Discussion: Tangs/Surgeonfishes (1 Viewer)

[Gary]

Right now I have a Kole Tang in my frag tank to help with keeping the algae down. He is a very skittish fish so I don't see him much. I also have a Regal Tang in my FO tank. I've decided not to have any tangs in my reef tank though. It's a 120 with a lot of acros and the Tangs just seem too big. My Purple Tang and Achilles would occasionally knock over corals so I decided against tangs this time. Speaking of the Achilles and Purple Tangs I did a couple of videos on that. If you haven't seen them yet it talks about how to acclimate tangs to each other in a tank. TANG WARS!

[video]https://youtu.be/_ZjyG1GSOek?list=PL7qgjnLSjNGlStbHEkbYIBQkhOTyu6mH N[/video]
[video]https://youtu.be/9X7kbq15688?list=PL7qgjnLSjNGlStbHEkbYIBQkhOTyu6mH N[/video]

 

[AmyZ]

Tangs are the first fish type I fell for, I can't pick just one as each has something I like.
I just wish you could multiples together.....

 

[HamLakeReefer]

I've had 2 tangs total. A yellow tang and a naso tang. Out of the two I loved the naso. It was social with us and ate anything I gave it but alas she got ich and no matter what tried I wasn't able to save her. The yellow lived for years despite being the most finicky eater I've ever kept. She only would eat green algae sheets soaked in selcon and garlic. I fed her very generously but she was always skinny and so very shy. She only swam around if she didn't see any ppl in the room. I don't think that I would ever try to keep a tang again even though they are splendid to watch.

 

[jlanger]

Lots of threads lately about equipment, but let’s get back to discussing what's really important, fishes!

(Bump!)
(Yep, I'm bumping them all!)

 

[Garrett Smith]

Does anyone have any good experience with adding multiple tangs at different times? I don't wont to overload my bioload by adding too many at one time...thoughts?

 

[jlanger]

From my experience, your best bet is to start with one of the bristletooth tangs; Ctenochaetus spp. They’re on the more social side and will tolerate other tangs better. They will still “dance” with newcomers, but that will quickly fade within a day or so.
When it comes to the rest of the tangs and surgeonfishes, your best plan of action is to add the new fish with an acclimation box or divider. Letting the resident fish get out their aggression on a plastic wall is much safer than letting the fish figure it out on each other. There does seem to be a varying degree of aggressiveness between individual species, so selecting some of the more tolerant species might help your situation.

 

[capman]

Does anyone have any good experience with adding multiple tangs at different times? I don't wont to overload my bioload by adding too many at one time...thoughts?

Yes, I have some experience with this, particularly recently in our new big tank (6 foot x 4 foot x 2 feet tall) in the lab. This tank was designed with a free standing rock wall (actually made of polycarbonate, epoxy, sand, and rocks) a foot from the back of the tank, with brackets that allow me to slide down plastic eggcrate panels at each end for multiple purposes. Normally, panels are not in place, and the back area functions as a raceway for active fish to swim laps, and for fish to get away from each other. But with the use of the panels, the back area can serve as a fish trap, or as a place to get new fish settled in, and for them to get used to the resident fish and vice versa.

This past summer I added a new purple tang and a convict tang to the tank, which already had a yellow tang and a purple tang established. The new tangs went into the back area for a week and a half with the panels down. Then I raised the panels a bit to allow fish to come and go. The new fish went out to the front part of the tank, and there were fireworks of course. The convict tang settled in pretty well within a day or two, but the new purple tang was attacked violently any time it ventured out of the back area. Interestingly, at this point the resident fish sort of seemed to not see that back area as their territory anymore when the panels were raised, though the did start going back there routinely. But the magical part of this all was that the resident tangs did not attack the new purple tang in that space (or the aggression was very very mild). So, though the new purple tang was attacked violently in the front of the tank, it always had its space in the back to retreat to where it was safe, and this allowed it to have really minimal stress.

For two weeks (after the panels were raised a bit) it was not allowed out of that back space by the resident yellow and purple tangs. Then it started venturing out in the tank more and more, eventually being chased to the back again. Eventually though the yellow tang (which at this point was the main problem) seemed to sort of be losing its drive to harass the new purple tang, and about 4 weeks after raising the panels (and almost 6 weeks after putting the new purple tang in the tank, it was finally out in the front hanging out with the other purple tang and with the yellow tang.

So, these additions can be done, but sometimes they really take some time!

I currently have two more smaller purple tangs in the back compartment. They've been there maybe 2 weeks now. We'll see how things go. They are quite a bit smaller than the resident tangs. I think I'm going to leave them back there with the eggcrate panels down (closed) for a month or so before raising the panels a little to allow the fish to mix. I really want the resident fish to be respecting that space as being the territory of the new tangs. I don't know how this is going to go!

If you want to see more about all of this, you can join my Facebook group, where I have posted photos and videos about all of this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/213675335937395/

 

[capman]

Here is a quick video of the big tank discussed above where you can see the eggcrate panels I talk about above:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FZv2qsegDGET8EvU9

Obviously, this wall and panels is a special feature of this tank that took lots of planning and lots of time and effort to design and build, and not something most people will have in their tanks. It might be possible to use a similar approach in a smaller tank though if you have room to, say, wall off a good sized corner of the tank with a piece of eggcrate material or a piece of acrylic.

Incidentally, in my back compartment I have some additional pieces of eggcrate that partially wall off different parts of that space, and that seemed to be helpful as well. So, if, say, you try walling off a good sized corner of a tank to allow a new tang to get settled in, I'd be sure to not just have that be a sterile empty space, but rather create a bit of cover back there for the fish to feel more secure, and for the fish to retreat to once you open up that space to allow fish to come and go.

 

[Garrett Smith]

Yes, I have some experience with this, particularly recently in our new big tank (6 foot x 4 foot x 2 feet tall) in the lab. This tank was designed with a free standing rock wall (actually made of polycarbonate, epoxy, sand, and rocks) a foot from the back of the tank, with brackets that allow me to slide down plastic eggcrate panels at each end for multiple purposes. Normally, panels are not in place, and the back area functions as a raceway for active fish to swim laps, and for fish to get away from each other. But with the use of the panels, the back area can serve as a fish trap, or as a place to get new fish settled in, and for them to get used to the resident fish and vice versa.

This past summer I added a new purple tang and a convict tang to the tank, which already had a yellow tang and a purple tang established. The new tangs went into the back area for a week and a half with the panels down. Then I raised the panels a bit to allow fish to come and go. The new fish went out to the front part of the tank, and there were fireworks of course. The convict tang settled in pretty well within a day or two, but the new purple tang was attacked violently any time it ventured out of the back area. Interestingly, at this point the resident fish sort of seemed to not see that back area as their territory anymore when the panels were raised, though the did start going back there routinely. But the magical part of this all was that the resident tangs did not attack the new purple tang in that space (or the aggression was very very mild). So, though the new purple tang was attacked violently in the front of the tank, it always had its space in the back to retreat to where it was safe, and this allowed it to have really minimal stress.

For two weeks (after the panels were raised a bit) it was not allowed out of that back space by the resident yellow and purple tangs. Then it started venturing out in the tank more and more, eventually being chased to the back again. Eventually though the yellow tang (which at this point was the main problem) seemed to sort of be losing its drive to harass the new purple tang, and about 4 weeks after raising the panels (and almost 6 weeks after putting the new purple tang in the tank, it was finally out in the front hanging out with the other purple tang and with the yellow tang.

So, these additions can be done, but sometimes they really take some time!

I currently have two more smaller purple tangs in the back compartment. They've been there maybe 2 weeks now. We'll see how things go. They are quite a bit smaller than the resident tangs. I think I'm going to leave them back there with the eggcrate panels down (closed) for a month or so before raising the panels a little to allow the fish to mix. I really want the resident fish to be respecting that space as being the territory of the new tangs. I don't know how this is going to go!

If you want to see more about all of this, you can join my Facebook group, where I have posted photos and videos about all of this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/213675335937395/

This is exactly what i was looking for! Thank you!