I want another Tang

I feel the exact same way. I think hippo tangs look 1 dimensional. Now when I say the yellow bellied one... I said "thats a cool lookin fish!!!"
But yea too small for a 90.

 

Automatically saying that 2 tangs in a 4 foot tank is asking for trouble is not a very good response IME.

Now if the purple tang is a real mean fish, then maybe there is some truth to that, but last I checked, fish don't read books.

I have several fish that do not behave the way they are supposed to, even my synthetically bred dottyback that is supposed to be a nice fish is a real bastard. far worse than even my 6" maroon clown.


There are several things to do to keep aggro resident fish to keep new additions alone. Tangs many times will be tricked by placing a mirror to the glass, so the aggro local tang can be pre occupied and let the newbie be so it can acclimate.


Honestly I don't see any problem with having 2 tangs in a 75 or 90g tank, provided they are not a full size adult of a sailfin and a naso tang.

Powder blue tangs generally are difficult species to care for. They easily get ich and pass it on to other fish. I can say i know of one PB tang in a 75g that did great. The tank was taken down after several years, and the PB was sold to a local purveyor of corals in his 250g reef. He was first in line for that PB due to it's great health in a reef tank. I am sure that PB would have been happy in that 75g for it's whole life to be honest. That 75g also had a very big kole tang in it.

 

That and I hear that the yellow belly goes away when it matures....

 

k+ ive kept 2 tangs in a 75 with out any problems good post!

 

Unfortunately there are very few imperatives in this hobby. There is more grey area.

Thanks for the K guys

 

I added a very small Hippo to my 72 gal that already had a large Yellow Tang in it. The Yellow never chased it once. They pretty much ignore each other. There has never been any sign of aggression between the two, not even during feeding at the nori clip.

 

I agree, i have seen more then two in a 150, 180, and 225..I have not seen any problems. We do have a 8" Yellow Bellied Blue Hippo and a Chevron in a 72 and have had no problems in a few years.

As far as behavior, I have seen what are thought to be agressive fish be the most passive in the tank and I have seen what are thought to be peaceful become very agressive. Each fish has its own personality and each environment is different

 

Thanks for the nice post.... I truly like the powder blue tang but I know they are hard to care for.

Im definitely staying away from naso, clown, sailfin, and other tangs similar shaped to the purple tang (zebrasoma's)

Tomini or kole tang seems like a good fit.

Ive actually read the opposite. No yellow belly as a juvenile. They gain it when they mature.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Yellow Belly Regal Blue Tang
Read the end of the 1st paragraph. Id read the whole thing still

 

Fwiw, clown tangs are acanthurus, naso, are naso, and the scopas, YT, black tang, gem tang, guttatus and sailfins are zebrasoma.

Most acanthurus would be no issue with the purple tang besides the fact that most acanthurus tangs are nastier than purple tangs. One exception is the orange shouldered tang, but that gets over a foot long.

Anyone that thinks their purple tang is a meanie, should see a sohal tang (acanthurus as well). Those are mean as heck mostly, but I know of one member of our club that has a sohal and it is very nice.

Check out some other bristletooth tangs, such as the 2 spot (ctenochaetus binotatus). Those are a very nice and inexpensive bristletooth that is not so often seen in reef tanks.


Intersting about the article saying that the YBBT gets yellow bellied as it matures. I dunno who to believe now, but I want to believe your article as I like the YBBT.

 

I plan on having 2-3 tangs in my 193g. The 6" sailfina nd the 3" kole are buddies in the 90g.

And I had a YT in my tank before I got the kole. It was friends with the sailfin. Go figure, 2 zebrasomas being nice to each other. They even slept right next to each other.

That YT ate like a pig for a long time, then if just stopped eating, not even nori.