Adding multiple tangs ?

[Lesely]

Hope you can help. Currently have 2 x full grown yellow tangs & 13cm lipstick tang. We call them the gang of 3. We have tried to add more fish to the tank only to have them harassed & beaten & die. Including powder blue, flame angel. & Lopez

Can't stand this happening any more. Very distressing for fish & us Tank is so empty and def needs more fish. Our thought process now - to sell gang of 3 & add all fish we want together all juveniles under. 6 cm. has anyone done this before ?
Can it work ? List will include.
Yellow tang x2
Lipstick tang.
Flame angel.
Powder blue
.Cole tang.
Existing stock that will remain
. Copperband.
Coral beauty.
Blue tang.
Pair osc clowns
. Pair green dragonets
. Cleaner wrasse.
Is this doable ? No ownership & all juveniles ????
! Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[salt_for_brains]

Yes it is doable. Technically you will only be adding three fish (even though it is six). I would try and do it as close to simultaneously as possible for two reasons. If you wait to long a new king daddy rabbit boss will step up. You also don't want your bioload to drop to long because then it will be like putting six fish in at once. You have a large tank so I am not as worried about the latter. I have done this with four fish but haven't tried six. I wouldn't hesitate to try it under your circumstances. Good luck!

 

[Lesely]

Yes it is doable. Technically you will only be adding three fish (even though it is six). I would try and do it as close to simultaneously as possible for two reasons. If you wait to long a new king daddy rabbit boss will step up. You also don't want your bioload to drop to long because then it will be like putting six fish in at once. You have a large tank so I am not as worried about the latter. I have done this with four fish but haven't tried six. I wouldn't hesitate to try it under your circumstances. Good luck!

Thank you for your suggestions. we have managed to get lfs to hold any new occupants for us until all arrive so they can be added together,pleasing to hear that you were successful doing this yourself. it was exactly the way we wanted it to be, just whats your opinion on the fish list itself. doable. ?

 

[salt_for_brains]

It is doable but there is a lot potential for aggression between the flame and coral beauty. The powder blue will probably end up being the king pin of the tank. Since it will be relatively the newer fish it should be ok. Also don't be surprised to see the blue tang stepping up its game.
If you have to have the flame be prepared to take action.

 

[Lesely]

We had a flame. & coral beauty for over 13 months no issues. But unfortunately shortly after move we had a disaster. Serious ich outbreak. Our flame died along with a new powder blue. The blue tang we have now is only about. 2cm. So he won't have much weight to throw around. Lol. We will watch new flame & old coral carefully as the beauty has had tank to himself for about. 3 months now. May be issues this time. Thanks for that.

 

[monique]

i have a flame, a coral beauty, and an eibl's angel and they dont bother each other. been about a year now. i would take you gang of 3 out,
separate them if you can,wait a week or two, add the new fish, give them a day or two the put the 3some back in. if you are concerned then use an acclimation box and add them individually, worse one last. that is how i put my angels in. they were each purchased seperately about 6 months apart. eibl first, flame last. i socialized them in the cage for about a week each before letting them go and no problem. wait til the one in the tank is not showing any aggression to the one in the cage and then wait another day or two. move the cage around the tank a bit too. then it seems like the fish is moving around and helps with the aclimation with the other fish. you will think everything is great move the cage and the other angel will attack again. your tank is about the same size as mine so there is enough room for 2 as long as you have lots of cubby holes for them to hide and get away from each other. also try to get them about the same size. if one is substantially bigger then the other the big one will have an easier time beating him up.

 

[monique]

a clear plastic beverage jug works great. just put some mesh on the top for a lid and put your fish in there. everyone can see him, but he cant get hurt, and its easy to move around the tank. best part- its cheap. one i have had a 4 inch cap with a flip top. was about 15$. i just took the cap off, removed the flip part, cut mesh to fit and screwed the lid back on. works great, holds 2 gallons and you are never going to find anything cheaper then that

 

[Lesely]

Yes it is doable. Technically you will only be adding three fish (even though it is six). I would try and do it as close to simultaneously as possible for two reasons. If you wait to long a new king daddy rabbit boss will step up. You also don't want your bioload to drop to long because then it will be like putting six fish in at once. You have a large tank so I am not as worried about the latter. I have done this with four fish but haven't tried six. I wouldn't hesitate to try it under your circumstances. Good luck!

We have decided to sell the gang of 3. & just start with all list of new fish all at once. We have made pick up of the sold fish the day before new ones are due so tank will only be bare for approx 24 hrs. Hope this works. Thanks for all suggestions. Appreciate it.

 

[monique]

also watch how narrow your tall thin fishs are - ie. tang cause they could swim right through your overflow slots, you might want to cover them with mesh for a bit. good luck. i am moving into a bigger house this month and getting a bigger tank with overflows so i will be doing the same thing pretty soon. i hope it doesnt screw up the equilibrium in my fish population. ps- you are keeping your coral beauty, make sure you flame is as big as him, and if you are not taking the beauty out use the cage or you will probably lose the flame. when you think its safe give it a nuther day or two. the flame will end top dog but you have to get him in the first without getting him killed. took me 3 trys. had to keep removing my flame cause he was getting the crap kicked out of him. finally tryed the jar and that worked great tried puting a smaller one in the first time. poor guy lasted about 10 min. my eibl killed him. both my beauty and eibl are full size though. had them for about 2 yrs before put flame in.

 

[fastrd400]

i have a flame, a coral beauty, and an eibl's angel and they dont bother each other. been about a year now. i would take you gang of 3 out,
separate them if you can,wait a week or two, add the new fish, give them a day or two the put the 3some back in. if you are concerned then use an acclimation box and add them individually, worse one last. that is how i put my angels in. they were each purchased seperately about 6 months apart. eibl first, flame last. i socialized them in the cage for about a week each before letting them go and no problem. wait til the one in the tank is not showing any aggression to the one in the cage and then wait another day or two. move the cage around the tank a bit too. then it seems like the fish is moving around and helps with the aclimation with the other fish. you will think everything is great move the cage and the other angel will attack again. your tank is about the same size as mine so there is enough room for 2 as long as you have lots of cubby holes for them to hide and get away from each other. also try to get them about the same size. if one is substantially bigger then the other the big one will have an easier time beating him up.

This is exactly how I do it. I keep the older fish in the box and let the new fish have the tank. The older more aggressive one comes out much less aggressive toward the new tang each time I've done this.

 

[Lesely]

This is exactly how I do it. I keep the older fish in the box and let the new fish have the tank. The older more aggressive one comes out much less aggressive toward the new tang each time I've done this.

Lol. Have you every tried to catch an existing coral beauty (not a large fish. ) in a. 300g tank with. 180kg of live rock. Probably not am option for me. Lol

 

[monique]

no but i had to tear my tank down to catch a striated bristle tooth that went rogue. had to take every thing out. ROTTEN BASTARD. took me 3 days. do the cage thing for your flame to get him in there. and give it a day or two longer than you think is safe just to be safe. move your cage around too. every time you move it you will set the beauty off again.

 

[fastrd400]

Lol. Have you every tried to catch an existing coral beauty (not a large fish. ) in a. 300g tank with. 180kg of live rock. Probably not am option for me. Lol

You only need to worry about the tangs. Catch them, put them in time out and add the new fish.

 

[monique]

no, you have to worry about that beauty too. he probably wont bother anything else but he will sure bother the new angel. he will probably kill it if you dont use a cage first.

 

[Lesely]

You only need to worry about the tangs. Catch them, put them in time out and add the new fish.

we have sold all existing gang of 3, so no more tangs to worry about, Only fish left in the tank will be coral beauty, copperband , clowns & dragonets.

 

[monique]

good luck. it will be my turn in about 3 months. i am getting a plumbed 400 gal that i am setting up as a walk around. using it for a room divider. am going to put discus in my 265 gal. i am really looking forward to the new tank, just not the teardown of the old.

 

[Lesely]

good luck. it will be my turn in about 3 months. i am getting a plumbed 400 gal that i am setting up as a walk around. using it for a room divider. am going to put discus in my 265 gal. i am really looking forward to the new tank, just not the teardown of the old.

Congrats in new build. Only thing I can say about peninsular builds is --- get ready to clean lots. & lots & lots of glass. I do 17feet a day. Grrrrrrr. Other than that you will love it. We do. !