How many Tangs is too many?

I will probably get flamed for this, but here it goes.

As many as your filtration can handle IMO.

You could have 20 tangs in there, I have seen very healthy tanks that is super loaded. Now the main difference is that they ran filtration that is rated for 3x their tank size.

Now this isnt for everyone obviously, but if the filters can handle the load, stock it up.

 

After the pecking order is established, things are usually fine. I would add everything you can at once if possible, or groups if possible.

My 220 had 5 yellows, 3 purples, a hippo, and a sailfin and all got along great. This didnt count the angels, clowns, wrasses, and gobies

 

I always heard the limiting factor was them fighting. Not true?

 

This is my stock of tangs.. Introduced first to last... 4'' Yellow, 5'' Desjardini Sailfin, 4'' Blue Hippo, 4'' Powder Blue. They all get along great! The powder blue and desjardini run into each other from time to time.. They are just playing, from what looks like to me... All 4 of these tangs eat out of my hand as well... SO COOL!

I plan on adding a school of yellows, maybe an achillies tang, and definitely a Purple! Not to mention all my other fish inhabitants which totals about 20... 180 gallon reef... with a Super Reef Octopus 5000 SSS INT. Rated for like 300 gallons...

 

Well, the fighting usually happens when someone has an established tank, and then tries to add more tangs.

The new guy gets the crap beat out of him. Usually after 2-3 days they are swimming together side by side.

That is why best to add them together, or in groups if possible. Also you can try to partition off part of the tank, re arrange rock, and so forth, but that is not realistic for most people.

 

That would be best. Especially considering the Angel has a similar body shape.

That way the big dog in there now will have to chase 3-4 fish around instead of one.

 

I had him in a 112 reef with a sailfin, wrasse, and a manderian. He seemed to be the less aggressive of the tangs but loved being aroun his sailfin friend. They would flair up and dance around and chace eachother. Very fun to watch. I was told that u can't keep 2 tangs of the same body shape but I guess that was wrong. Love tangs and I never had any problems.

 

i have like 7 tangs in a 250 tenecor with minimum amount of aggression you have to be careful what choices you make

 

Our community is pretty good about not flaming people's opinions to death, but I'm sure you wouldn't expect me to withhold mine! haha
Let me first begin by saying essentially you are correct, one is capable of having many many tangs in a tank that size, my best friend has something like 17 in his 220. However I am openly opposed to this and I regularly give him **** about it.
My opposition stems from 3 primary arguments; morality, longevity, and physiology. I have in very few instances observed an aquarium which has preserved the life of it's specimens in the long term at densities such as this. Stocking animals this densely makes mechanical failure more critical, leaving little space for error. I'm talking generally about dissolved oxygen as a sparsely stocked system will survive much longer without power than a densely stocked system (yes, bear in mind the DO taxation of invertebrate specimens as well). Additionally mechanical failure on a system such as this doesn't only make it more prone to mortality, but also increases the number of animals at risk.
Physiologically, there are a number of reasons the least of which isn't increased propensity for disease conditions due to proximity, bacterial load, and chronic stress. Chronic stress leads to my moral objection for high stocking densities, chronic stress leads not only to reduced lifespan and increases susceptibility to disease, but also causes behavioral abnormalities. We cannot easily quantify stress conditions without measuring blood cortisol levels, and behavioral abnormalities at high densities lead me to discount observational analysis.
Nonetheless, people everywhere have their own opinions, ideas, and thresholds for subjugating animals to captive conditions. Opinions that vary from species to species, family to family, phylum to phylum, but we should err on the side of caution if we would like to see progress in the PR of our hobby.
Did that turn the heat up a little? ;-)
take it easy guys,
-ANdy

 

You *%^%&*$#$^%$%*% how dare you contradict me!
How do you know though that high stocking densities lead to stress?  My former highly stocked tank was a picture of health & peace.  Everyone got along great & was very healthy.  They did not look the least bit stressed.

 

How long was the tank highly stocked? What were the ages of the fish in question? Just based on other's experiences, if you had multiple adult fish packed into a "small" tank and had long-term success, you are in the minority 9which is certainly plausible).

 

Floyd, check out melev's reef blog, he made a cool acrylic fish acclimator type thing to introduce new fish to the tank without getting the sh*t beat out of them /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif You could easily make one I bet........
HERE'S the link, its on reefaddicts not his website

 

I know the tank Andy is referring to and those are mostly Small tangs , I think you are safe with that mixture, Myself in a 120, I had a Med Yellow, and I added a Powder Brown and the Yellow chased that Brown for 2 days & gave up the brown didn't seem worried... Then they shared the same Algae strip..
Later on I had just the yellow in the tank, I attempted to introduceF another yellow & purple, and the original yellow chased the other yellow for a couple days, then focused on the purple this went on for a couple weeks, the purple was staying under a Powerheads.... I was concerned about getting Ich with the stress in all, I removed everything out of the tank except the purple for & put it all back, now the purple is dominant but all is peaceful...
If I do it again, I will get what I want & put them in together...Just a couple experiences I have had...

 

Oh Andy...lol Just for clarification (get your flame throwers ready) I am the one with the school of tangs in the 220.

The list:
6" Valaming Tangi x1
4" Blue Hippo Tang x2
3" Atlantic Blue Tang x2
3-5" Yellow Tang x5
5" Purple Tang x1
4" Kole Tang x1
4" Sailfin Tang x1

Total= 13 Huh...that's really weird... THEY ALL GET A LONG AND ARE COMPLETELY HEALTHY! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

The most aggressive fish I have in my tank right now is my female clown, and when I say aggressive, she really doesn't like other clowns and that's it.
My nitrates were creeping up I will admit, only due to my lack of water changes which I am much better at now. I also feed a TON so I installed a biopellet reactor about 2 weeks ago and have noticed a slight change, they are still breaking in.
I've got my fire extinguisher ready, bring on the flames! lol

 

And the length of time you are measuring your success?

 

I've had all these tangs with exception of the purple and kole tang from about the 1.5-2" size ranging from 1 year to 4 years. Haven't lost any tangs and nursed back to health 5 that i got from someone else.