want to get new fish...two cranky tangs :(

[drunkenclown]

hey everyone

need some help i have a 6ft 125 mixed reef. currently i have the following fish:
gold bar maroon clown
purple tang about 3"
blonde naso tang about 3"
yellow watchman goby
blue damsel with yellow on tail only

problem i'm having is after some bad luck and poor decisions the tangs won't allow any newcomers been about six months since I've tried

i want to get more fish maybe a dwarf angel or two and or a genicanthus pair or single, a royal gramma or yellow assessor, and eventually some wrasses and anthias

I've built an isolation/acclimation box thanks to a post from another member i came across. Thanks to:ca1ore awesome idea
here is the post:

I ended up building my own because I could not find one large enought and it was cheaper ...

going to try that and some small mirrors.

what fish do you suggest and in what order?
can i keep the tangs or is it time to re-home or trade them in?

 

[BlueMac92]

Not advice, but how did you build it? Looks like plexiglass sheets and eggcrate?

 

[drunkenclown]

yes its just plexiglass and egg crate. thats not mine that was made by ca1ore the one i made is just like it though

 

[horseplay]

My advice, get rid of the two tangs if you want a stress free tank. Only tang I would get is convicts.

 

[drunkenclown]

thanks for the advice.
before i get ahead of myself is it possible to keep my current tangs and add 1 or 2 dwarf angels and or a genicanthus or pair of genicanthus or should i start looking for new homes for my tangs? if so will i be able to add some smaller fishes like wrasses and anthias eventually? would i be better off re-homing the tangs and start re-stocking but in a better order and make wiser choices of fish?

never even considered a convict tang always liked the white cheek and powder brown. what do you think bout them? either way if i have to re-home my current tangs any new tangs will be my absolute last additions and only after an extensive quarantine. out of all the tangs i would like one or two of the following:

powder brown
white cheek
achilles(don't think i have enough experience)
squaretail bristle tooth
kole yellow eye
two spot
blonde naso
blue hippo(already had one re-homed after about two years)
yellow(already had one re-homed after about two years)
purple

 

[scooter31707]

The best thing I can suggest is catch the tangs and put them in a QT for awhile until you added all of your wishlist. You may even have to re-aquascape the tank.

 

[drunkenclown]

That is also something I considered. What other fish would make good tank mates if I decide to keep them

 

[scooter31707]

You don't have to get rid of the tangs. People have 5-7 tangs in a tank and it's stress free. Out of your list, take off Hippo, Naso, and Achilles they required bigger tanks. Purples can be very aggressive and that's what you are experiencing now. I would do one tang in that size tank. A purple, yellow, kole, or squaretail.

 

[drunkenclown]

Thanks for the encouragement but don't think I want any additional tangs those are just some of the tangs I'd consider if I were to get rid of the ones I have. If I were to pick one of those I would probably choose the kole or squaretail. Love my purple but it's pretty mean

 

[ca1ore]

Not advice, but how did you build it? Looks like plexiglass sheets and eggcrate?

Correct. I built it to house larger fish, thus the egg-crate. Wouldn't work for smaller fish that would simply swim out.

 

[phk36]

I put the new tang in the sump if you can for a week or two , this way the other fish know they are in your system. You can section off a part if your tank with all egg crate for another two week now with the new fish in it. You can open of a small portion of the egg crate this way the tang can get back if he is in trouble . You can also catch your tangs in your display and put them in your sump and add the new tangsView attachment 341802View attachment 341802View attachment 341802

 

[phk36]

 

[phk36]

 

[drunkenclown]

hey ca1ore,

thanks again for the inspiration. until i saw your post was feeling discouraged and hopeless. so far its been one of the most rewarding reef projects i've tried it came out awesome. now i just need to find a fish to try it with. how did it work for you? do you think it's big enough for one or two dwarf angels or a pair of medium size genicanthus angels?

 

[drunkenclown]

hey everyone,

sorry for the confusion. not looking to add more tangs would just like to keep the two i currently have without them all out attacking every fish i put in. my plan is to try and use the isolation box and two mirrors taped to the glass. please correct me if I'm wrong but was thinking the mirrors would help distract my tangs for a while and the isolation box would give the new fish a chance to get used what i feed and fatten up before i let it loose. my other idea was if the purple still gets out of line since he seems to be the ringleader i could put him in the box for a time out. i have a fish trap to catch the tangs if need be but not looking forward to going that route.

my main question is out of the dwarf angels which ones am i most likely to be successful with which ones are fairly hardy somewhat tough and least likely to nip? and what genicanthus angels does everyone suggest? what have you had success with? do i have to get a pair? like the way some of the females look but afraid it will turn male, how long does it take to turn male if kept alone?

 

[drunkenclown]

hey phk

wow nice tangs amazing what size tank? good to see another long islander on here. i have a piece of egg crate big enough and an open space in my tank and rock work. would be able to section off my tank and leave about 2/3 on one side of the egg crate that was my original plan until i saw ca1ore's box he made. as for the sump idea unfortunately i have a lobster in my sump figured if i was gonna have a tank under my tank lol might as well put something fun in there instead of just a bunch of rocks.

 

[ca1ore]

hey ca1ore,

thanks again for the inspiration. until i saw your post was feeling discouraged and hopeless. so far its been one of the most rewarding reef projects i've tried it came out awesome. now i just need to find a fish to try it with. how did it work for you? do you think it's big enough for one or two dwarf angels or a pair of medium size genicanthus angels?

Happy to be of help - let's see a picture . I used mine for four 3" pyramid butterflyfish for a couple of days and it was adequate (any bigger and I wouldn't be able to get it into the tank). Box is often useful, but sometimes not. Recently added a chevron tang. Was ignored in the box, so I let it out and it immediately got torn up pretty badly by my Achilles. Fortunately chevron had spent a few months fattening up so was able to withstand the abuse. The Achilles now 'tolerates' the chevron.

 

[scuzy]

It takes awhile. My Achilles and blue hippo got along for the longest time then the Achilles started picking on the hippo.

 

[drunkenclown]

here is the one i made

 

[drunkenclown]

really wanting a dwarf angel think I've narrowed it down to two of these four:
want to choose between:

1. flameback or cherub
and
2. coral beauty or flame

leaning toward flameback and coral beauty.
what do you suggest? does anyone have experience with having any of these either together or separate? what combo do you think would work best? is adding one or two dwarf angels just a bad idea at this time with my current stock list?