Mixing tangs, 1 from every genus?

[David Halderman]

I'm about 50% of the way into my new tank build. Rocks already cooking in heated trough in the garage for a month so far.
Will be a 160gal tank, 54"X28"X24" (LXWXH). This will upgrade from my current 70gal of 5 years.
Regarding mixing of tangs and aggression towards each other, if my plan is 1 from every family, 1 Zebrasoma, 1 Acanthurus, and 1 Ctenochaetus, should I still expect the same difficulties or can I count on a little improvement if I make sure they are all different like that? More specifically, 1 yellow tang(already owned), 1 Achilles, and 1 white tail tang. Those will be the 3 biggest fish in the tank. The rest will be a mixture of other smaller fish (clown/chromis/gobies/anthias/wrasse etc)

 

[polyppal]

sounds possible, sometimes they just defy the norms and fight anyways though. Id expect a little aggression, esp at first - but see how it develops longer term

 

[vetteguy53081]

Having 18 tangs, you want to avoid that plan
Clown and sohol tang alone will reap havoc.
many are territorial and try to own a bit of real estate within the tank

 

[jda]

In general, I find that most of the advice about tangs is wrong. If you give them plenty of room in a MATURE tank, plenty of places to actually hide (not arches and caves, but rather just piled up rock where they can completely escape) and feed them very well, then they are mostly well behaved, not aggressive and good tank mates.

There are a few kinds to avoided and you will need a plan to rehome them when some kinds get too big. I would avoid clown, sohal and achilles. Chocolate Mimic is a well-behaved beauty that is often overlooked.

 

[nereefpat]

I do find that the less alike 2 tangs are, that's better for everyone. Sometimes an individual can be really mean, and some species are worse than others in terms of aggression, and some need really big tanks.

I wouldn't try an Achilles unless I had a much bigger tank.

The yellow and white tail should mix okay. I like to propose foxfaces (there are several species, maybe a magnificent or bicolor might be a nice color mixture ) as a third 'tang'.

 

[vetteguy53081]

In general, I find that most of the advice about tangs is wrong. If you give them plenty of room in a MATURE tank, plenty of places to actually hide (not arches and caves, but rather just piled up rock where they can completely escape) and feed them very well, then they are mostly well behaved, not aggressive and good tank mates.

There are a few kinds to avoided and you will need a plan to rehome them when some kinds get too big. I would avoid clown, sohal and achilles. Chocolate Mimic is a well-behaved beauty that is often overlooked.

Food does not change a fishs' behavior - just keeps them occupied until it is gone.
I am an example and agree with you on number of tangs in a tank- Manage water quality and diet and they will thrive just fine.
I dont provide a whole lot of hiding spots other than rock piles and they manage just well. They squabble occasionally but do not fight. Cant remember the last time I had a tang with torn fin/tail
We cant train or convince everyone to set up a Tang-specific landscape and offer them best advice

 

[jda]

I do not agree at all. Underfed fish have a tendency to be more aggressive and bad tank mates. So do fish that are misfed - for example, the people who only used to feed their tanks romaine and broccoli (olden days). If you are feeding a tang enough that it is growing, then it is probably not going to be wanting for food.

I have always thought of tangs like the idiots on a reality TV show. Probably good people for the most part when their needs are met with adequate shelter, downtime, food, etc. but stimulate them like crazy, never leave them alone and starve them and they turn into knuckleheads. Lots of fish are this way, IMO.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I do not agree at all. Underfed fish have a tendency to be more aggressive and bad tank mates. So do fish that are misfed - for example, the people who only used to feed their tanks romaine and broccoli (olden days). If you are feeding a tang enough that it is growing, then it is probably not going to be wanting for food.

I have always thought of tangs like the idiots on a reality TV show. Probably good people for the most part when their needs are met with adequate shelter, downtime, food, etc. but stimulate them like crazy, never leave them alone and starve them and they turn into knuckleheads. Lots of fish are this way, IMO.

Underfed ? I stated managed diet. I have 18 and they get their 2 feedings per day plus the little than comes from APEX AFS feeder while im gone.
I feed at minimum:
-Spirulina brine shrimp
- LRS Herbivore diet
- mysis shrimp
- small plankton
- Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
- Hikari Marine cuisine
- Formula 2 flake and frozen
- Hikari veggie marine

 

[jda]

If you don't think that food changes their behavior, then feed them less and see how nasty they get. I was not implying that you did not feed yours enough, only that I disagreed with the assertion that food does not change their behavior.

I think that the main problem with tangs is that people, in general, don't feed them enough or don't let them get away and hide. I have had clown tangs that stayed nice the whole time that I had them, but they also get auto fed NLS pellets 4x per day, plus frozen and had places to hide - they also grow like crazy and need moved onto larger homes in less than 2 years when they go from 2 inches to 7. I have not had a shoal in a while.

With food, the bottom line is that if your tangs are not growing, at least until they reach full-ish size, then you are not feeding them enough. They behave better if they are well fed. They also eat less coral - tangs are not all that coral safe, especially as they grow. IME, sailfins, blacks are among the worst at eating coral as they get larger. I have had no issues with my yellow and purple and they have been with me longer than one of my kids, who is going to college in the fall. I have a chocolate that likes to eat the slime coat off of SPS and will eat fleshy LPS a bit, but not enough to really make me want to catch it. I have another chocolate in another tank that picks at nothing, but it has been with me about a year and not seven or eight years.

They are also not herbivores, they are omnivores and need some meat in their diets or will need some vitamin A and E along with some fatty acids. Nori alone is not usually enough. Some tangs are flat-out planktivores eating from the water column almost exclusively.

 

[David Halderman]

Having 18 tangs, you want to avoid that plan
Clown and sohol tang alone will reap havoc.
many are territorial and try to own a bit of real estate within the tank

Hello vetteguy, that is a lot of tangs and a lot of tang experience. Glad you answered my thread. The couple issues I have is that you said the plan wouldn’t work, but could you explain why? I press because if you have 18 then you’re doing it quite successfully. For 3 tangs in my tank is roughly 1 tang per 50 gallons. In order for yours to be less crowded than mine your tank must be around 900 gallons? I know that is not the 1 and only metric and there is many variables, but it’s not nothing either. Is it simply 3 tangs in a 160 gal that you think won’t work? I’m going to reply to more of the comments when I get home but I’m skimming through them right now and it seems like if there is an issue most people think the Achilles is the issue. Is this what you had in mind also? The Acanthurus is probably my favorite group of reef tank fish commonly seen so I’d love to have one. Any alternative from that family if the Achilles seems to risky?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello vetteguy, that is a lot of tangs and a lot of tang experience. Glad you answered my thread. The couple issues I have is that you said the plan wouldn’t work, but could you explain why? I press because if you have 18 then you’re doing it quite successfully. For 3 tangs in my tank is roughly 1 tang per 50 gallons. In order for yours to be less crowded than mine your tank must be around 900 gallons? I know that is not the 1 and only metric and there is many variables, but it’s not nothing either. Is it simply 3 tangs in a 160 gal that you think won’t work? I’m going to reply to more of the comments when I get home but I’m skimming through them right now and it seems like if there is an issue most people think the Achilles is the issue. Is this what you had in mind also? The Acanthurus is probably my favorite group of reef tank fish commonly seen so I’d love to have one. Any alternative from that family if the Achilles seems to risky?

Oh my Goodness. You meant one of each grouping. I thought you meant one of EVERY Tang and was thinking you must have quite the gallonage. . LOL
Of course you can mix those three. Place the least aggressive first.

 

[SmCaudata]

Hello vetteguy, that is a lot of tangs and a lot of tang experience. Glad you answered my thread. The couple issues I have is that you said the plan wouldn’t work, but could you explain why? I press because if you have 18 then you’re doing it quite successfully. For 3 tangs in my tank is roughly 1 tang per 50 gallons. In order for yours to be less crowded than mine your tank must be around 900 gallons? I know that is not the 1 and only metric and there is many variables, but it’s not nothing either. Is it simply 3 tangs in a 160 gal that you think won’t work? I’m going to reply to more of the comments when I get home but I’m skimming through them right now and it seems like if there is an issue most people think the Achilles is the issue. Is this what you had in mind also? The Acanthurus is probably my favorite group of reef tank fish commonly seen so I’d love to have one. Any alternative from that family if the Achilles seems to risky?

I've seen people say the orange shoulder and convict are less agressive Acanthurus tangs. Earlier in the thread someone mentioned the mimic tang as well.

 

[Gtinnel]

Are you planning on keeping one from every genus or just one from those 3 genera. There are actually 6 genera, although I don't think one of them has any common aquarium fish.

 

[J1a]

Food does not change a fishs' behavior - just keeps them occupied until it is gone.
I am an example and agree with you on number of tangs in a tank- Manage water quality and diet and they will thrive just fine.
I dont provide a whole lot of hiding spots other than rock piles and they manage just well. They squabble occasionally but do not fight. Cant remember the last time I had a tang with torn fin/tail
We cant train or convince everyone to set up a Tang-specific landscape and offer them best advice

I would say lack of suitable food can confer undesirable behavior from fishes.

 

[David Halderman]

Oh my Goodness. You meant one of each grouping. I thought you meant one of EVERY Tang and was thinking you must have quite the gallonage. . LOL
Of course you can mix those three. Place the least aggressive first.

Yeah my bad maybe my original post was worded poorly. Three tangs total. 1 zebrasoma, 1 acanthurus, and 1 ctenochaetus. My tank will be 160 gallons, as far as tangs go I was hoping 3 would be doable in that space.

 

[David Halderman]

Are you planning on keeping one from every genus or just one from those 3 genera. There are actually 6 genera, although I don't think one of them has any common aquarium fish.

3 tangs total in 160 gallons.

 

[i cant think]

Are you planning on keeping one from every genus or just one from those 3 genera. There are actually 6 genera, although I don't think one of them has any common aquarium fish.

If you mean Prionurus, you will be correct with “not common” but I have seen those guys imported - Actually my LFS had one last time I went.

all in all to the OP, I just wish you luck. Achilles are nightmares with aggression IME, definitely in the top 5 with the Sohal and Clowns.

 

[ZoWhat]

 

[David Halderman]

If you mean Prionurus, you will be correct with “not common” but I have seen those guys imported - Actually my LFS had one last time I went.

all in all to the OP, I just wish you luck. Achilles are nightmares with aggression IME, definitely in the top 5 with the Sohal and Clowns.

In your experience that Achilles aggression is indiscriminate against any and all tangs or worse against Acanthurus like other Achilles, powder blue and powder browns?

 

[i cant think]

In your experience that Achilles aggression is indiscriminate against any and all tangs or worse against Acanthurus like other Achilles, powder blue and powder browns?

It’s SO much worse with Acanthurus tangs but oh my god, it’s hell with any tang.