How Many Tangs?

I wouldn't go more than 3 or 4 at the most. Tangs need lots of open space to swim... Longer tanks are better for Tangs

 

one thing you should know about tangs is when you decide what ones you want, you should try and get them all at the same time. some tend to be much more aggressive then others and adding them all at one time just increases your odds of success.
a good example is tash6 added 3 or 4 tangs to her 540 recently and her established brown tang ad them all cornered. eventually they got adjusted but this is also a huge tank.

 

Depends on the tang. Most tangs, when full grown, will be too large for a 120 alone, let alone multiples.

 

You would have better luck introducing a tang of a different genus. You may have an issue with adding a purple even though the yellow was there first. The purple tang is known for their aggression and the yellow will most likely receive the blunt of that aggression due to them being of the same genus. I can only speak from personal experience but you always need a back up plan. What are you going to do if they don't mellow out? Do you have a place where one of them can go?

3 weeks ago we added 5 tangs to our 540, 3 yellows, a sailfin and a blonde naso. The naso had no issues but the established scopas had the other 4 herded in the corner. We had 1 yellow that we removed because we knew it would not make it and moved it to one of our other systems so it now resides in the 180 and is doing well. If we didn't have a back up plan the fish for sure would have been dead. After a couple of days, everyone mellowed and they all get along pretty well. They all got braver and the scopas couldn't take care of them all. We also had 3 other tangs beside the scopas that already resided in the tank and they could have cared less that new tangs were added. I know our few days of aggression had to do with them all being of the same genus.

Good luck to what ever you decide to do but be prepared to take action if they don't mellow within a short amount of time or one of them refuses to feed.

 

I'm keeping 2 and a blue jaw trigger in my reef and a big 7" melenurus wrasse in my tank and I feel bad for them, they're all getting HUGE. I really want a 7 foot tank for them!!!!

 

i have two yellow tangs and a naso and about to get a blue jaw but i dont have that much rock in my 4 ft 120

 

I have 4 in my 120 and they do just fine. A purple, yellow, powder blue and hippo. All except the powder blue were introduced at the same time, and since it's the biggest of the 4, it didn't put up with harassment from the others and now they all get along just fine. At some point, I will probably have to upgrade or get rid of them if they get too big, but for now, they are doing just fine. They are all under 6".
One other important thing...I have a pretty open rockscape...no rock wall against the back, but three pillars.  I think that helps as it gives them more area to swim around.
--AJ