Tang Compatibility

[Saltlife757]

I have a 4 month old 180 gallon (soon to be reef tank) aquarium. MY live stock is all about the same size (2-3 inches) and consists of a blue hippo tang, yellow tang, 4 chromis, and 2 black iced clown fish. I also have a frogspawn and GSP. Everything is going very well. The water parameters couldn't be better, all the fish eat, sleep, and swim in harmony. Taking things slow has definitely payed off!!

My question is about adding new fish. I would love to have 1 or 2 more tangs, preferably a powder blue or Achilles. From my research, I cant really find a definite answer about why these fish are difficult to keep? I know they are ich prone, but so are my yellow and hippo.

IF not tangs, what other first look really great in a reef tank?

 

[davocean]

It's not like it's impossible to keep both achilles or PBT's, but they seem to do better in tanks that are pretty established, and I would not skip a proper QT of both.

 

[brett559]

I'd think you'd have better luck with a PBT. Achilles are very hard to keep. I've never tried, but I know several experienced reefers who have tried and failed. My LFS won't sell them because so few survive.

PBTs are a lot cheaper too.

Some other cool tangs: Blonde naso, purple, Chevron, Red Sea saifin.

 

[jbvdhp]

People say they're difficult to get eating. Not sure why, but I've seen a good number of people locally here who get them eating within a couple of days.

 

[Dmorty217]

Achilles should be housed in a larger tank than a 180g and with seriously high flow being they live in the surge zones of the reef

 

[davocean]

I agree a PBT would be both a better fit and easier to achieve success based on most people's experience.

 

[brett559]

You've already got blue with your blue tang. Look at the Red Sea sailfin. Gorgeous fish!

Or get a Clown Tang and Sohal pair! (kidding).

 

[Saltlife757]

You've already got blue with your blue tang. Look at the Red Sea sailfin. Gorgeous fish!

Or get a Clown Tang and Sohal pair! (kidding).

Yeah those are sweet looking tangs! I had a regular sail fun once but he was a turd. He picked on my other fish by flaring is sail at them lol

 

[davocean]

You've already got blue with your blue tang. Look at the Red Sea sailfin. Gorgeous fish!

Or get a Clown Tang and Sohal pair! (kidding).

Unfortunately all 3 will outgrow that tank and all 3 have a bad rep for becoming very territorial in limited space.

 

[ca1ore]

Must confess I've not found the Achilles to be any trickier than the powder blue. Both are extraordinarily vulnerable to skin parasites which makes them problematic in tanks where the owner has not done QT from the start. Achilles does need a lot of flow; both can be problematic eaters.