Two tangs in one tank?

[rica5tully]

Question for those more experienced than me:

How do you put two tangs in one tank, without them killing each other? I'd like to put in a yellow tang and a hippo tang. I've seen guys do this, but I always thought you should keep your fish as distinct (non-competitive) as possible.

I thought I could throw them in there at the same time. But then I wouldn't be able to quarantine them properly. (since I only have space/money for a 10-gallon quarantine). I guess if I got them really young?

If there's one thing that almost made me quit this hobby it was parasites, so I'm pretty ruthless about quarantining.

Any ideas?

[Chads29]

i will be suprized if someone responds to this thread do to moral issues of keeping 2 tangs in a 72 gal tank.

[chazz-66]

I have a yellow and a purple in my 72 bow that have gotten along great for a year now. I am upgrading to a 150 in the next month though:D

[know-it-all]

I had a scopas for 3 years before I added my sailfin into the system

they fought for several days until they just got used to each other

nothing serious came of it, but it wasn't a fair fight.
the new tang had it's spikes removed (they grew back)
so it took the brunt of it

[prugs]

I would add the smallest tang first.
Being that they are of different classifications, you should be fine till they get too big for the tank.
I have an achilles & chevron. When they were really small, they swam together all the time.

[Fishfirst]

A 72 is quite small for these two tangs together. The yellow would be okay in there until it got to be around 6" or so.

Kole and a Yellow would work as well, however, you've gotta be willing to upgrade or sell your fish once they get older and larger.

[rica5tully]

I was thinking of a small hippo and a yellow. I would be willing to sell them once they got too big.

would that work?

ET

[jandlms]

What moral issue of keeping two tangs in a 72 gallon? Just be prepared to upgrade the tank in siz e in the future. I recall reading that having two tangs with dissimilar body shapes was also not as much of an issue. By this I mean Hepatus and Yellow = good. Yellow and Scopas = not so good.

[rica5tully]

Thanks a lot everyone, I really appreciate your input.

[Chads29]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8174583#post8174583 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jandlms
What moral issue of keeping two tangs in a 72 gallon? Just be prepared to upgrade the tank in siz e in the future.

[jandlms]

You forgot to type something in your post CHads29

[Chads29]

No wheres in his post does it say he is considering upgrading at a later time, these fish will out grow a 72 gal tank relatively quickly.

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8164418#post8164418 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rica5tully
I was thinking of a small hippo and a yellow. I would be willing to sell them once they got too big.

would that work?

ET

Yes, but you'll have to get a fish trap or tear the tank apart to get them. They won't be willing to leave.
You'll know when they start fighting.

[jandlms]

I suggest a good fish trap when you want to move them or upgrade the tank size. The twotangs should be fine together as long as you acclimate them together slowly. Maybe try the old standard of keeping the lights off for a while. There are plenty of 72 gallontanks out there with several tangs in themthat are fat, sasssy and happy. I would hesitate on adding more than the two.
all this being said sometimes you do get two kids that can't get along nomatter what.
Be prepared and good luck.

[Fishfirst]

these 2 tangs made me upgrade from a 55 to a 125 to a 210 in a matter of a few years.

[nevermore84]

Just thought I'd weigh in on this one because I'm having a problem with this situation myself right now.

I have a 125g tank that has 250-300 lbs of LR in it.

I had a purple tang in the tank for about 2 months. Due to unfortunate circumstances I had to tear down my other tank and move a yellow tang into the 125. Everything was fine for a couple weeks but now the yellow tang won't leave the purple alone. The purple tang has been forced to hide in a cave all day. I'm in the process of trying to remove the yellow tang (without much luck I might add).

just thought you might want the opinion from someone who has had two tangs work out badly.

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8179250#post8179250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nevermore84
Just thought I'd weigh in on this one because I'm having a problem with this situation myself right now.

I have a 125g tank that has 250-300 lbs of LR in it.

I had a purple tang in the tank for about 2 months. Due to unfortunate circumstances I had to tear down my other tank and move a yellow tang into the 125. Everything was fine for a couple weeks but now the yellow tang won't leave the purple alone. The purple tang has been forced to hide in a cave all day. I'm in the process of trying to remove the yellow tang (without much luck I might add).

just thought you might want the opinion from someone who has had two tangs work out badly.

Both the yellow & purple are closely related, same shape, bad idea.

[nevermore84]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8184025#post8184025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by prugs
Both the yellow & purple are closely related, same shape, bad idea.

I knew this going in but I really had no choice. I got the fish from someone who wasn't taking care of it properly. The fish has lateral line errosion and permanent fin damage so I couldn't trade it. I was hoping with the extensive rockwork I have the two would be OK together. Anyway I was just responding to the post because there was a request on information regarding compatibility and I thought someone had said the two would be OK.

[srlumaye1]

I've had a yellow tang, hippo tang, and sailfin tang all in the same tank and everyone got along great. Two different occasions with different fish - in 180 gal tanks and 120 gal tanks.

Note that they had plenty of room to swim and hide. Also, they were kept well fed.

Steve

[HurseMaGurse]

tangs dont like to hide. they need swimming room. you might have TOO much rock. have any FTS?

[marvelousone]

If you already have a tang in the tank. You can rearrange your rock and that can help. I have 4 different tangs in my tank. All four at a different time and they swim together like one big happy family.

[BADPAPI]

i have 8 tangs oin a 150 gallon my smaller tang is about 4.5 inches and they all live happy .