what size tank do you need for (2) Powder tangs?

be careful... i personally wouldnt do it... your asking for one to kill the other and take some damage in the meantime... do as you would like, and GL
 
I currently have a powder blue and a powder brown and a yellow in qt eighty now. it's a 55 gallon and so far not much aggression and it's been 3 weeks. They seem to established their pecking orders already. I will be introducing them with a purple and a small sohal this weekend. Wish me luck.

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be careful... i personally wouldnt do it... your asking for one to kill the other and take some damage in the meantime... do as you would like, and GL

This is why I suggested the large qt with smaller tanks available for use if agression broke out. A $75 20 gal setup goes a long way when your talking about some fish that cost around $50-200!
 
I've got an achilles, 2 blues (yellow belly and regular blue), a mimic and a purple tang that all get along even though they weren't added at the same time in my 180. I would think it would depend on the individual fish since it took me a while to get to this combo, but they are all buds and swim back and forth with each other. Of the bunch the purple is the meanest of my group.
 
you could go to liveaquaria.com to see tank requirements. All those tangs kinda are similar shaped, which could be trouble. If youre gonna tempt fate, make sure you introduce them all at the same time. I'm sure the Tang Police here will advice you not to mix them up :)
I don't understand why anyone recommends going to the point of purchase for advice for tank sizes. This is not good advice. Live aquaria is a great company to buy fish from and probably have the best reputation of any online supplier, but some of their tank size recommendations look like they asked the Ouija board.
 
I don't understand why anyone recommends going to the point of purchase for advice for tank sizes. This is not good advice. Live aquaria is a great company to buy fish from and probably have the best reputation of any online supplier, but some of their tank size recommendations look like they asked the Ouija board.

agreed, always best to look to experienced, rational minded fellow hobbyist for their suggestions based on their own experiences and observations... in conjunction with behavior amongst fellow tank mates and solo behaviors in how they act within the size of the captive enviroment... the place that sells them, will always under state the suggested size to open up the market for themselves and the potential of the sale... jmho
 
One thing that can help is to add the tangs at the same time and if you have one already change the aquascape so it looses it's territory
 
One thing that can help is to add the tangs at the same time and if you have one already change the aquascape so it looses it's territory


This is not true. The tank would have to be thousands of gallons for this to be possible. If the tang has any sort of aggression which 80% will have towards another tang; the current tang owns the tank and any newcomer(s) will have to be submissive to that dominant fish. No matter what the rocks look like.

I've kept over 6 different types of tangs together no problem (well they didn't kill each other) all were adults. They were from different species and were added in a preplanned order.
 
wow, so 3 could be better than 2? That is music to my ears, I must say...I love these 3 fish...:)

The "could be" is the key phrase. IMO & IME ; keeping 3 tangs of this genus isn't any more dangerous than 2 (and even 2 can be a problem). Of course ; plenty of space and hiding spots are essential.
 
Bruce mine's a 150gallon but it's 7 foot long tank so length wise it's long length wise for the tangs to swim around. I had to take out the very large sailfin i had when i introduced the sohal a few weeks ago. The purple went at the sohal for about a day and they are now good buddies. I will see how these two guys handle the 3 new tangs in QT right now. I will be introducing them this weekend. My blonde Naso never bother the sohal when he was introduce. I guess the Blonde is a lot more timid than the purple.
 
Bruce mine's a 150gallon but it's 7 foot long tank so length wise it's long length wise for the tangs to swim around. I had to take out the very large sailfin i had when i introduced the sohal a few weeks ago. The purple went at the sohal for about a day and they are now good buddies. I will see how these two guys handle the 3 new tangs in QT right now. I will be introducing them this weekend. My blonde Naso never bother the sohal when he was introduce. I guess the Blonde is a lot more timid than the purple.


Okay back the tang truck up! You have a naso, purple and sohal tang in a 150. AND your adding 3 more!! Well that's not going to last more than 6 months!! It's people like you who have given others hope and ultimatly lead to more and future failures. You should not be giving any advice you should be seaking some! Unless the 150 is a grow out and you have a 1000gal tank your not metioning.
 
I don't understand why anyone recommends going to the point of purchase for advice for tank sizes. This is not good advice. Live aquaria is a great company to buy fish from and probably have the best reputation of any online supplier, but some of their tank size recommendations look like they asked the Ouija board.

I pretty much agree; but LA has done a lot of upping min tank sizes during the last several months. I think most LA minimums are at least within the realm of possibility. They now say min for an Emperor Angel is 220 and a major competitor says 100. La min for a Regal (Hippo) tang is now 180, another site has 75. Kevin Kohen is responsible for these changes; which will probably result in lower sales. (Maybe not, most people tend to buy what they want anyway with plans to "upgrade")
 
Okay back the tang truck up! You have a naso, purple and sohal tang in a 150. AND your adding 3 more!! Well that's not going to last more than 6 months!! It's people like you who have given others hope and ultimatly lead to more and future failures. You should not be giving any advice you should be seaking some! Unless the 150 is a grow out and you have a 1000gal tank your not metioning.

I really should read entire threads sometimes. Six of any tangs in a 150 is beyond what even the Tang Police could handle. Chances are, the Sohal is going postal sooner or later, they hate conditions like that. The Sohal will become the Alpha fish and they don't like ANY other fish; a grown Sohal will, almost certainly kill any other Acanthurus tangs and go from there. If he's still peaceful in a 150, I assume he's still quite small. Keeping these 6 tangs really should require a "Do not try this at home!" disclaimer.
 
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I really should read entire threads sometimes. Six of any tangs in a 150 is beyond what even the Tang Police could handle. Chances are, the Sohal is going postal sooner or later, they hate conditions like that. The Sohal will become the Alpha fish and they don't like ANY other fish; a grown Sohal will, almost certainly kill any other Acanthurus tangs and go from there. If he's still peaceful in a 150, I assume he's still quite small. Keeping these 6 tangs really should require a "Do not try this at home!" disclaimer.



The OP desnt have a sohal. That's another member.
 
I pretty much agree; but LA has done a lot of upping min tank sizes during the last several months. I think most LA minimums are at least within the realm of possibility. They now say min for an Emperor Angel is 220 and a major competitor says 100. La min for a Regal (Hippo) tang is now 180, another site has 75. Kevin Kohen is responsible for these changes; which will probably result in lower sales. (Maybe not, most people tend to buy what they want anyway with plans to "upgrade")
I know they try pretty hard, but they recommend a 30 tank for mandarins and then provide a link for bottled pods. Don't even get me started about how they mysteriously recommend a 30g tank for bicolor angels - a fish that, if it were to live, reaches 6 inches - one of the biggest dwarf angels of all. Yet somehow they give 7 inch Singapore angels 120g and call them "difficult". They are a little shy initially, but what's really difficult is finding a healthy one.

They have a lot a good info mixed in with a lot of wrong info. How is a new hobbyist supposed to work with that? People see some very good, correct info on there and then jump to the conclusion that it's all good.
 
I know they try pretty hard, but they recommend a 30 tank for mandarins and then provide a link for bottled pods. Don't even get me started about how they mysteriously recommend a 30g tank for bicolor angels - a fish that, if it were to live, reaches 6 inches - one of the biggest dwarf angels of all. Yet somehow they give 7 inch Singapore angels 120g and call them "difficult". They are a little shy initially, but what's really difficult is finding a healthy one.

They have a lot a good info mixed in with a lot of wrong info. How is a new hobbyist supposed to work with that? People see some very good, correct info on there and then jump to the conclusion that it's all good.

I guess I didn't look hard enough; and F&S still sells "reef-safe" ich cures. I guess there is always a conflict between being totally responsible and giving the public what they want. I see they're shipping Figi Bi-colors now; they should do fairly well. I've always thought origin had a lot to to with success of these fish. I agree, 30 gal is way too small and they have the fish care labeled "moderate' I'd think "expert" or "difficult would be more appropriate. At least they're changing in the right direction. But the bottom line should always be "do some research".
 
Look i am not giving him any advice i am just telling him that is what i am doing. Some people may say what I'm doing is wrong but i want to see if it's doable. First sign of any aggression i will be removing them. Just my 2 cent.
 
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