not added at same time, but each time I added one, I would get one the same size or slightly smaller than the ones already in the tank. This group has been together for about 2 years. For what it's worth, no significant aggression but the Purple tang is king of the tank.
 
A reefer that has been in the hobby a long time gave me a trick he uses, and it has worked for me so far. I use it any time i have added tangs together.

When adding the new addition, put every fishnet you own into the tank, and leave them there for an hour+.

Generally every fish already existing in the tank will hide, and the new addition will have free reign over the tank.

I actually employ this method everytime i add any new fish to the display.
 
JoeVandal49 said:
A reefer that has been in the hobby a long time gave me a trick he uses, and it has worked for me so far. I use it any time i have added tangs together.

When adding the new addition, put every fishnet you own into the tank, and leave them there for an hour+.

Generally every fish already existing in the tank will hide, and the new addition will have free reign over the tank.

I actually employ this method everytime i add any new fish to the display.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. Will have to try that next time I add a fish!
 
Keep the new addition in a hanging acrylic box that is drilled for waterflow for a few days. They will get over harrassing him through the box very shortly. When you see hes no longer interested......drop him in
 
balz3352 said:
Hello. So finally getting to upgrade my 29 biocube and therefore can finally own tangs!! I'm upgrading to a 210. I'm wondering what tangs can be tank mates. I have ready that tangs don't play well with other tangs. Id love to keep
Regal, purple, yellow, powder blue, naso, and chevron tangs. (not necessarily all at once but I I could that'd be cool)


I really want an achilles tang but I'm going to gain more experience before I even think about owning one and I'd like a bigger tank for him too but anyway.

How could I successfully care for multiple tangs?
Click to expand...

There are things you can control - tank size, fish choice (and size), tank-mates, feeding frequency and introduction order. Then there are things you cannot control, namely temperament. Whether one can successfully keep a group of tangs together depends quite a bit on temperament; so any advice or variations on 'I've kept that many tangs with no problems' are caveat emptor.

Of your list, the naso is not ideal, even for a 6 foot 210, as it will grow quite large. Others are OK, though the powder blue is hardly a beginner fish either. Being zebrasomas, the yellow and purple will tolerate each other at best; try to kill each other at worst. I have both in my 265, and though more on the tolerate end, they both periodically show up with tattered fins.
 
On the advice of "put them all in at once": Wouldn't that be kind of a large biological load to put on a tank at once? And how lucky would you have to be to find that many different tangs in just the right size available at the same time?
 
jmm said:
On the advice of "put them all in at once": Wouldn't that be kind of a large biological load to put on a tank at once? And how lucky would you have to be to find that many different tangs in just the right size available at the same time?
Click to expand...

Order from LA, They normally have plenty of tangs in many different sizes. As for bio load tangs IME should always be added last... They are ich prone so a already established tank is a must and the ones I have had in the past at least get very territorial. Maybe I've just been unlucky. As for bio load 3 new tangs will add to your bio load but you can counter act it and give your aquarium time to catch up with an ammonia alert and frequent W/C until it all balances out. Same concept as the QT you should be using before you add them ; )
 
RGS2 said:
Just one persons experience - I have a 220g tank with a Purple, Powder Blue, Naso, Kole Eye, Sailfin and Hippo. I've had no issues. They were not added at same time, but each time I added one, I would get one the same size or slightly smaller than the ones already in the tank. This group has been together for about 2 years. For what it's worth, no significant aggression but the Purple tang is king of the tank.
Click to expand...

He seems to have some experience with your issue so maybe he is on to something. I just wouldn't let any 1 tang have free roam over the tank or he will probably end up being a bully. I'd try adding 3 then 2 more after that.
 
Thanks for all of the replies! Really helps!

How does one qt tangs also. I have a qt tank but it's a 20l. Do I set up a bigger tank? How big do I need?
 
Surprised no one has mentioned that a 29g might be too small for multiple tangs. You should buy small with plans to upgrade to a bigger tank or trade in the tang(s) when they get bigger.

With that being said,if you have a tang in the tank and want to add another you can tape pictures of the type of tang you want to add to the tank,that will help the established tang get used to seeing the fish and help lower aggression.

GG me for not reading the entire OP. A 210 will be fine for mutiple tangs! Sorry for the misunderstanding
 
Last edited:
I don't have any tangs yet since I know that they need bigger tank than a 29g

Apparently I don't read the whole post either. Lol
 
balz3352 said:
Thanks for all of the replies! Really helps! How does one qt tangs also. I have a qt tank but it's a 20l. Do I set up a bigger tank? How big do I need?
Click to expand...

I would not recommend adding all those tangs at once, even if small for reasons stated in other posts.

A 29g QT is not big enough for a thorough QT process for tangs IMO. I would suggest at least a 40 breeder. There are lots of good QT threads on this forum for other opinions, but I'm a big believer in prophylactic treatment of all fish but especially tangs. You want to be sure they go into the tank disease free. I would suggest a full copper treatment but do your research as there are other options such as TTM.
 
an established 210 gallon should easily handly 3 or 4 tangs added all at once. i recently added 5 lyetails, 2 purple tilefish and released 2 yellow tangs from an acclimation box. while adding an autofeeder that feeds 4 times a day; and unfortunately one of the tilefish died in tank, i think, because i have not seen him in a month. the only change i noticed was a growth spurt in my sps'.

btw i qt in 20g tanks, with no problems.

http://[URL=http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CHSUB/media/image.jpg1_zpsmbngwuv0.jpg.html][/URL]
 
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