powder blues @ achilles tangs

[david pinder]

I understand from a friend that these are mortal enenmies and want survive in the same tank. would like to know what else these 2 tangs might not mix with, currently have about 20 tangs in a 600 and 1200 gal tank and plan on these being the last 2 tangs entered .

 

[DGee]

Well, the main problem is that they are both Acanthurus species.

In a 1200 gallon tank they might fair well together, but as you should well know all fish have their own personalities and that can be good or bad. I know a few people on here have kept them together.

It's a roll of the dice but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[rachelcb80]

Seeing how aggresive my Powder Blue is to my Purple Tang, I'd hate to see how he'd react to a tang in his own genus. Like DGee said, every fish does seem to have their own personality so maybe you'd end up with a couple that were more on the laid back side. If you decide to try it, I'd definitely have a back up plan ready just in case.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Yes, it is generally a bad idea. As others have said tangs are generally most aggressive towards others of their genus because of their similar appearance and behaviors. Add to that the fact that powder blues tend to be one of the most aggressive tangs out there, and things get harder to balance peacefully. That being said in a tank that large it could work. If I were you I would take a look at the Achilles Tang primer in the reef fish forum here on this site. From there you should be able to tell if you can successfully keep an achilles in your setup. Good luck!

 

[drjuice28]

I have that combo in a 220 reef. They are, however, the only two tangs in there. Both were introduced fairly close timewise, so nobody had established dominance over the tank yet. The powder blue gave the achilles a rough time for 2-3 days, then it was like they were best pals. Haven't had any trouble in the 6 months since.