The Sohal Tang.... Bad to have ?

[drew930]

I was just curious ... Not planning on getting one ...BUT I love the way the Sohal tang looks . And was wondering how aggressive they were ? And if they stress easy ? I love them but never see them .

 

[letoan]

I was looking for one as well, they're beautiful.. If you google around, most people who own one said they tend to get more aggressive as they grow bigger.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

They and clown tangs look phenomenal! The sad part is that they are quite aggressive as they get bigger. Steve(snorvich) had one in his 350(I believe) and it had to be removed because of aggression. My advice would be wait until you have a tank larger than 350 unless you have an aggressive reef or FO. I cannot comment on how easily they stress except that they aren't as bad as achilles(we will need the experts to chime in on this). BTW there is a sohal tang primer thread that you should look up.

 

[jg2269jg]

i bought one about 6 or so years ago because it was so beautiful. worse fish i ever bought, it chased 2 fish out of my tank in front of me, i returned the fish promptly. I know bad choice on my part but very aggressive fish

 

[djze]

i have one now for about 2 years he's so aggressive that he's by himself in a 8 ft 220 that connects to my reef display as a display sump

 

[drew930]

Okay. I will look up more about them ! Great looking fish , wish they wernt so aggressive . I wonder if they are around bigger fish if they are more peaceful ? Like in a big fish only tank (350 +)... If you had a larger naso and a sailfin or orange shoulder...etc ..

 

[slee013]

I have a 10 inch Sohal in my 250g and he gets along with everyone, including another purple tang, and various wrasses/anthias I have in there..he also leaves any newcomers I add to the tank alone..

so far, no aggression whatsoever...

from what i've heard about them being very aggressive, I consider myself VERY LUCKY that mine is docile for how big he is!

 

[xcorallusx]

Mine is in a 350 with around 30 fish, including 5 tangs(1 orange shoulder, 2 Hippo, 1 yellow, 1 Powder Brown) and a foxface rabbitfish. He loves to chase the foxface but they have been together for a year. Make sure to keep them fed on algae sheets. They have high metabolisms and some people dont feed them as much as they need thats why they are cranky.

 

[sbeason]

I have had one for the past 3.5 years in my tanks. The sohal is housed with a bristletooth tang, purple tang, queen angel, lemonpeel angel and clowns. A little aggression every now and then, but nothing major. Doesn't pick on corals and when feeding nori, it lets the others in for their take as well.

 

[drew930]

Alright ! Well sounds like it's a bit of hit and miss ...

Does anyone know around the normal price ? I know I saw on liveaquaria once that a 2-3" was 159 .. 4-5" was 230 and a 6" was like 349. Is this normal price ? Wouldn't mind paying for one down the road ... Just curious .

 

[runintoluck]

Hmmm... for pricing it really depends on where you decide to get them from. Like you said, they'll go for about that much online, especially from live aquaria and here in the bay area, they'll range anywhere from at least 110 to almost 150 for a 4-5 in specimen. Also, there's a guy on cl trying to sell his 8 incher for 200. Really depends.

 

[choboreef]

If you can, get them as small as possible, around 2-3 inches when they're still juveniles.
At that phase they're not as aggressive, and as you soon get them adapted to your home aquarium and up to the adult ages, they're less territorial since they have to house with other inhabitants.
Basically, raise them as a baby and keep them docile. Get them old, they'll always be cranky.

 

[fsbbn@hotmail]

I had a Sohal for 12 years. It was 14 inches in a thousand gallon tank. It was king of the tank but never hurt anyone. It would often break up fights between other fish. I have had my current sohal in my FOWLR tank (two thousand gallon) for six months. It is five inches. It picks fights with every fish including a 7 inch black tang that will often kick his ***. He however leaves the 2 foot unicorn and 12 inch valmingi alone. Does not bother the large emperor or french angel either but everyone else is fair game. I hope he does not grow up to be a bad seed.
The previous one would let me pet him but had the bad habit of biting and pulling on the hair on my hand when ever I would work in the tank. That would really hurt. I think he thought th hair was blood worms or something like that. They are very powerful fish. I had a sailfin cut my hand once and it bled all over me, I can only imagine what a sohal could do if it wanted to hurt a fish or person.

 

[WuHT]

I had a Sohal for 12 years. It was 14 inches in a thousand gallon tank. It was king of the tank but never hurt anyone. It would often break up fights between other fish. I have had my current sohal in my FOWLR tank (two thousand gallon) for six months. It is five inches. It picks fights with every fish including a 7 inch black tang that will often kick his ***. He however leaves the 2 foot unicorn and 12 inch valmingi alone. Does not bother the large emperor or french angel either but everyone else is fair game. I hope he does not grow up to be a bad seed.
The previous one would let me pet him but had the bad habit of biting and pulling on the hair on my hand when ever I would work in the tank. That would really hurt. I think he thought th hair was blood worms or something like that. They are very powerful fish. I had a sailfin cut my hand once and it bled all over me, I can only imagine what a sohal could do if it wanted to hurt a fish or person.

neat, you got pictures ?

 

[humaguy]

yeah, get as small as possible...my current in 3.5 inches and with a few triggers and 2 angels...I added sohal last...my garibaldi is more of a pita than the sohal...get small, add last, keep well fed...and cross your fingers.

 

[kenith]

I have a 6" sohal that gets along with the fishes below. He was added last and was aggressive in the beginning (first few days)

- purple tang
- powder blue
- hippo
- kole tang
- assorted others (bartletts, lyretails, mandarin, wrasses, ect)