fish stocking plans

[yellow tang]

I am planning to get a threadfin butterflyfish but I want to get a yellow tang before the threadfin butterflyfish . I have heard that yellow tangs can be aggrassive and will beat up tankmates put in the tank after them.

Will I be able to add the yellow tang first? Becuse I want to get a little more experience before I try a buttterfly.



my tank has been set up for four months.

My tank size is 75 gallons.

[sleeri]

The threadfin is a pretty hardy butterfly. At least in my experience. Good starter butterfly. I kept one in my first tank when I was new to the hobby. I actually added a yellow tang first and then the threadfin a few months later. Bad move. They fought like crazy for several days. The Tang wouldn't put up with the new arrival. They finally settled in together, but not until after I put a seperator in my tank for a few days. Just know that the move could really backfire on you.

My recommendation is to move slowly with your stocking level if the tank has only been running for 4 months and you're new to the hobby. You could handle a tang right now, but adding both fish wouldn't be a good idea. At least not for several months. Plus, both fish get pretty large. Might not work well for a 75g longterm. Just keep that in mind.

The yellow tang is a really nice fish in my opinion and quite hardy. Also not too expensive. Might want to start with that. What about trying a dwarf angel instead of a butterfly? Still pretty cool, but smaller and a better fit for the 75g. If you get comfortable keeping the tang and keep your tank stable, I think you could handle the angel after a few months. Good luck!!

[Tropical Aquarist]

I agree. Yellow tangs can get a bad rap, but I think that is only with other tangs. I have seen 4 tangs a yellow, 2 sail fins and a blonde naso all in a 180 reef with no problems, but I have heard that they can be agreesive between their own species and with fish that look like them. I think that you would be fine.

[redeclipse6049]

have you considered something like this?

http://www.crittersocks.com/images/fishtropical.jpg