To Sohal Or Not To Sohal

[z28pwr]

To Sohal Or Not To Sohal, that is the question?

I have a 600 gallon aquarium that is 10FT long with multiple tangs which all seem to be getting along and for my last tang I've been considering a Sohal (actually my wife is pressuring me more then anything ). I know that they can be quite agressive but wanted to see real life experience in large tanks how would he do if being the last fish introduced, would he kill my other tangs or would he rough them up a little, claim himself the king of the tank and leave them alone after that?

Fish Currently in the tank are:
6" Palani Tang (Acanthurus Dussumieri)
7" Vlamingi Tang
4" Orange Shoulder Tang
5" Powder Blue Tang
7" Desjardini SailFin Tang
Two 3" Yellow Tangs
3" Scopas Tang
Mated pair of Maroon Clowns



Thanks.

 

[King-Kong]

As you've already mentioned, they tend to be real bullies. Perhaps if you purchased an extremely small one, it would spend a lot of time learning the ropes before it was large enough to actually boss any other fish around.

 

[Craig Lambert]

Wow....38 inches of tangs already? :eek2: You must have one monster skimmer. They must poop the equivilant of my Labrador Retriever.

 

[markjanos]

HELLO! IVE HAD A SOHAL FOR 2 YEARS IN MY 350 GAL. WITH NO PROBLEMS. HE IS IN WITH 8 INCH VLAMINGI,5 INCH POWDER BLUE, 7 INCH REGAL, 7 INCH SAILFIN ,4 INCH PURPLE 4 INCH CHEVRON,8 INCH NASO MALE,HE IS THE BOSS OF THE TANK. JUST GET A SMALL TO MED. ONE AND FEED ALOT OF SEE-WEED . YOU SHOULD BE FINE.

 

[z28pwr]

Mark, how big is your Sohal? The one I'm looking at getting is between 5" & 6".

Thanks.

 

[markjanos]

Well when I got him he was around 5".now he is around 8". I forgot that I also have a small tomini tang too. tangs are cool!

 

[bstone]

z28pwr,

I also have a 10 foot long tank. I currently have quit a few tangs:

Naso Blonde Tang, Male
Vlamingi Tang
Dussumieri Tang
Sailfin (Desjardini) Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Achilles Tang
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Hippo Tang
Flame Fin Tomini Tang

Surprisingly they all get along, LOTS of swimming room! Its a 4 foot wide tank, thats also 30" tall.

I just purchased a small Sohal Tang. about 3.5 inches. I plan on keeping him in my big sumps (he swims through the pipes between the 3 150gallon sumps.) and feeding him until he gets comfortable and used to the system, and me. I have had a Sohal in the past in my old system. I have learned that you can have much better success with a multiple tangs in a tank that includes a Sohal if you provide plenty of swimming room, and you feed them A LOT! They need to be FAT, I have noticed that they are less aggressive when they are fat. So, I would feed him constantly with algae, mysis, and pellets. I plan on introducing the Sohal about 1 to 2 months from now. This will give him time to get fat and less stressed before I introduce him to the tank. I also wanted him to be the smallest so that he doesn't get overpowering towards the other tangs. Therefore, all the other tangs will be able to word him off if he gets aggressive. Good luck with yours, let me know how it goes!