Tang housing advice

[gmann]

Noob Tang question. Now that I finally have a big enough tank, I was hoping to add some tangs. Based on research online I need to avoid same colors and genes or add them at the same time and have a large enough tank to reduce aggression. So my question is, given the wish list below, will I be alright?

I currently have a 72 x 30 x 24, and currently have a naso. I would like to add the following:

1 x goldrim or Achilles
1 x orange shoulder or lieutenant
1 x yellow

adding the Yellow would not be as important to me, but I would like to add the first two to go along with my naso as he is needed to eat my bbl algea.

current stock is:

wrasses x 5
anthias x 6
naso x 1

will be adding more wrasses soon, and a few more anthias.

Thanks in advance.

[Trigger Man]

I had a Achilles 2 different times (2 separate past tanks) and once I added it as the first tang (then put in a yellow and a Naso). The other time I had a yellow tang, purple tang, Blonde Naso, and a Kole before I added the Achilles tang. In both situations they all played fairly well together. I have started putting fish in a isolation container in my DT first and have had great success (normally in there for 3-4 days).

[gmann]

thanks for the feedback trigger man.

i really want an Achilles, but im so afraid of it getting ich and becoming a expensive lesson of "i told you so"

plus im not sure if my tank has enough flow for it. my gyres are running at 20-40% randomly

[DKoKoMan]

Most "tangs" are lot more susceptible to "ich" then other fish. That being said don't let that be the reason to hold you back if that's the fish you really want :biggrin:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

My friend went snorkeling in Hawaii and the only place he saw lots of Achilles in the wild were where the wave action was extreme. His take on it (and I agree) is that compared to a lot of other fish we keep, Achilles really benefit from very high water movement and high oxygen levels. Personally, if an Achilles was my dream 'must have' fish, I would keep it as the only tang in my tank. They are terrible ick-magnets and stress out very easily compared to most other tangs I've kept. At the moment, I have 2 (9" & 7") Sohals, 2 (9" & 8") Vlamingi, 2 Yellows, 1 lg. Purple, and 1 bristletooth tang in my main tank. In general, everyone gets along, but I've also stayed away from the ick-magnets that have caused me so much trouble in the past (no Powders of any colour, no Achilles).

Anthony

[Trigger Man]

What it really comes down to is getting a healthy specimen and running a full qt cycle. I use copper right away. Neither of my achillies ever got ick ( the second one was bought from a fellow reefer, so it went straight in my Dt as he runs a full qt on his fish). I also put a blue tang in my current setup and after the qt treatment he has never shown any ick. Needless to say with my tank size and fish stock there is always bound to be some stress with introduction, but knock on wood that no disease has reared its ugly head yet. As was said before, if it's your dream fish then prepare and go for it. You should have decent flow with your gyre and main circulation, and if you wanted you could always add another power head.

[Myka]

With my experiences owning an aquarium service company, I've had the great pleasure of working with some very large reef tanks, and this has definitely made me change my mind on a lot of things. After caring for an Achilles Tang (only about 6") in a 10 foot reef tank, I've come to the conclusion that Achilles Tangs really don't belong in 6 foot tanks. Not only do they seem to never relax in a 6 foot tank, but they also stress out other tank mates because they are SOOOOO active (and often aggressive too). The one in the 10 foot tank that I cared for was not quarantined (none of the fish were), and I never saw a spot of Ich on any of those fish in 2 years even though I know there was Ich in there. I'm quite sure that the tank size helped alleviate stress in the tank, and that in and of itself prevented disease.

Anyway, I don't recommend the Achilles for your tank. They have a really BIG attitude to go along with their really BIG activity level. For every recommendation you ever get though (on any topic), you will be able to find others that "did just fine". Your call. :)

[gmann]

thanks for the feedback everyone. I thought this would be the case with my Achilles dream. owell Goldrim it is :biggrin:

[iceman86]

In my 8' tank I have a naso, yellow, sail fin, orange shoulder, liutenant, and clown tang. They are all 4-6" and all get along. I have a 3" Niger trigger in there as well and he's actually the bully.

[DKoKoMan]

I wanted to add a purple tang during the transfer from the 75g to the 150g. However I already have a powder brown, yellow and regal tang. Lots of information on this thread.

[gmann]

i guess is best to add them at the same time?