Schooling Tangs

[Aquattro]

So lately, I've seen tanks that have multiples of certain tang species, and they seem to do well. I guess mostly yellows, and up to 6 or 7 in a tank. Even the LFS has multiples in their tanks, so looking for experiences with this. Just for the sake of talking, since I probably shouldn't add any more tangs to my tank :)
Thoughts?

[phillybean]

I think they look cool, but all need to be added at the same time. Being similar sizes helps as well I think. I'd also heard odd numbes are best. I'd love to see a school of 6 yellow tangs being led by a black tang. That would look sweet I think...

When I upgrade (prolly after my wife leaves me for mentioning it...) I plan on having a school of 3 yellows.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

In my experience, I found that in a 6' 210g tank with lots of hiding places and well-fed fish, it was usually possible to introduce a new tang into the tank safely. There is usually some aggression between the old guard & the newbie, but with luck, that aggressive behaviour only lasts a day or two. I usually feed the fish & then turn off the lights for the day when introducing the newbie.

What can I say? My wife loves tangs, especially YTs, so if its possible, when she tells me that there is a fish or several that she wants to see in the tanks, I try to do it. She asked for a school of YTs, so now she has a school of YTs. I don't recommend this to everyone and just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for others. This is just what I do & did. Keeps Irene happy & that keeps me happy. Its hard enough to find a spouse or significant other who shares an interest in this addiction, so in my case, I gotta nurture that interest. Besides, the school of big YTs looks awesome swimming around and feeding off the nori clip or when I squirt in mysis.

Anthony

BTW, contrary to popular belief, I added the YTs one at a time, since most were bought from other reefers tanks when they shut down or changed fish. Again, not something I'm recommending, just explaining how I did it. No guarantees that my method will work for others.

[naesco]

Seahorse fanatic is right.
If you have a long enough tank (6 foot) to accomodate tangs swimming needs it is possible.

We are talking yellow tangs here..

Choose a minimum of 3 making sure they are the same size. Do not select the small emaciated yellow tangs that are often for sale and feed them lots of nori or spirulina food and make sure that spirulina is listed as the first ingredient on the label.

As with all tangs it is a good idea to soak the food with garlic extreme, and add a bit of selcon from time to time.

Thanks for asking.

[Aquattro]

If you have a long enough tank (6 foot) to accomodate tangs swimming needs it is possible.



Ya know, I just don't agree with this. I know, I know, it's a tang rule, but it's wrong. You take a tang out of the ocean, and whether you have a 4ft or 6ft tank, you're not accomodating anything. We all know tangs like to swim fast for 200yds at a time in a straight run, just for fun. 6 feet doesn't do this. 6 is of course better than 4, but really, c'mon.
I've always had 4ft tanks. my tangs appear as happy as tangs I see in 6ft tanks.

BTW, do you have some special notification setup that alerts you to the word "tang"? Just wonderin' :)

Anyways, I've only got a 90 with 2 tangs already, so this is just a hypothetical question. It just looks nice seeing a school of YTs swimming round.

Anyone done this with other types?

[JDigital]

I'd love to see some schooling Achilles!! :mrgreen:

[michika]

In our big tank we are going to try for schooling yellows, scopas, purples, and hopefully a black or two.

[naesco]

Hi Brad.
My thoughts were that if you got a longer tank you could get a school of yellow tangs you were asking about.
I kind of hope that other tang keepers might pipe in; those that moved up from a 4 footer to a 6 or more. I think they would tell you they noticed quite a difference.
Wayne

[Aquattro]

Wayne, I agree a 6 is better than a 4, and 8ft is even better. But realistically, I think we like to say 6 to ease our guilt a bit. I watch my tangs and they swim for 4ft, stop, and take a left turn. I've watched the same species in a 6ft, they swim 6ft, stop, and make a left turn. In the big picture, really not much of a difference. Would the extra 2 ft matter if you were adding multiples? Perhaps. And maybe because of my style of rockscaping, the tangs feel more comfortable in being able to swim between the rocks and all around the perimeter of the tank. I always use considerably less than the recommended amount of rock, so the fish have quite a bit of room, even if it's not linear.
One day I hope to have an 8ft tank, then we don't need to discuss this :) And at that time, if I notice a difference, I'll come back here and eat my words.

[Keri]

Having had the priviledge of seeing Anthony's YT school in person I have to say Wow! They look amazing, if you're considering it and have the space it's worth a try.


(and this is coming from someone who isn't really a huge YT fan!)

[mike31154]

I have one YT in my 4 foot tank, 75 gal and I tend to agree with Aquattro. We're not doing this for the fish's sake, but our own. I guess you have to draw the line somewhere, but if it's true that a tang likes to swim 200 yds in one shot then even 10 feet isn't going to make a captive fish much happier in the long term. So unless you have an olympic size swimming pool for a tank, you're really not doing the fish any favour.

My YT appears quite content in the 4 foot tank, but sometimes I do wonder if I shouldn't free Willy? I purchased him for another reefer who shut down his 60 gal.... a 3 foot tank. He's probably the most well adjusted dude in my tank, doesn't pick on anyone unless provoked and even then he wags his scalpel just enough to get the point across, so to speak. People keep birds in cages with clipped wings and all, so I find it surprising that there is so much controversy among marine hobbyists regarding tangs and tank size.

[JDigital]

I do agree we aren't giving any favor to a Tang (or any heavy swimmers) we pull out of the ocean.. I think yellow tangs are more accepted in smaller tanks because they don't get as big as some of the big swimming tangs.... Untamed's tank is a clear example of why an Achilles shouldn't be in a 4ft tank... That Achilles SAILS thru a 400G tank without intrusion from rock walls and such. Even at 8 feet long, the tank is still 4 feet wide, so that tang is making big large laps, compared to the stop and go in a 4ftx20". Regardless, there are tangs that I am thinking about for my 75 that are recommended to be housed in 100-135G...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Having had the priviledge of seeing Anthony's YT school in person I have to say Wow! They look amazing, if you're considering it and have the space it's worth a try.


(and this is coming from someone who isn't really a huge YT fan!)


Awww, shucks. Thanks, but they're actually Irene's Yellow Tang. She's the one who wanted a school of YTs in the reef tank.

Anthony

[fishoholic]

If you are going to do a school of tangs I wouldn't do it in a less then a six foot long tank. I think two smaller tangs in a four foot tank can be fine as long as the tank's not over stocked. I had 5 tangs in my 120g and they were not happy. Upgraded to a 230g and they seemed much happier, until I started adding more fish. Now that my 230g is over stocked I ended up buying another 230g so that in the near future (once it's set up) I can split up the fish I have now and hopefully with less fish in the tanks, the fish I have will be happier.

I have seen a school of sailfin tangs together in a very large tank, but I noticed that they don't often swim together. Not sure if yellow's are more prone to school together then sailfin's are or not, but that's just what I noticed.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Irene's YT school split their time between swimming independently & in a school. Lights out, everyone scatters. Lights on & feeding time or they think I'm going to feed, then most of them start to school.

I gotta admit my wife was right on this one (for our tank at least) and that her school is very beautiful to watch.

Anthony