Show off your Tangs
- Thread starter scott9119
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Screwgunner
Valuable Member
Been awhile he is bigger now.
Yes its still growing. I have another sohal in a smaller tank that I've had since 2018 that is half the size. This one is in a 240g 6x3x2. Here is the thing about Sohals. They are aggressive but if your other tangs are similar size or your tank is packed with sps to where it barely has room to swim and other tangs have places to hide the aggression is not that big of a deal. The aggression is very sporadic and everyone lives in relative peace.
I recently rebooted my tank because all my colonies died so there is so much more room for it to swim and is now the biggest in the tank, it is super aggressive. It already killed my 6" desjardini tang, 5" Black Tang and 5" hippo tang. My emporor angel, Powder Blue and Purple tang are still alive but are limited to only being able to swim at the end of the tank and are terrorized constantly by the sohal. I'm looking to rehome the sohal as it is even attacking and biting me whenever I put my hand in the tank now. I have to actually hit it physically and it will go way, only to come back a few seconds later to attack me again. The sohal seems uninterested in my dwarf angels, chromis, clowns or wrasse. So long story short, Adding a sohal should be fine but even in a 320 I think you'll have to consider rehoming it eventually, when it is 4-5 years old.
Here is what it looks like when hes not being aggressive, you can see he still constantly harasses the others. Keep in mind that the others are really big adults too (5-6").
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I guess I will not get him after all.
littlebigreef
Valuable Member
I recently did some tang shuffling as I built out a 155 gal bow front - multiple tank syndrome is real lol. In reality I was going to make the bow an angelfish tank but audibled out of that. So, here's my guys split between my two displays.
LiquidSpace
Active Member
I’m planning my next additions after current QT ends. I’m thinking of at least four tangs added, two at a time. First wave would be hippo and black mimic, second would be orange shoulder and gem. Look good?
AKL1950
2500 Club Member
Nice selection, but dangerous only bringing them in two at a time. They are aggressive and territorial. I had 4 as well. PB, Purple, Hippo and Tomini. You would think the Tomini would be the least aggressive, but she thought the tank was hers because she was there first. The other three I put in together with all of them being the same size. Tomini learned pretty quick that since she was the smallest, she wasn’t going to be able to maintain her top dog position.
If at all possible, the best thing to do would be try to introduce them all at the same time. That way, they are all new together and no one will try to beat up the other three. It will take them a little while, but they will settle in to their decided group pecking order with minimum flashing as long as the all have a respective hiding place to chill and sleep. For me the concern was the PB and Purple, but they settled into a compromise. PB owned the top of the tank, Purple owned the bottom level, Tomini owned the interior rock structure and Dori was just Dori. Only problem was Dori grew faster than the others and became a bully. Not to the other tangs, but to the smaller fish in the tank.
It’s a crap shoot and there will be some flaring and a bit of fighting, but it should dissipate after a week or so. Good luck with your picks and watch the oranger shoulder. Quite aggressive and grows fast.
LiquidSpace
Active Member
Nice selection, but dangerous only bringing them in two at a time. They are aggressive and territorial. I had 4 as well. PB, Purple, Hippo and Tomini. You would think the Tomini would be the least aggressive, but she thought the tank was hers because she was there first. The other three I put in together with all of them being the same size. Tomini learned pretty quick that since she was the smallest, she wasn’t going to be able to maintain her top dog position.
If at all possible, the best thing to do would be try to introduce them all at the same time. That way, they are all new together and no one will try to beat up the other three. It will take them a little while, but they will settle in to their decided group pecking order with minimum flashing as long as the all have a respective hiding place to chill and sleep. For me the concern was the PB and Purple, but they settled into a compromise. PB owned the top of the tank, Purple owned the bottom level, Tomini owned the interior rock structure and Dori was just Dori. Only problem was Dori grew faster than the others and became a bully. Not to the other tangs, but to the smaller fish in the tank.
It’s a crap shoot and there will be some flaring and a bit of fighting, but it should dissipate after a week or so. Good luck with your picks and watch the oranger shoulder. Quite aggressive and grows fast.
Okay, I’m glad I asked. I’ll upgrade my QT to a 40 gallon when the time comes and get them all in together.
Should I get them the same size or anticipate one being a jerk like the orange shoulder and get it smaller than the others?
AKL1950
2500 Club Member
One of the first fish I got was an orange shoulder. Got it when I got the Tomini. He almost killed the Tomini in quarantine, so I took it back to the fish store. Any of them can be aggressive large or small.
A 40 gallon tank is pretty small for 4 tangs. I think crowding them in there will make them more aggressive. After I had the experience with mine, I opted to go with the Hippo instead. Plus didn’t like the experience of doing the quarantine myself.
So, I went for getting all my future fish from Dr Reef. Fully quarantined and he won’t ship them unless they are super healthy. Cost a bit more, but I don’t regret it. All the fish I got from him were super healthy.
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