tangs in 180

[Zer0.]

Hey all,

I have a 180 standard tank.

As of right now I have a yellow kole eye and a blue hippo tang.

I am thinking of adding a powder brown tang (about same size as other two), any opinions on if this would work well?

Also, would like to add a 4th and final tang (purple tang) down the road. Any thoughts on this?

Per my research it seems like it should work fine as they are all different "body shapes" but wanted to run it by the experts here.

Thanks in advandce!

-Z

 

[joesfiddy]

It will work prob fight a lil bit first few days.

 

[reeferstace]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079

 

[ca1ore]

I have not found the hippo to be all that aggressive with other tangs, though you are going to have other issues with it in a 6ft tank as it grows. Kole can be aggressive, so it may give a PB a hard time. Definitely QT the PB though.

 

[Zer0.]

Thanks all. I got the hippo after reading live aquarias 180 gallon recommended min. size.

Unfortunetly, I got the Powder brown and moved him into a 30 gal QT with the kole, a flame, a canary blenny and a bagai cardinal and he didnt make it.

I moved the pvc around in a attempt to make the transition easier but the kole still fought with him. He had a small gash on one of his sides when I found him dead not sure what the cause of death was

 

[Deinonych]

I moved the pvc around in a attempt to make the transition easier but the kole still fought with him. He had a small gash on one of his sides when I found him dead not sure what the cause of death was

Sounds like the Kole got him with his scalpel.

 

[Sapelo]

Maybe it's just me, but I think four tangs in a 180 would be too many.

 

[ilikefish34]

I did well with a Yellow, Kole, Blue and a Powder Blue Tang (added in that order) in a 180 FOWLER (with lots of live rock) for about three years before breaking the tank down. I may have had the exception with the Kole because I never saw any aggression out of it even when introducing new fish. The boss of the tank was clearly the 5-6" Emperor Angel, although there was very little chasing, and that fish might have been the reason that everything was kept in check. Also, Nori was added everyday to keep the grazers happy along with an auto feeder--good skimming and frequent water changes were paramount.

I'm in the process of setting up a 210 mixed reef right now and my wish list will include the Yellow, Kole and the Blue but I'll be leaving the Powder Blue off because of their POTENTIAL for aggressiveness and being more prone to parasites (everything will be going through a QT before making it into the DT). And I may go with a One Spot Foxface instead of the Yellow Tang to have another passive fish and if I do, I may add a Purple Tang.

I think that you could make that mix work but it's not without risk and make sure that you have a contingency plan if things don't go well. You may find continuing issues because the Kole and the Powder Brown are fairly close in color (especially with the smaller PBT specimens that get darker with size/age) and there might be another Tang out that is a better fit--the Achilles is another Acanthurus species that bit work--not as easy of a fish to keep and a much heftier price tag but gets to a similar size to the Powder Brown. Lastly, I'm a big fan of blacking the tank out for a day when adding new fish and it always paid off for my tangs.

Good Luck
Mike