Sohal Tang in a 300gal

bwade209

bwade209

Member
I currently have 3 tangs in my 300gal mixed reef with roughly 125-140lbs of liverock. Dimensions are 8ft long X 2ft wide X 2 1/2ft tall.

4" Blue Hippo Tang
6" Blue Hippo Tang
5" Yellow Tang

Looking at adding one last large fish and have always wanted a Sohal. Recently found one (he's 7-8" so he'd be the largest in my tank) locally thats in a 180gal with 10 other tangs 6"+ each....yea, can you say "overcrowded" HEHE

What are your thoughts of the likelyhood he'd punk my fish if I added him to my tank? Could I add more fish later? Nothing big, just a few purple firefish, maybe a Royal Gramma, Aurora Goby...

Does he have to be the last fish introduced or just the last tang?
 
As you know, all fish are different....My Sohal is undisputed boss of my tank and has been since day one, I had several established "aggressive" fish when I added mine, didn't really matter if they were twice his size or not, he took over immediately. I added 2 fish after him with very little incident, though I would not dare add another Tang. To answer your question, I don't think he would feel the least bit threatened by the fish you listed, thus I would doubt any issues with adding them later.

Everybody gives mine his space now and everything is fine.....Mine was 3.5 inches when I got him, he is over 8 now (18 months later)....Good luck, wonderful fish in the right set-up.
 
Okay, from all I've read people make them out to be pyschotic aggressive towards tangs. I just didnt want to watch him chase down my fish everyday until he killed them.
 
Eventually, it is likely that a sohal will kill those other tangs. In the short run it is less predicatable. I had to remove one from a 350 gallon FOWLR tank.
 
my sohal has cut my pyramids at times too. Really moody and is getting in the habit of biting me when doing maint or even removing the seaweed clip.

I love it but it is one BMF!
 
I can say my Clown Tang is aggressive but i'm not sure if it's as bad as a Sohal Tang. Mine is similar to Stanely-Reefer's Sohal in that it bites me when I put my hand in the tank. I too love the fish so I put up with it.
 
Sohal is destined to be king of the tank. If smaller, he will one day dominate within a couple of months. I currently have 1 along with 3 other tangs in my 250. He is doing fine. Skirmishes here and there, but nothing deadly.
 
For the bad rep Clown Tangs and Sohals get I see an alarming number of success stories. ;)
 
tibob32 said:
I'd flick it until it learns not to bite
Click to expand...

I've tried that and it just makes the fish more angry and it comes after me more. I'm worried about getting hit with the spine if i make the fish too mad. I bet the pain from the spine is much worse than a bite so i'll put up with the biting.
 
Sohals are pretty daring.. Mine will come right up to the water surface to snatch the nori out of my hand. When I am cleaning the tank with the glass scraper, he fights it.. He is not afraid of my hand also... That is why I rarely stick my hand in my tank, don't want a scapel ..

With all the bad rep they get though.. The Sohal is by far one of my favorite fishes in my tank. Very active, and has alot of character. Nice color as well.
 
Sohal tangs are about as mean a fish as you can add to a tank. In the wild they are not afraid to attack divers and you will notice if you look at video of them in the wild that other species of fishes avoid being around them.

Here is a video of one attacking someone just wading in the water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7VkMOOCQU0
 
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