Kessil

Most social tangs for community tank (not “prettiest”)

Chromis

Chromis

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There are lots of beautiful fish out there but how often do we discuss their personalities?There are so many beautiful tangs but which have the best personalities for keeping in a mixed tang/mixed fish reef?

This came to mind when I was excited to find a mimic Eibli tang for sale, but then read on LiveAquaria (im sure there is a better guide to tangs online somewhere...?) they are “extremely aggressive towards other Tangs or Surgeonfish, especially those similar in form and color, and should be the only one in the tank except for in very large systems.” That seemed weird because my half black mimic tang has been a perfect tank citizen, schooling with the chromises and paying no mind to the tomini and bristletooth tangs added after him. But then I checked liveaquaria’s description “Mimic Half Black Tang, also known as the Mimic Surgeonfish, make excellent additions to your reef community because they are peaceful, readily accept prepared foods, and won't outgrow their surroundings too quickly.”

To quickly share my experience with yellow tangs, on the other hand, I find them to be neurotic, hiding back in the rocks, not liking when other fish try to get into their cave because they apparently prefer to brood alone in the dark; glancing at humans and other fish suspiciously while darting between hiding spots, and only briefly pecking at rocks here and there. They are afraid of shallow water and will not clean algae from rocks near the surface. They are beautiful animals but seem to all be cut from the same cloth, and that cloth is a wet blanket.

I’m curious if anyone has experience with the tank bred yellow tangs in terms of their personality being better?
 
Have you priced yellow tangs lately?

Quick answer: Of the more common ones, I would say Kole tang is usually the most peaceful, followed by Hippo.

Tangs are simply all semi-agressive. The are big and carry a knife ... and know it.

I would say most Zebrasomas and Acanthuras tend toward the higher end of aggression versus the others,
but that is a really vague opinion.
 
I have a mimic eibli tang and it’s a little scary cat with 5-6 other tangs. I’d probably say the most consistently calm tang for me is a Tomini tang. Currently have 3 of them (in separate tanks and they’re totally chill).
 
My thought is every fish is unique. I have a neon dottyback, which is supposed to be super aggressive but is totally chill.

my purple tang rule the tank. Only the neon hold his own, and share the caves with the tang. The tang is still juvi, about 2 inch. So not sure how the dynamics will work out once the purple get bigger.
 
RandyC said:
I have a mimic eibli tang and it’s a little scary cat with 5-6 other tangs. I’d probably say the most consistently calm tang for me is a Tomini tang. Currently have 3 of them (in separate tanks and they’re totally chill).
Click to expand...
Just curious what are the other 5-6 tangs?
 
Chromis said:
Just curious what are the other 5-6 tangs?
Click to expand...

Here’s the fish that are in the tank
- Yellow tang
- Blue hippo tang
- Desjardini sailfin tang
- Yellow eye kole tang
- Tomini tang
- Mimic Eibli Tang
- Fox face
- Melanarus Wrasse
 
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I think it almost goes without saying that everyone's experience is different and that it is anecdotal. Having said that, here is my list of Tangs in a 300g...from most aggressive to least... Yellow Tang is kinda in the middle.

Desjardini Sailfin
Blonde Naso
Yellow
Purple
Blue Hippo (always paranoid)
Convict
Kole
 
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Chromis said:
There are lots of beautiful fish out there but how often do we discuss their personalities?There are so many beautiful tangs but which have the best personalities for keeping in a mixed tang/mixed fish reef?

This came to mind when I was excited to find a mimic Eibli tang for sale, but then read on LiveAquaria (im sure there is a better guide to tangs online somewhere...?) they are “extremely aggressive towards other Tangs or Surgeonfish, especially those similar in form and color, and should be the only one in the tank except for in very large systems.” That seemed weird because my half black mimic tang has been a perfect tank citizen, schooling with the chromises and paying no mind to the tomini and bristletooth tangs added after him. But then I checked liveaquaria’s description “Mimic Half Black Tang, also known as the Mimic Surgeonfish, make excellent additions to your reef community because they are peaceful, readily accept prepared foods, and won't outgrow their surroundings too quickly.”

To quickly share my experience with yellow tangs, on the other hand, I find them to be neurotic, hiding back in the rocks, not liking when other fish try to get into their cave because they apparently prefer to brood alone in the dark; glancing at humans and other fish suspiciously while darting between hiding spots, and only briefly pecking at rocks here and there. They are afraid of shallow water and will not clean algae from rocks near the surface. They are beautiful animals but seem to all be cut from the same cloth, and that cloth is a wet blanket.

I’m curious if anyone has experience with the tank bred yellow tangs in terms of their personality being better?
Click to expand...
Ah, you should come meet my tangs when we all get back to normal... they are all pretty friendly .

Unicorns are the friendliest, i think... they just get really big eventually
 
Chromis said:
There are lots of beautiful fish out there but how often do we discuss their personalities?There are so many beautiful tangs but which have the best personalities for keeping in a mixed tang/mixed fish reef?

This came to mind when I was excited to find a mimic Eibli tang for sale, but then read on LiveAquaria (im sure there is a better guide to tangs online somewhere...?) they are “extremely aggressive towards other Tangs or Surgeonfish, especially those similar in form and color, and should be the only one in the tank except for in very large systems.” That seemed weird because my half black mimic tang has been a perfect tank citizen, schooling with the chromises and paying no mind to the tomini and bristletooth tangs added after him. But then I checked liveaquaria’s description “Mimic Half Black Tang, also known as the Mimic Surgeonfish, make excellent additions to your reef community because they are peaceful, readily accept prepared foods, and won't outgrow their surroundings too quickly.”

To quickly share my experience with yellow tangs, on the other hand, I find them to be neurotic, hiding back in the rocks, not liking when other fish try to get into their cave because they apparently prefer to brood alone in the dark; glancing at humans and other fish suspiciously while darting between hiding spots, and only briefly pecking at rocks here and there. They are afraid of shallow water and will not clean algae from rocks near the surface. They are beautiful animals but seem to all be cut from the same cloth, and that cloth is a wet blanket.

I’m curious if anyone has experience with the tank bred yellow tangs in terms of their personality being better?
Click to expand...

I’ve had several wild caught yellow tangs. Back when I started in a 29g, again in a Red Sea 250, and another in the same Red Sea after velvet wiped out my tank. All yellow tangs were model citizens, wouldn’t hide from me, and would go to the top of the tank. However, it was either the only tang and by far the largest (in the 29g) or the largest tang in the tank (twice as large as the hippo in the Red Sea). I have a purple tang in a Red Sea 350 now and he acts like the yellow tang you described. I also have a yellow eyed kole and hippo but the purple is by far the largest. The purple only comes to the top of the water column when feeding pellets but quickly goes back to the bottom. I started feeding nori on a clip near the top of the tank, right in the front where he can see me and I think he’s starting to be slightly more comfortable near the top of the tank and with people.
 
I think the white tail is the most comparable tang. Slow grow, hunting for algae all day, eat very much every thing, friendly with other tang, not too high price, look nice and cool, too.
 
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