Clown tang or Sohal tang as only tang in a 360 gallon?

Seancj

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I have a 360 gallon, 8'x3'x2'tall, reef. I know that both of these species are considered very aggressive and a lot of people regret putting them in their tanks. However, this would be the only tang in my tank. I prefer smaller reef fish like damsels, fairy wrasses, clowns, chromis, dwarf angels, anything that will do well with my large anemone collection. However, I am looking for a single 'show' fish, ie something large and colorful, reef safe, and has some utility to it.
My question is, if I decide on either of these tangs, as they mature, would they likely become aggressive towards these smaller reef fish and ruin the harmony of my reef?
Or, is most of their aggression towards other tangs and other algae grazing species like rabbitfish or foxface?
Thanks for the advice!
 

toi_ss

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The sohal will likely be meaner than the clown tang but will be most likely easier to keep. I think both of those fish will mostly just be aggressive towards algae grazers like the ones you mentioned. Person I know from facebook here has had both a sohal and clown tang at different times, both would attack him and leave him with cuts and lacerations occasionally from working in the tank.
 

AKReefing

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I have a 6' 275G with a clown tang, naso and a large orange spot rabbitfish, among a few other smaller fish. They've been together for about a year and I haven't seen any sign of aggression with any of them. The three big fish actually hang around together.

I also have two aiptasia eating filefish, three pajama cardinals and a bicolor angel.
 
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Seancj

Seancj

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Person I know from facebook here has had both a sohal and clown tang at different times, both would attack him and leave him with cuts and lacerations occasionally from working in the tank.
:oops: That won't work. Cleaning this big tank takes forever, so my arm is in the tank a lot!
 

Thomashtom

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I had a Sohal in a 500 for years till it got about 8 inches and started killing fish. Never attacked me during cleaning though.
 

AKReefing

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I hate those warnings from sites like Live Aquaria that say, "Reef safe: with caution". What the h*** does that mean?

It's always a crap shoot. You could get a good one, or a bad one. Your tank. Just read a lot. Maybe look for videos showing aggression.
 
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Seancj

Seancj

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I hate those warnings from sites like Live Aquaria that say, "Reef safe: with caution". What the h*** does that mean?

It's always a crap shoot. You could get a good one, or a bad one. Your tank. Just read a lot. Maybe look for videos showing aggression.
I understand that it could be a roll of the dice, however, generally speaking, most agree that these two tangs are at the top of the aggression list. But, I think that aggression mostly appears directed towards other tangs and larger fish. All the videos and I have seen show aggression towards other tangs. Most experiences that people share here on R2R with these species also appear to be centered towards other tangs or other large algae grazers.
I was curious if others have seen significant aggression towards smaller reef fish like those I listed above.
 

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