3 Tangs in a 90

[Spelter]

Can I keep 3 tangs in a 90 gallon? Very open rock work. Only two towers (one on each end) with space in front and behind . Looking to keep a yellow, White Tail Bristletooth Tang (or Bristletooth Tomini Tang), and a kole. No plans to upgrade tanks in the near future.

 

I have really good flow, great skimmer, refugium.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Spelter

[STEVE]

I have 2 in mine...a Yellow and a Kole. I dont see a problem with 3. How many other fish do you have in there and what is going to be your total count of fish when your done? Just be careful not to overload it.

[MBVette]

The only problem I see is that you have 2 in the same family (the bistletooth and the kole) I dont know how they will interact with each other in the tank.

[Spelter]

I dont plan on adding man more fish besides them. Right now all I have is 2 clowns, 4 chromis, the yellow tang, and a melanurus wrasse. Might add a few gobies too.

[Coral Hind]

The yellow might pick on them at first but you should be fine. Add them at the same time. Open rock work doesn't help with aggression, it makes it worse. Open rockscapes offer fewer areas for them to hide so they fight over the few there are.

[Spelter]

Yea I am worried about the yellow, seems aggressive. She sees her reflection sometimes and gets angry. I am hoping to add both the kole and the bistletooth at the same time to spread her aggression out. Should I add or rearrange the rockwork as well.

[Origami]

My yellow is / was aggressive. One of the first fish in my tank. I've added three other tangs (sailfin, scopas, and powder blue) to the tank since the yellow. (Had up to three in my old 90.) After a day or so, things have always calmed down. I have plenty of rockwork around for the new guy to navigate, avoid, and hide which tends to shorten aggressive encounters.

[Coral Hind]

Should I add or rearrange the rockwork as well.

That is always a good way to reduce some initial aggression.

[treesprite]

My suggestion is to do the rockwork with arches, as many as there are tangs, and get that many cleaner shrimp. Each cleaner shrimp will make an archway a cleaning station, and each tang will pick one to use as home so all will be happy without having to share tank perks or housing.

[zygote2k]

tang police gonna getcha

[Marc Weaver]

[treesprite]

cute

[Sharkb8]

In my old standard AGA 90g I had a mature yellow and a mature sailfin. They were the best of buddies. That being said, at mature age (for reefkeeping hobby fish) it was crowded. If you don't expect them to live long or grow large, three may be ok. But if you're looking at a long-term pet situation, I would think two is more than enough. Always consider how big they will get and not their size at purchase (they're usually sold as juveniles or younger). Finally, in my experience, each tang has its own unique personality added into the mix. You can generalize about species, but only about as much as you can generalize about humans, or dogs, or cats. You can't know how exactly they will play with each other until you try it. Have a back-up plan in case it doesn't work out, i.e. a "time out" tank or holding tank in case you have to sell one off to a new home. That's my two cents anyway, FWIW.