Which Tang

[edwar050]

120 with two seio 1500's, MH+VHO - Valentini Puffer, Chromis, Green Mandarin, Purple Firefish, and Bi-Color Blenny "all are small".
Would like to add 3 anthias, midas blenny possibly or jawfish, and a center piece tang. Leaning towards achilles and picking up a smaller one. Any advice on which sizes to choose from to select best health?

Regal?
Powder Blue?
Achilles?
White Cheek?

Which tang is less likely to be an ich magnet? Any aggressive nature at all with tangs, this will be my first experience keeping one and this will be kicking off my in depth research of each species before making my selection. Any Advice as to quarantining tangs?

 

[pecaco34]

hate to say it but none of these have the greatest track record. The white cheek may be your best bet. The powder blue can be an ich magnet and would probably be the most aggressive of the four. I will never attempt to to keep a regal tang again, i'll just leave it at that and the Achilles are finicky eaters and do not ship well. If you can find a healthy achilles that is eating than you might try it.

 

[15nano]

I am a big fan of the regal tangs i have 2 of them together in my tank along with a Desjardini, orange shoulder, and a yellow. there is no agression at between any of them. The regals have been in there the longest i only had a minor ich outbreak in the begining.

 

[NexDog]

Out of those - the Regal (or Blue) Tang. But IMO they'll still outgrow a 120. Ich can be easily cured by quarantining the fish before introducing into your display. But you might want to consider a tang in either the Zebrasoma (Yellow, Purple, Sailfin etc) or Ctenochaetus (Kole, Chevron etc) genus rather than an active Acanthurus.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Get a Tomini/Bristletooth/Yellowfin/FlameFin tang

 

[edwar050]

I was thinking for what I wanted the regal (blue) tang would be my first choice. I have always liked the powder blue's but as pecaco34 stated they tend to be ich magnets and I would hate for the fish I already have to get ich. If I could do it over I would have gotten a small tang first. If I get a tang it won't be for at least a month or two.

NexDog, thanks for the comment about all of my choices outgrowing the 120. That backed up my thought entirely. What I plan on doing is upgrading in about 5 years and adding a tang thats 2 or so inches. That way it will be easier to quarantine and buy it at cheaper cost.

psion, I will defenatly check into the tangs you've listed. For an strange reason I really don't like many of the Zebrasoma tangs. Salifins are pretty cool but many of the ones I could get locally are far to large already. I think after some further researching I may end up gowing with a ctenochaetus species as I hear they are great algae grazers. It is ironic how some people seem to do very well with tangs and controlling ich while others have constant heavy outbreaks.

 

[edwar050]

What about a Harlequin Tusk fish for a center piece fish?

 

[pecaco34]

That's a great fish to have as a centerpiece as long as you don't mind him eating snails, crabs, and shrimp. The buying small and letting them grow out doesn't really work for tangs. They seem to grow much faster than most fish. I've had two tangs that have gone from 50 cent piece sized to about 5 inches in less than a year's time. Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis (Chevron) and Ctenochaetus sp. (orange line).

 

[falconut]

I had a Regal and I couldn't get it to stop getting marine velvet, but my friend has had one for almost two years and never had a problem. If you got one I would definitely get it small (they grow very quickly) and definitely quarantine it.

The white check maybe a very difficult one depending on which fish you're actually talking about. I forget which is which, but the Powder Browns or White Check, one is easier than the other. The one that has the white spot from the eye to the mouth is the easier of the two. The one that only has a small spot under the eye is supposedly very difficult to keep. If you're considering one I would research this to make sure you get the better of the two.

There is also the Atlantic Blue Tang which starts off yellow and turns blue as it gets larger. I believe they are hardier, like the Purple, Yellow and Sailfin Tangs. HTH

 

[palmer59]

How about a Tomini Tang?

Mike

 

[edwar050]

After a ton of research and as much as I really love tangs I have decided to wait and go with a harder species of tang to keep when I have a more dedicated long 6foot plus SPS tank. I also have to many fish that I would hate risking ich on or any aggression such as B&W clowns. My tank is set up much moreso for a tusk than a tang as the 120 is boxy and my aquacaping open yet set for smaller, less fast swimming fish. This would lead me to a zebrasum tang "mispelled" but I am really looking for more of a centerpiece fish that I can keep for a long time, hence the tusk. I have heard of some tusks being mobile invert safe. I was looking back through TOTM and looking for what I believed to be a tank with a mobileinvert safe tusk. Any advice on choosing a tusk thats more likely to be mobile invert safe?

TIA,

Brad

 

[pecaco34]

Really you just have to get lucky, it's all individually variable. If you want to keep cleaner shrimps make sure they are already established in the tank and buy a smaller tusk, this worked for my bluejaw trigger. I used to have an eel that adopted a previously existing blood cleaner as his buddy but would instantly devour any cleaner added afterwards. If you're really looking for a centerpiece try to go with the Australian tusk. A bit more pricey but they are usually so much more vibrant in color.

 

[edwar050]

pecaco34,

Thanks for the great advice on the Australian Tusk. I totally agree with you on the better colors for a little more on price. I have got my total stocking list now for the 120.

Already have:
Valentini Puffer
Chromis
Bi-Color Blenny
Mandarin
Purple Firefish
B&W A. OcellarisX2
Planning on getting:
Coral Beauty, unless it nips at corals
lyretail anthia, just one two automatic feeders feed 4 times a day "small quantities"
Pearly Jawfish, just unsure of compatability between it and bicolor
and the Australian Tusk at 2 to 3 inches.
How does the list sound to you guys?
It would be a total of 11 fish, only one of those, the tusk would get any considerable size. If my tank progressed and pod population stays high I may eventually get another mandarin especially if I upgrade. Thanks again all,

Brad

 

[Fishfirst]

to tell you the truth I think youre completely stocked with what youve already got.

 

[edwar050]

I only have 12 inches of fish now in 150 gallons of water. Even 1 inch per 5 gallons is only 60. The tanks almost lifeless becasue all of my fish are juvies. Even when full grown I will only be pushing about 25 inches with full stocking coming out to be near 125.

All I want to add is a tusk which does get large, an anthia, a pearly jawfish, and a coral beauty. Factor those in at full lenght, 10 tusk, 4 anthia, 3 jawfish, 4 beauty and you got 46 inches in lenghts which comes out to be 230 gallons of water. The only problem with that is that the chromis, bi-color, mandarin, firefish, and clowns stay relatively small for a long time and have really small bodies. Even the 1 to 5 rule does not hold up any more. I have adequate filtration and will most likely upgrade tanks in the future. I also have a 12 nano quarantine temp tank, a 10 gallon official quarantine, and a 8 gallon fry tank.

Anybody have a tusk that eats fish? Some sites say that they may do it once larger. I was wondering if that geared towards a large tusk that was added or smaller ones that grew up in the tank with previously stocked fish.