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How To Have Multiple Tangs In The Same Tank
Pictured below is the AquaCorals
180 gallon tank - home to 5 different Tangs!
One of the most beloved
reef fish is the Tang... & rightly so. They come in
just about every color & pattern imaginable. Some swim
gracefully, some ZOOM around the tank, some have a cute
paddle swim. I can't imagine anyone not loving the sight of
a tang. BUT, as different as they are to look at they
also have very different "personalities". Yes... I
said Personalities! Much like we see in other animals
like dogs for instance, some aggressive (Yellows), some shy
(Sailfins), some "nervous nellies" (Hippos) & some Kings (Nasos).
But even these reputations can only be used as a rule of
thumb because as these fish get older & larger their
"personalities change too. Take this one step further & you'll find that
"All Fish" have individual personalities of their own!
I've seen times where I've had multiple Yellow Tangs.
Most will be relaxed & one will bully everyone in sight - no
matter the size of the other fish! Don't ask me why,
all I know is that this fact makes it necessary to have a
"Plan B" ready if things (or they) don't behave as planned.
Let's talk about the
"plan". You've decided you'd like more than one Tang
in your tank. Though many people still say you can't
have more than one in a tank, I'm here to tell & show you
that you can! Below is a close-up of my 180g tank with
all 5 Tangs. Getting them all in one spot for a photo
shoot was fun! ;c)
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1. Yellow
Tang
2. Blue Hippo Tang
3. Powder Blue Tang
4. Blonde Naso Tang
5. Flamefin (Tomini) Tang |
Only HUGE tanks are truly successful in
housing Tangs of the same species so for this conversation
we'll assume you don't have a 500+ gallon tank & we're
looking at housing different Tang species. If you plan on
having only 2 then it's best to buy & introduce them both to
your tank at the same time. They should accept each
other and not be a problem. BUT, you want 4 Tangs in
all but for bio-overload or financial reasons you can't
purchase them all at once then we need to look at those
"personalities". You will want to stock first the
Tangs on your wish list that have reputations for being laid
back so that down the road when you want to introduce others
there will be a greater chance of the existing Tang(s)
accepting the newcomer(s). Remember, all fish adopt
our tanks as their home and many will defend their
"territory" ferociously by chasing, biting, tail-slashing at
newcomers. If this happens then it might be necessary
to remove the aggressor & place him in your sump or another
tank for a week for an "attitude adjustment"!
Actually, what this does is allows the newcomer to acclimate
to his new home in peace while giving the aggressor time to
forget about his old home. If we move a few
corals/rocks around in the tank this will also help make
things "look" different so when we reintroduce
the "sump Tang" more than likely it will feel like the "new
guy" again & hopefully not remember his old territory but
rather accept the others already in there. It may
sound like a bit of work but honestly folks, if having more
than one Tang swimming about your tank peacefully is what
you want, the efforts are worth the intervention it may take
on your part!
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