I stocked my display tank about 6 months ago including a powder blue tang. Its a fish I have always wanted and a fresh tank seemed the perfect opportunity to experiment with a potentially aggressive fish. The tank is only 100 gallons and I also have a desjardini tang and a blue hippo tang. To my delight, there has been no aggression between the three in the last half a year.
A friend of mine saw the powder blue in my tank and fell in love with the fish. He is asking me for advice about keeping one with his other fish because he knows how aggressive they can be. I want to tell him what I think helped me keep a peaceful tank so far but I want to confirm that it is good advice first.
I picked 3 tangs that were a different genus. I quarantined them together. Quarantine was heavily medicated so they were too stressed to harass each other but still shared the same space and became familiar. The tangs are all different sizes. 5 inch desjardini, 3.5 inch powder Blue, 2 inch Blue Hippo. I made the desjardini the largest because I have heard they are less likely to be aggressive compared to other tangs. Then the blue hippo and desjardini were added to the tank from quarantine a day before the powder blue. Even though my tank is small I bought three tangs instead of two because I believe it creates an opportunity to spread aggression between multiple fish instead of an intense one-one-one vendetta. Maybe this social dynamic and method of introduction helped?
I also designed the tank to be small while still providing activity and enrichment for the tangs. There is A LOT of flow in the tank. And also a lot of rockwork. The rockwork is full of holes and channels and outcroppings that break up lines of sight but don't obstruct a fish's ability to swim. The idea is that I have somewhat subsidized what I lack in raw tank space with a more elaborate and diverse landscape that has many different territories and landmarks so that the fish don't get bored or feel as trapped. My theory goes that a fish will be stressed if it doesn't have the room to exercise and/or if it feels trapped because it swims past the same landmarks every 3 seconds. I know there is no true substitute for a larger tank, but I think I have met the exercise requirements by having intense/diverse flow and no obstructions that force fish to slow down. And by having a large amount of rock with varied structures and landmarks I think I have made them feel less confined. I think of my tank layout like a racetrack with its curves, hills, and passages vs other tanks with open space that are like a drag strip. Anyway, I think this helps tang aggression because my tangs aren't restless from lack of exercise but also don't get the "zooms" that I often see in wide-open tanks, leading to near-collisions between fish, and often triggering moments of aggression. The broken lines of sight also help to help the tangs feel relief from the presence of the other tangs, give them places to hide/cool off, establish territory with clear boundaries, and avoid the scenario where the dominant fish spots a target from across the tank and charges. (see disclaimer at bottom)
Finally, rather than focussing on the powder blue, I have made the dominant desjardini tang my priority to regulate. The desjardini so easily dominates the tank because of its size, and intimidating tall fins, that my main concern is keeping her pacified (Her name is Padme because of the ridiculous face paint Natalie Portman wore in Star Wars). I feed heavily, which grows algae on the rocks (not enough that it really shows but most of the rockwork has a slight fuzziness to it). And Padme gets extra special treatment because she always steals at least one chunk of food off the tongs every time I feed my white ribbon eel. She's spoiled and happy and couldn't care less about bothering the other fish because there's no threat to her resources. But shes still the dominant fish in the tank. occasionally the powder blue will be swimming alongside the blue hippo and decide to chase it in circles for a few seconds. Almost always the powder blue will seemingly lose interest and suddenly notice a rock it wants to pick at, but when it doesn't, Padme is sure to arrive and break things up. She's an amazing peacekeeper. When she notices, she will calmy swim over, glide between the other two tangs, and hover there until they depart. My theory is that she needs to assert herself as the single aggressor in the tank. If another fish is allowed to think it can be a bully then it might get a fat head and believe it doesn't have to respect her authority. So to prevent that from happening Padme shuts down any fishes' opportunity to behave aggressively. Even though Padme herself has never even hurt a fly.
In all, so far everything is working out great between my fish. I monitor them closely because this is my first time having more than one tang in a tank. But everything is going great. The only time they squabble is when the lights go out and they briefly argue about who gets which sleeping spot that evening (it's like musical chairs every night hahah). I might have no idea what I'm doing and I just got lucky with my fishes' personalities. Or maybe I did something right just by chance. Either way I do want to see my friend have the same success I have been having (fingers crossed it stays that way) and these ideas are my best advice for what might help keep a peaceful tank even with a notoriously aggressive fish.
Please tear apart my theories by teaching me something I dont know instead of just saying Im just wrong. I think some of my ideas are pretty "original" so take them with a grain of salt. But please do consider if my reasoning has any merits. It seems too coincidental that things worked out for me that I could be wrong about all of my strategy. I was very deliberate and I did get the results I was looking for after all. Anyways, based on the comments I will pass on what I learn or confirm to my friend. Thanks in advance for any feedback (and also for reading this far).
**Disclaimer** Some may not agree about the tangs I have, at the sizes they are, being housed in a tank as small as mine. Their behavior and health have been exemplary so far and I do not believe they are being mistreated. That being said, I do not plan on keeping these tangs in my tank permanently. I have made arrangements for the desjardini to go to another friend and the powder blue to be taken in by my LFS when I decide they have grown too large. The Hippo will, of course, outgrow the tank as well. But I have not finalized plans for it yet and I may upgrade before I feel it needs more space.
A friend of mine saw the powder blue in my tank and fell in love with the fish. He is asking me for advice about keeping one with his other fish because he knows how aggressive they can be. I want to tell him what I think helped me keep a peaceful tank so far but I want to confirm that it is good advice first.
I picked 3 tangs that were a different genus. I quarantined them together. Quarantine was heavily medicated so they were too stressed to harass each other but still shared the same space and became familiar. The tangs are all different sizes. 5 inch desjardini, 3.5 inch powder Blue, 2 inch Blue Hippo. I made the desjardini the largest because I have heard they are less likely to be aggressive compared to other tangs. Then the blue hippo and desjardini were added to the tank from quarantine a day before the powder blue. Even though my tank is small I bought three tangs instead of two because I believe it creates an opportunity to spread aggression between multiple fish instead of an intense one-one-one vendetta. Maybe this social dynamic and method of introduction helped?
I also designed the tank to be small while still providing activity and enrichment for the tangs. There is A LOT of flow in the tank. And also a lot of rockwork. The rockwork is full of holes and channels and outcroppings that break up lines of sight but don't obstruct a fish's ability to swim. The idea is that I have somewhat subsidized what I lack in raw tank space with a more elaborate and diverse landscape that has many different territories and landmarks so that the fish don't get bored or feel as trapped. My theory goes that a fish will be stressed if it doesn't have the room to exercise and/or if it feels trapped because it swims past the same landmarks every 3 seconds. I know there is no true substitute for a larger tank, but I think I have met the exercise requirements by having intense/diverse flow and no obstructions that force fish to slow down. And by having a large amount of rock with varied structures and landmarks I think I have made them feel less confined. I think of my tank layout like a racetrack with its curves, hills, and passages vs other tanks with open space that are like a drag strip. Anyway, I think this helps tang aggression because my tangs aren't restless from lack of exercise but also don't get the "zooms" that I often see in wide-open tanks, leading to near-collisions between fish, and often triggering moments of aggression. The broken lines of sight also help to help the tangs feel relief from the presence of the other tangs, give them places to hide/cool off, establish territory with clear boundaries, and avoid the scenario where the dominant fish spots a target from across the tank and charges. (see disclaimer at bottom)
Finally, rather than focussing on the powder blue, I have made the dominant desjardini tang my priority to regulate. The desjardini so easily dominates the tank because of its size, and intimidating tall fins, that my main concern is keeping her pacified (Her name is Padme because of the ridiculous face paint Natalie Portman wore in Star Wars). I feed heavily, which grows algae on the rocks (not enough that it really shows but most of the rockwork has a slight fuzziness to it). And Padme gets extra special treatment because she always steals at least one chunk of food off the tongs every time I feed my white ribbon eel. She's spoiled and happy and couldn't care less about bothering the other fish because there's no threat to her resources. But shes still the dominant fish in the tank. occasionally the powder blue will be swimming alongside the blue hippo and decide to chase it in circles for a few seconds. Almost always the powder blue will seemingly lose interest and suddenly notice a rock it wants to pick at, but when it doesn't, Padme is sure to arrive and break things up. She's an amazing peacekeeper. When she notices, she will calmy swim over, glide between the other two tangs, and hover there until they depart. My theory is that she needs to assert herself as the single aggressor in the tank. If another fish is allowed to think it can be a bully then it might get a fat head and believe it doesn't have to respect her authority. So to prevent that from happening Padme shuts down any fishes' opportunity to behave aggressively. Even though Padme herself has never even hurt a fly.
In all, so far everything is working out great between my fish. I monitor them closely because this is my first time having more than one tang in a tank. But everything is going great. The only time they squabble is when the lights go out and they briefly argue about who gets which sleeping spot that evening (it's like musical chairs every night hahah). I might have no idea what I'm doing and I just got lucky with my fishes' personalities. Or maybe I did something right just by chance. Either way I do want to see my friend have the same success I have been having (fingers crossed it stays that way) and these ideas are my best advice for what might help keep a peaceful tank even with a notoriously aggressive fish.
Please tear apart my theories by teaching me something I dont know instead of just saying Im just wrong. I think some of my ideas are pretty "original" so take them with a grain of salt. But please do consider if my reasoning has any merits. It seems too coincidental that things worked out for me that I could be wrong about all of my strategy. I was very deliberate and I did get the results I was looking for after all. Anyways, based on the comments I will pass on what I learn or confirm to my friend. Thanks in advance for any feedback (and also for reading this far).
**Disclaimer** Some may not agree about the tangs I have, at the sizes they are, being housed in a tank as small as mine. Their behavior and health have been exemplary so far and I do not believe they are being mistreated. That being said, I do not plan on keeping these tangs in my tank permanently. I have made arrangements for the desjardini to go to another friend and the powder blue to be taken in by my LFS when I decide they have grown too large. The Hippo will, of course, outgrow the tank as well. But I have not finalized plans for it yet and I may upgrade before I feel it needs more space.
