Mixing Zebrasoma tangs – 07/21/08
Hello,
<Kiet>
I need some advice on a situation that I have and would appreciate your expertise and thoughts. I currently have a 125 gallon SPS reef tank with four fish and about 150 lbs of Live Rock. I have plans to upgrade to a 250 - 300 gallon system, but that will not happen for another year or so. The currently ruler of the tank is a 3 inch Desjardini Sailfin Tang that I added a few months ago. Everything is currently running beautifully and the tank provides my family with hours of enjoyment and relaxation. Now for the problem, about a month ago I took in a friend's Yellow Tang because his tank had a leak and he wanted to drain it to fix the leak. To make a long story short, he will not be setting up his tank again and I am stuck with the Yellow Tang in my QT tank. I would take the tang to a LFS, but my daughter has grown attached to it and would like to see it in the display tank. I am certain this will create problems since both tangs are of the Zebrasoma family
<Genus... of the Tang Family, Acanthuridae>
and the Sailfin has been established for some time now. My question is, would it be possible to house the two in the same tank?
<Possibly...>
I have read that some people rearrange the rock work to confuse the established fish to alleviate aggression issues, but this would not be feasible for me as many of my rock pieces have coral that have spread to adjacent pieces. Also, because of the amount of rock that I have, there would be no way to easily catch and remove the Yellow Tang if there are aggression issues. Could you provide me with some other ideas or procedures that I could try to make this work? Any insight into this issue would be appreciated.
Thank you,
<Perhaps floating the new fish in a plastic colander at the surface for a few to several days... will give both a chance to become acquainted, yet not be able to get to each other. These two do sometimes mix okay... in a large, uncrowded setting... better with some obvious size difference... Best to "let out" together toward evening, dark, sleep time in the tank. Bob Fenner>

Help with tangs.
Hello Sir!
<Howdy>
I just came across your great web page today and I was hoping that you could provide some insight for me. I'm very new to the saltwater game so I need some help with something. Here is the breakdown so far.
Currently I'm running a 72 gallon bow front, with about 100 to 105 pounds of live rock, a skimmer and Fluval 304 with 2 bio-wheels. In the tank I have 2 damsel (sp?)<yes> fish and one pretty big, and very beautiful Sailfin tang from the red sea. This fish is wonderful!! So smart and friendly, he even lets you kind of pet him.
<Neat>
Anyways, here is my problem. This past weekend, I added a juv. emperor and a flame angel. So far my Sailfin is really going after the emperor. 
<Yes... these two occupy about the same niche in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea... best to remove the Emperor... otherwise I can almost assure you "signs" of stress and duress will soon occur...>
We have re-arranged the live rock and it did slow him down a bit but it hasn't totally stopped it. The emperor is eating fine, but he's not fighting back or anything.
<If it is not much larger (which I doubt) it will end up losing... If you asked me ahead of time I would tell you that your chances of these two cohabitating in such a small volume is tiny... need hundreds plus gallons...>
Any ideas? I was thinking about removing my Sailfin from the tank for a little while and totally re-arrange everything in the tank. Maybe that will work?
<Perhaps, but I doubt it... would stick with the smaller sub-dominant species, the Flame Angel... Please read over the partial posting of the section of my latest book on the WWM site, "A Fishwatcher's Guide... to the Fishes of the Red Sea... and consider some other, more suitable species originating from there instead.>
If you could provide any insight that would be great. Thanks!! Jason Karby
<Talk with you soon. Bob Fenner>

Re: Help with tangs.
Mr. Fenner,
Thank you for getting back to me. Well I need to ask your opinion on this again. It seems that our red sea Sailfin tang is still attacking the emperor like you said would happen. Things were much better today after we removed the Sailfin and re-arranged everything. But tonight once the lights went out, the tang won't even let the emperor out of a corner.
<yes, not good>
So I was hoping you could give your opinion on this. I don't know which one to keep. I've had the Sailfin since I started this tank in Sept.. And he has been wonderful and people friendly, but if he is going to attack everything that I put in the tank I don't know if I should keep him. Will he?
<No, likely only other "tangs that look like it", animals that appear to utilize the same resources (food, space...), and possibly organisms it naturally tussles with for whatever reasons (competition, predation...) in the wild>
I've always wanted to have an emperor, but I don't know if he's too stressed already. He doesn't seem to be, he's eating well. But he does have a few marks from the tang.
<Very resilient fish... will likely "bounce back" if/when less stressed>
So what do you recommend? Should I keep the tang? or get rid of him and go with the emperor and some other fish?
<This choice is entirely yours... you make their world. But I would choose one or the other, and soon>
Thanks again for your help! I'm recommending your website to some friends.
<Ah, good. Hajime/Become yourself. Bob Fenner>
-Jason Karby

Sailfin Tang bites Cleaner Shrimp
Hello Bob - After a few weeks of quarantine, I placed a 4" Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum) in my main tank. I have noticed that when he swims by the cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis), he bites the antennae of the shrimp! Now the shrimp's antennae are all considerably shorter then they were a week ago. Any thoughts / ideas on why this is happening and how to prevent? Much appreciated. Andre
<Hmm, well, sometimes Zebrasoma will chew on, chew up/consume shrimps of different sorts... and your shrimp will regenerate new antennae (if it's not eaten altogether) with the next molt... I would offer this tang something else to munch on... like some strips of Nori, other human-intended algae that you can get from the oriental food section... and live rock with macro-algae. Bob Fenner>

What kind of fish can add to my tank????
I have a Desjardin tang, what other kind of tang can I add with him in a 90 gallon with a goatfish, and clowns. Is a Kole tang ok to add or a surgeon fish?
<<Another Sailfin tang of the same genus (Zebrasoma) should go... maybe a Yellow... from Hawai'i... or an easygoing member of the Acanthurus genus or a Combtooth tang like the Kole (aka Yellow-eye, Ctenochaetus strigosus) that you mention... or even a Pacific Blue/Hippo/Palette Tang... I'd make sure the new one(s) were a couple of inches smaller than the Desjardin's... to lessen the chance of interspecies aggression (they are going to tussle, but don't fret unless you see signs of real damage or cowering).
Bob Fenner, who will be adding more graphics to the Surgeonfish family survey article on www.wetwebmedia.com and, better still, making a 32 pg. booklet on the group... they deserve it.>>

Tang compatibility
Tangling With Tangs! (Tang Compatibility)  7/19/08
Hello,
<Hi there! Scott F. in today!>
I have a question on Tang compatibility I was hoping you could answer for me.
<Will try!>
I have searched the forums, but could find a question similar to mine. I have a 150 gallon reef setup which currently houses a 4 inch Desjardin Sailfin Tang, 1 Purple Firefish, and a Mandarin Dragonet. I have approximately 200lbs of live rock with plenty of crevices and hiding spots. In a system this size, would you recommend me adding a Yellow Tang? Or would it quarrel with the Sailfin since they are similar in body shape? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Kiet
<Well, Kiet, I would tend to agree with your concerns here. Mixing two Zebrasoma species in a modest-sized aquarium could be potentially problematic. Your Desjardini will reach a very large size to boot, and will not be particularly happy to have another Tang introduced to the system, particularly if the Sailfin has been in the aquarium for some time. Much better to add a Tang species from the genus Ctenochaetus, such as the Kole Tang. It inhabits a different ecological niche than your Sailfin, and attains a much smaller size. Both of these attributes will create a greater probability for success, IMO. Best of luck to you! Regards, Scott F.>