Ranking Tangs by Aggression

[skh]

Everyone loves a good ranking. Anyone care to rank tangs by level of aggression (generally), highest to lowest? Based on perusing posts on RC, this is how I understand it:

Nasty

1. Clown (Acanthurus lineatus)
2. Sohal (Acanthurus sohal)
3. Vlamingi (Naso vlamingi)
4. Bluespine (Naso unicornis)
5. Naso (Naso lituratus/elegans)
6. Powder Blue (Acanthurus leucosternon)
7. Achilles (Acanthurus achilles)
8. Purple (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

Mean

1. Convict (Acanthurus triostegus)
2. Atlantic Blue (Acanthurus coeruleus)
3. Chevron (Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis)

Not terribly mean

1. Powder Brown (Acanthurus japonicus)
2. Pacific Blue (Paracanthurus hepatus)
3. Sailfin (Zebrasoma desjardini)
4. Scopas (Zebrasoma scopas)
5. Yellow (Zebrasoma flavescens)
6. Kole (Ctenochaetus strigosus)
7. Tomiensis (Ctenochaetus tomiensis)

Generally, it seems like the order of aggression by genus goes something like this (with notable outliers being the Purple tang (aggressive for a Zebrasoma) and the Powder Brown (less aggressive for an acanthurus)):

1. Acanthurus
2. Naso
3. Paracanthurus
4. Ctenochaetus
5. Zebrasoma

 

[audiowerks]

I wouldnt classify the vlamingi as very mean. ive had 2 and both seem to have been ***** cats. my current one was harrased by a yellow tang half his size until i gave the yellow tang to a fellow reefer who needed an algae eater for his reef.

I would classify the sailfin as very agressive. ive had nothing but trouble with those guys when bigger. (not the tiny juveniles with yellow fins, they seem pretty docile at that stage)
of course im no expert, and my expeiences are just that, experiences.

basically i would move the the yellow and sailfin to mean, and move the vlamingi to not terribly mean.
by genus i think i would switch numbers four and five.

 

[sTefaniA]

Naso elegans nasty?? I think these are one of the friendliest tangs. They don't mind newcomers at all, never fight.. I had a yellow tang and he was very agressive, i had to get rid of it because it dominated my purple and desjardinii tang. Plus my achilles is a lot meaner than my two naso's.

 

[rogerwilco357]

purple tang bullies the yellow tang alot but the hippo tang is the biggest so would the meanest be due to size in the tank not so much the breed?

 

[MBVette]

I have both a Naso and a Chevron and they could care less what goes on in the tank. No way would I classify either of them as mean.

 

[agreeive?fish]

personal experience based upon my3 fowlr tanks with large angels, tangs,puffers and triggers(various combos of the above)

i would move the powder blue and the purple down a notch to the mean

yellow not to agressive

huge sailfin(10") not agressive at all

hippo not agressive

 

[Carant]

Wow ... this will be one of these rankings that will drive newbies, intermediates and experts alike crazy.

All posts will be based on experience and thus will be right, however, the variables that make up that experience is going to be so varied (tank size, age, tankmates ...) So any post will be able to be countered as being wrong by another poster.

I would have to say that almost every tang will move between these ranking groups at various times. Our small tanks are not natural habitat for tangs as much as we would like to believe. Stress will cause weird behavior for any species.

Lets see how this develops.

Cheers,
Bruce

 

[aquaph8]

I've always found my Kole to be a nasty little sucker.

 

[cakemanPA]

Naso - not agressive at all
Zebrasoma - take you pick which is most agressive. Could change by the day
Achilles - B@ST@RD and currently smallest and still a B@ST@RD

 

[Crabber]

This is just way wrong, completely mixed up. Naso species are passive, acanthurus is most aggressive, followed by zebrasoma, then your bristletooth tangs.

 

[Daniel Reef]

How would you rank a Mimic Half Black Tang?

 

[d-man]

my tomini would beat the poop out of my venustus, multicolor angels and my pylei wrasse to the point of starvation. I finally was able to catch him out and trade him off

 

[bronkanus]

I would have to agree with crabber that the acanthurus are the most aggresive with the zebrasomas following a close second, naso and ctenochaetus as rarely aggresive. My purple and sailfin have eliminated any and all newcomers to the system (240 gallon 7ft) and I've tried acans and hepatus with no luck regardless of size.

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

this thread is pointless. there are so many variables in play in each one of our tanks that make one fish more aggresive than the same fish in someone else's tank. good luck having everyone agree on it !

 

[Lynnmw1208]

hmm can we rearrange the list to the best we can? I understand tank size and everything play a role, but I'd still like to know whether a yellow tang is more aggressive than a bristletooth. it might be helpful to newbies like me :wildone:

 

[Matt_Wandell]

I would have to agree with crabber that the acanthurus are the most aggresive with the zebrasomas following a close second, naso and ctenochaetus as rarely aggresive. My purple and sailfin have eliminated any and all newcomers to the system (240 gallon 7ft) and I've tried acans and hepatus with no luck regardless of size.

I agree with this.

The only big exception I'd note is that the convict tang (A. triostegus) is generally not very aggressive at all. I'd rank it somewhere around the Ctenochaetus spp.

I'd stick Paracanthurus along with the Acanthurus in terms of aggression.

Far and away A. lineatus is the most aggressive surgeon I've seen under almost every circumstance. I watch them chase around Nasos twice their size in our big tank.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

Generally, it seems like the order of aggression by genus goes something like this (with notable outliers being the Purple tang (aggressive for a Zebrasoma) and the Powder Brown (less aggressive for an acanthurus)):

Here's another problem with common names...

A. japonicus is just as aggressive as A. leucosternon (Powder Blue).
A. nigricans is *somewhat* peaceful for an Acanthurus.

Both are called "powder brown" tangs. They are also very different in their suitability to captivity too, for what it's worth.

 

[snorvich]

this thread is pointless. there are so many variables in play in each one of our tanks that make one fish more aggresive than the same fish in someone else's tank. good luck having everyone agree on it !

I tend to agree. What works in a 1000 gallon tank will not necessarily work in a 100 gallon tank (or worse in a 40 gallon tank) Still, a Acanthurus lineatus is simply awfully aggressive in any tank.

 

[Daniel Reef]

I would still like to know whether a Mimic Half Black Tang is aggressive. TIA

 

[skh]

Thanks everyone for your input -- it's really helpful. I've tried to revise the rankings accordingly. Obviously this list should come with a long list of disclaimers (first and foremost, that it's based on a bunch of personal observations that may not, in fact, prove correct for a given fish -- or even generally). But putting together a ranking like this isn't "pointless." I think it can be helpful if read with an understanding of its limitations and as long as you're willing to do further research on your own.

Nasty

1. Clown (Acanthurus lineatus)
2. Sohal (Acanthurus sohal)
3. Powder Blue (Acanthurus leucosternon)
4. Achilles (Acanthurus achilles)
5. Purple (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

Mean

1. Atlantic Blue (Acanthurus coeruleus)
2. Powder Brown (Acanthurus japonicus)
3. Sailfin (Zebrasoma desjardini)
4. Scopas (Zebrasoma scopas)
5. Yellow (Zebrasoma flavescens)

Not terribly mean

1. Pacific Blue (Paracanthurus hepatus)
2. Convict (Acanthurus triostegus)
3. Vlamingi (Naso vlamingi)
4. Bluespine (Naso unicornis)
5. Naso (Naso lituratus/elegans)
6. Chevron (Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis)
7. Kole (Ctenochaetus strigosus)
8. Tomiensis (Ctenochaetus tomiensis)

Aggression by genus

1. Acanthurus
2. Zebrasoma
3. Paracanthurus
4. Naso
5. Ctenochaetus