Tangs together.....

[Moosetache]

Just wanted some outside info.....I want to do something, but am worried.

In a 120 Gallon Reef, I currently have:
5" Hippo Tang
4" Naso tang
4" Purple Tang
2 clownfish
Christmas wrasse

Obviously I am not worried about the clowns or wrasse, but I am considering adding a 5" Desjardini Tang to the mix. Am I crazy?

[Indymann99]

I would suspect you are at Max Bioload as is... what are your params??

[snorvich]

Just wanted some outside info.....I want to do something, but am worried.

In a 120 Gallon Reef, I currently have:
5" Hippo Tang
4" Naso tang
4" Purple Tang
2 clownfish
Christmas wrasse

Obviously I am not worried about the clowns or wrasse, but I am considering adding a 5" Desjardini Tang to the mix. Am I crazy?

Please read the sticky http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079 which provides the Reef Central recommended tank sizes for these fish. With that fish load, imo, you are headed for serious trouble.

[Sohal Tang Tim]

The desjardini can be aggressive and grows big....that is not a big enough tank for him with those other fish...if he was by himself you could definitely get away with it...but in my opinion you are maxed already on tangs.

I had one in my 280 gallon 8 foot reef and seriously...the tank was
really not big enough for him...I could tell by the movement of him....
He was getting along but....he was not happy with all the other tangs...>
Again...if he was by himself...or with only 2 other tangs...no problem......
but even then 120 is not a big tank for a fish that grows so large...
it would do for a while but eventually you would want to get him out
of the tank.....

best of luck,

Tim

[Nexenn]

I have more bioload in my 90 gallon with a 30 sump and i feed pellets 3 times a day on an auto feeder. My fish are fat and happy, my coral are growing like mad and my water parms are perfect. I think people over react about how many fish you can have... i say, if you want him add him. Just make sure you can pull the waste out

[Moosetache]

I will heed your warnings, as I thought the same myself. It was an outside chance. Funny thing is, my vet has a 110 that has a 7" hippo, 8" emperor angel, 7" desjardini, 4" yellow tang, 4" kole tang, royal gramma and a fairly large foxface. Of course he has had them in there for many years, they werent all that big at the start.


My water params are fine except my nitrates are about 20.
Calcium 440
KH- 8
Nitrates-0
ammonia-0
PH-8.0

[tkeracer619]

Yeah you need to work on those trates.

Man, I really want some char-grill right now...

I would also not recommend adding the fish.

I have more bioload in my 90 gallon with a 30 sump and i feed pellets 3 times a day on an auto feeder. My fish are fat and happy, my coral are growing like mad and my water parms are perfect. I think people over react about how many fish you can have... i say, if you want him add him. Just make sure you can pull the waste out

Lets see a pic. All tanks are different and some definitely do well with super high bioloads.

[Eric the half-bee]

I have more bioload in my 90 gallon with a 30 sump and i feed pellets 3 times a day on an auto feeder. My fish are fat and happy, my coral are growing like mad and my water parms are perfect. I think people over react about how many fish you can have... i say, if you want him add him. Just make sure you can pull the waste out

Not necessarily "how many" but "which ones". Sure, 20 firefish or gobies or chromis may cohabit well and be happy but try that with as many tangs or other large fish and "no so good".

[TampaReefer79]

Just wanted some outside info.....I want to do something, but am worried.

In a 120 Gallon Reef, I currently have:
5" Hippo Tang
4" Naso tang
4" Purple Tang
2 clownfish
Christmas wrasse

Obviously I am not worried about the clowns or wrasse, but I am considering adding a 5" Desjardini Tang to the mix. Am I crazy?

Yes.

I have more bioload in my 90 gallon with a 30 sump and i feed pellets 3 times a day on an auto feeder. My fish are fat and happy, my coral are growing like mad and my water parms are perfect. I think people over react about how many fish you can have... i say, if you want him add him. Just make sure you can pull the waste out

Bad advice. Just because someone 'wants' a fish, doesn't mean they should ignore the size of the fish or size of the tank they will put it in simply because they REEEEEEEEEEEEALLY want it. Pulling waste out has nothing to do with fish that can't even turn around in a tank.

I will heed your warnings, as I thought the same myself. It was an outside chance. Funny thing is, my vet has a 110 that has a 7" hippo, 8" emperor angel, 7" desjardini, 4" yellow tang, 4" kole tang, royal gramma and a fairly large foxface. Of course he has had them in there for many years, they werent all that big at the start.

Sounds like your vet has someone taking care of the tank that either doesn't know what they are doing, or doesn't care.

[davocean]

Not only would I not add a desjardini, but I would pull the naso and rehome it, and probably the hippo too.
Some people like to push the boundaries, try not to use them as an example of what to do.
The heavier the bioload, the more you intro stress and risk of disease.

[dogstar74]

One thing to look forward to, is that one day you may upgrade to a larger tank. This is a normal evolution in the hobby. When that day comes, then you may be ready for the Desjardin Tang and perhaps they will again be shipping them from the red sea. The red sea desjardins are soooo much more beautiful than the indo pacific ones. We just can't get them right now. So perhaps you being limited by tank size will be a mixed blessing in the future.

How's that for a silver lining,
Aaron