Tang compatability

I am wondering is there any general rules to tell if two species of tang are safe to put in same tank. I have 120g and just got a sailfin tang today, I would like a second tang eventually, but i know certain kinds don't get along.

 

Typically if they have the same body shape or are from the same family they wont get along. A regal tang or another tang of similar body shape should be fine, whereas a yellow tang has a similar shaped body to the sailfin and prob wouldn't work out.

 

As long as they are not the same species or same shape. Then your fine.

You can get a naso, a regal a Kole, an Achilles etc...

 

there is a thread on here that explains about how the genus of the three main "types" of tangs in the hobby differ and that if you get different genus they will most likely be nice.
Mixing two tangs of the same genus will cause problems.

I tried searching for it but couldnt dredge it up

 

Sometimes you will get aggression issues when you put 2 types of tangs into a tank, sometimes not.

It all depends on the resident tang, and how mean they want to be.

I just added a baby regal tang to my tank to replace the 4" one I had that died of a swim bladder infection.

This little guy is hilarious when the big 6" sailfin comes by, along with the kole, the foxface and the other big guys in the tank.

My sailfin flashed at him like 5 times, then gave up. The baby tang is doing well after 1 day in the tank now.

Now I had added a 2 spot bristletooth tang to my 200g a while back, and the resident kole would not let that new tang function without harassing it. that poor 2 spot eventually died from the constant evilness of the kole. That same kole, even bigger now never looked twice at the new baby regal tang.

 

The only tang Ive seen together in larger tanks were all Yellow tangs. probly need to get them both from same holding tank at LFS and introduce them both at same time into DT.

 

There are a lot of variables that come into play. These can include:

- The genus of the tangs
- The relative size
- The relative aggressiveness
- The order in which they are introduced
- The age of the tangs

Typically a good rule of thumb is to not put two of the same genus in the same tank. Additionally, similarly shaped tangs are good to avoid.

Now with that said there are always exceptions.

- You can have success adding the same genus if you add them at the same time while they are small and neither species is more aggressive.

- You can have success adding two similarly shaped tangs or two tangs of the same genus if you put the less aggressive fish in first.

- In addition a sufficiently large tank can give two tangs that would otherwise fight enough room to coexist with only minor scuffles.

 

Generally speaking, tropical marine tangs do not do well in a tank full of Orange TANG®

... I speak from experience people!

-Doug