Surgeonfish Compatibility

[FroMan]

I have a question about surgeonfish compatibility. At one point I had come across a reference that spoke about the compatibility, but I can no longer find it. I looked back in: Delbeek-Sprung's 'The Reef Aquarium', Randall's Surgeonfishers of Hawai'i and the World, and Michael's "Marine Fishes", but was unable to find any relevant data as to whether these fish will be compatible.

I currently have these two surgeonfish in my tank. The Sail Fin is more or less in charge. The Hippo is still very much a juvenile and is much smaller, 25-33% in length.

• Zebrasoma desjardinii - Indian Ocean Sail Fin Tang
• Paracanthurus hepatus - Blue Hippo Tang

I recently broke down a tank from a local aquarist and inherited the following:

• Acanthurus leucosternon - Powder Blue Surgeonfish
• Ctenochaetus truncatus - Indian Gold Ring Bristletooth

These two are currently in a quarantine tank in my basement. They were living in harmony in the tank they were in. They appear to be healthy and disease free and I would like to put them in my main display.

The pervious reference t hat I had come across spoke about tangs of different genus being compatible with each other and I wanted to confirm that others had this experience or knew where I could find this reference again.

Thank you.

 

[Cahooligan]

first off, how big is the tank?

second, depending on the size of the tank, the only one i can see an issue with would be the powder blue because its often regarded as being highly aggressive towards other tangs.

 

[fish77]

What size tank? I think it depends on the size of the tank, but generally 4 Surgeonfish in one tank is not a good idea, it causes stress and compatibility issues if the tank is too small.. IMO

 

[FroMan]

I'm sorry I should have included those details in my origional post. It is a 180 gallon tank. It is connected to a 55 gallon frag grow out/fuge and a 75 g ~2/3rds full of water with all the equipment.

 

[djze]

you should be fine i have 4 in my 180 with no issues they might get bullied a little at the beginning especially from the hipo but the powder blue and gold rim will change the order of command real fast plus your one step ahead with the powder blue and gold rim those 2 species are not always easy to acllimate to the aquarium life i say go for it

 

[FroMan]

Thanks for the feed back. Anyone else have any positive or negative experiences?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks for the feed back. Anyone else have any positive or negative experiences?

50/50, maybe better; IMO. 4 tangs in a 180 is pushing it, I've done it more than once, though. I assume you'll QT all the new fish. I'd hold the PB back a couple extra weeks. if he's the last fish, he may be more civilized. There are lots of tangs that (IMO & IME) are more aggressive than a PB---just not in your mix.