Would it be possable to keep a small school of atlantic blue tangs?

[randomfishdude]

Hey all.
I was wondering if it was possable for me to keep a school of atlantic blue tangs when I upgrade(again).
This summer I'm going to be moving to anew house and going to get a large aqurium.
The plan so far I belive (possably going to change) is for it to be around 10 feet long +/- ... maybe 3 or 4 feet in deep and 30 inches tall.
This could completely change and it could be bigger.
But is it possable for me to keep a small school of them maybe 5 or 6?
The only other tangs that I know of would be my 2 current tangs (if they survive the ich) which are a sailfin and a tomie tang both about 4 inches.

I fell in love with theese guys when I went to aruba during the summer and saw several schools of them along with big lone fish while diving. I also loved how they changed from a dark blue to a white with blue highlights.

Also is it possable for them to breed? I assume they would just eat the young but they are often captive bread.

 

[Homewrecker]

These fish are extremely aggressive. I don't think they'll do well longterm in that size aquarium

 

[littlefoxx]

@vetteguy53081 has 25 tangs in his tank, he is a great person to ask!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all.
I was wondering if it was possable for me to keep a school of atlantic blue tangs when I upgrade(again).
This summer I'm going to be moving to anew house and going to get a large aqurium.
The plan so far I belive (possably going to change) is for it to be around 10 feet long +/- ... maybe 3 or 4 feet in deep and 30 inches tall.
This could completely change and it could be bigger.
But is it possable for me to keep a small school of them maybe 5 or 6?
The only other tangs that I know of would be my 2 current tangs (if they survive the ich) which are a sailfin and a tomie tang both about 4 inches.

I fell in love with theese guys when I went to aruba during the summer and saw several schools of them along with big lone fish while diving. I also loved how they changed from a dark blue to a white with blue highlights.

Also is it possable for them to breed? I assume they would just eat the young but they are often captive bread.

Atlantics get large but often with groups/schools, stock in odd number. .. 3, 5, 7 and so forth.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

But is it possable for me to keep a small school of them maybe 5 or 6?

Maybe; I know some people keep schools/shoals of yellow tangs, and some keep small groups (pairs or trios) of other species like Pacific Blue Tangs, Purple Tangs, etc. - the info in the quote below may help with schooling:

My understanding is that keeping a large school can theoretically work, but - as mentioned above - there are a number of things to keep in mind with schooling:

- The number of schooling fish in the tank (I've heard odd numbers are preferred, and the preferred number of fish that I've seen seems to be 9 to 11 at a minimum; the more fish, the more diluted the aggression is between them)

- The size of the tank (for quality of life purposes for your fish, bigger is better - yes, some animals will be calm when shoved into tiny spaces with large numbers of conspecifics where if there was just one or two conspecifics, it would be a deathmatch, but they obviously wouldn't be happy in that situation long-term)

- The amount fed, the quality of the feed, and the frequency of feedings (basically more food = less aggression; and better food = better health = happier, less aggressive fish [theoretically])

- Tankmates (big, scary tankmates that the schooling fish could view as a threat may act as an outside force that keeps the schooling fish focused on not getting killed rather than on fighting amongst themselves)

- The scape of the tank (lots of fish need lots of places to hide/sleep - the more hiding places, the safer the fish feel; line-of-sight-breaks can also help with feeling safe)

That's all I've got for the moment (and pretty much all of it has been mentioned above), but basically - to my understanding - it's a balance of making the fish feel threatened enough by external sources to prevent infighting while also making them feel safe enough (largely through their numbers, the tank's scape, and food security) to not be too stressed. If you're able to strike that balance, you should be able to see schooling behavior (to the best of my current understanding).

Also is it possable for them to breed? I assume they would just eat the young but they are often captive bread.

Again, maybe - people have occasionally had tangs spawn in their tanks (though it's definitely not common). The pelagic eggs/larvae wouldn't survive in a normal tank, though, and tangs are notoriously difficult to breed/rear (it's possible with proper care for both the parents and the young though).

To clarify here, are you sure you mean Atlantic Blue Tangs when you say they're often captive bred? I'll check a few more sources tomorrow, but I don't recall seeing Atlantic Blue Tangs (Acanthurus coeruleus) captive bred at all - Pacific Blue Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus), yes, but not Atlantic Blue.

 

[randomfishdude]

Maybe; I know some people keep schools/shoals of yellow tangs, and some keep small groups (pairs or trios) of other species like Pacific Blue Tangs, Purple Tangs, etc. - the info in the quote below may help with schooling:


Again, maybe - people have occasionally had tangs spawn in their tanks (though it's definitely not common). The pelagic eggs/larvae wouldn't survive in a normal tank, though, and tangs are notoriously difficult to breed/rear (it's possible with proper care for both the parents and the young though).

To clarify here, are you sure you mean Atlantic Blue Tangs when you say they're often captive bred? I'll check a few more sources tomorrow, but I don't recall seeing Atlantic Blue Tangs (Acanthurus coeruleus) captive bred at all - Pacific Blue Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus), yes, but not Atlantic Blue.

Alright.
I've seen one maybe 2 places that has captive bread them. I do not remember where that was though.
They would also all be qt'd in the same tank as long as added at sane time.

 

[RJT]

From my experience with a couple of Atlantic blue tangs at different times and sizes, they are consistently extremely aggressive once they get established. Not sure if you will be able to add fish their size or smaller afterwards regardless of type of fish.

 

[randomfishdude]

From my experience with a couple of Atlantic blue tangs at different times and sizes, they are consistently extremely aggressive once they get established. Not sure if you will be able to add fish their size or smaller afterwards regardless of type of fish.

I would definately be adding them at the same time and probobly when they are only 3 inches. So still pretty young.

 

[Coral Love]

I may try this in an 8 x 4 tank...

 

[randomfishdude]

I may try this in an 8 x 4 tank...

You come on and say that right after I was officially denied my big tank lol.

 

[Jessereef]

Hey all.
I was wondering if it was possable for me to keep a school of atlantic blue tangs when I upgrade(again).
This summer I'm going to be moving to anew house and going to get a large aqurium.
The plan so far I belive (possably going to change) is for it to be around 10 feet long +/- ... maybe 3 or 4 feet in deep and 30 inches tall.
This could completely change and it could be bigger.
But is it possable for me to keep a small school of them maybe 5 or 6?
The only other tangs that I know of would be my 2 current tangs (if they survive the ich) which are a sailfin and a tomie tang both about 4 inches.

I fell in love with theese guys when I went to aruba during the summer and saw several schools of them along with big lone fish while diving. I also loved how they changed from a dark blue to a white with blue highlights.

Also is it possable for them to breed? I assume they would just eat the young but they are often captive bread.

If your tank is big enough yes..