# of Tangs/fish in a 120g?

[Kizzy911]

I have a 120 gal that I'm looking as a project tank. Was looking for livestock in i; mainly Tangs. I'm very interested in a Sailfin, Scopas, Purple, Yellow, and a Blue Hippo.

Please tell me if i need (more) or (less) of what fish/invert. also what are some nice fishes/inhabitants that i can add.

As of right now, this is what I'm looking at.
1 tang = purple tang
2 tangs = Purple and Yellow
3 tangs= Purple and yellow and Scopas
4 tangs = purple, yellow, scopas, and Sailfin.

Also for livestock;
-black/white clown pair
-cleaner shrimp x1
-Coral banded shrimp x1
-Peppermint shrimps x2
-Emerald crab x3
-anemone crab x4
-Blue/green chromis x5
-damsels x4
-Mandarin goby x1 (later on when tanks established w pods)
-Green target goby (later on when tanks established w pods)
-Pistol Shrimp x1 and A goby? x1 (suggestions welcome)
-2 orange/red fire fishes
-a purple dottyback
-maybe a bright wrasse?


It's alot but the more i know the better, thanks.

[terry4505]

One of the two mandarins... 2/3 tangs

I have a purple, yellow and regal in my 120, but we are moving to a 180 soon. The regal gets too big for the 120.

I have in my 120:

Purple Tang
Yellow Tang
Regal Tang

Potters Angel
Flame Angel

3 PJ cardinal fish
2 bangii cardinals

Yellow fox face (outgrowing the tank)

Orange anthias

lots of snails, hermits, conchs, cukes, and a lobster

[MondoBongo]

i would go 1 tang, 1 mandarin, and ditch the coral banded shrimp.

aside from food supply for two mandarins in that small a tank, i would be wary of potential aggression in a gender matched set.

be judicious in your choice of wrasse. they can be direct competitors with dragonets (mandarins) for food, and can also be aggressive towards them. i would avoid species the six line wrasse, or things from Pseudocheilinus genus, and would probably consider flasher wrasses. there are likely other suitable wrasse candidates to cohabitate with dragonets, but i haven't kept them yet so i can't comment. i have had good results with a flasher wrasse though.

as for the damsels and chromis, there's a real good chance you will end up with one of each after they're done thinning their numbers down.

[Pastey]

12.6 is the answer.

[davocean]

I have a 120 and I don't want even a sign of aggression so I have 1 bristletooth and that's it.
I also would keep to one mandarin and skip CBS, and the dottyback too

[CStrickland]

Here is a table of the tank sizes and lengths that diff tangs need
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1946007
I wouldn't put more than 2 tangs
I'd back off on the multiples of chromis and damsels too, they're fighty

[chimmike]

Tangs? 1 maybe. or two. Small, non-aggressive ones.

Mandarin? How old/established is the tank?

Want good tank size recommendations? Go on liveaquaria.com and look at their recommendations. Maybe heartbreaking in some cases, but those are good suggestions. You wouldn't close a greyhound in a closet.

[KingTriton1]

Personally, I don't think any tang should be in a 4x2'' area. Not enough room in my opinion.

The gallon per tang theory isn't an accurate source. If you were to cut the aquarium in half using the same foot print of 4x2x1 that would leave you with 60 gallons. Would people still feel the same way about having a tang even though its not 120g?

[ca1ore]

Let's see -

1. 120 is too small for a sailfin and hippo; maybe manageable when they are small, but then you'd be faced with rehoming them.
2. Multiple zebrasomas will likely fight; particularly if they are cramped. Mine just about tolerate each other - and that's in a 265. Probably best to just get one.
3. Chromis are notorious for winnowing themselves down to just one or maybe two in a big tank. Save yourself some money and just start with one
4. Damsels can be problematic depending upon which species you pick. I only ever keep the yellowtail blue damsel because all the others are just too mean. Same caveat on multiples as with chromis.

[GSMclowns]

Hello Kizzy911,
You just started out in this hobby so you might think a 120 gallons is very big tank but its really isn't that big when it comes to Tangs and other big fishes. If you want a peaceful tank, then keep only 1 tang such as Yellow or Purple Or Scopa or Kole tang.

Mandarin is pretty difficult to keep. I am sure everyone tell you that.
Purple Dottyback is one mean fish. You can replace that with a Royal Gramma
Damsels: Depend of the type of damsel. If you are talking about YellowTail, then 2 would be a perfect number for your tank. They need 2x2 feet of space, otherwise they fight. Some types of wrasse with compete with Mandarin for foods

[campos]

Stay away from the Sailfin those get WAY too big for a 120 and they grow fast

[Kizzy911]

Thanks everyone for the input. As of right now, heres my updated list so far.

-3 tangs (Purple, mimic, and a yellow)
-I've heard many success stories IF the tangs are all the same, if not, around the same size, AND they're all put in at once.
-What i'm thinking is that i'll pre-order them from my LFS and once i'm ready, i'll put all 3 fishes in at the same time, so there will be little chances of aggression.
-no Coral Banded Shrimp
-royal gramma instead of dotty back
-2-3 Chromises
-2 damsels
-1 Mandarin

My current set up is a 40 gallon, it's currently fish less until i can start adding fish again (just before christmas) it has TONS and i mean ALOT of pods, literally on all sides of the tank. Thats why i think a mandarin would be good for my 40 gall for now until i upgrade to the 120.

as for the sail fin and other tangs, my tank is way too small for them and would stick to other tangs that are require lesser space.

Still open to further suggestions and comments, thanks.

[Kizzy911]

Also, whats the desired Cleaner crew for a 120? (How many of which Kind of invert) thanks

[brett559]

If it were me, and I wanted a tang tank, I would attempt the yellow and purple. Get them small, the same size, and add them at the same time. Not everyone would agree with this, but I would take that risk, with the understanding that you may need to remove one of them (guess you'd choose to remove the $20 fish and keep the $175 fish).

But if you do decide to get just one (the safest option) pay extra for the purple. Amazing fish.

[KingTriton1]

Three tangs in a 120 gallon? I would do some more research if I were you.

[Taahirs]

Yellow and purple don't play nice.

I had them in a 400 gallon. They were fine for a while but when the yellow hit sexual maturity it was bye bye purple

After alot of effort trying to catch the purple I finally got him/her and is now in a separate 5ft tank

[Taahirs]

If I were you I'd go for two of these

Yellow
Kole
Tomini
Convict tang (awesome personality)
Scopas
Lemon peel or eibli mimic

[Taahirs]

And you don't mention quarantine as part of your plan?

[MondoBongo]

Originally Posted by Kizzy911

-3 tangs (Purple, mimic, and a yellow)
-I've heard many success stories IF the tangs are all the same, if not, around the same size, AND they're all put in at once.
-What i'm thinking is that i'll pre-order them from my LFS and once i'm ready, i'll put all 3 fishes in at the same time, so there will be little chances of aggression

No.

you have't heard "many" success stories, and even if you did, how long was the "success" for? these are animals that can easily live upwards of 20 years. so if you're going to tell me the "success" was a few months, or even a year or two, then it's not success.

but, you have found the answer you wanted, and don't appear to be interested in the wealth of good information to the contrary. why bother asking for advice if you're just going to ignore it?

i'm sure you'll be the person that succeeds where others have failed though. i assume you can speak to fish like Aquaman or something?

Originally Posted by Kizzy911

My current set up is a 40 gallon, it's currently fish less until i can start adding fish again (just before christmas) it has TONS and i mean ALOT of pods, literally on all sides of the tank. Thats why i think a mandarin would be good for my 40 gall for now until i upgrade to the 120.

No.

life has a funny way of interfering with upgrade plans. don't get the mandarin until you have the new tank up and running, and ready. trust me on this. the best of intentions don't keep livestock alive. i went through this myself. was planning on upgrading from my 75 to a 150, i even had the tank purchased and sitting in the basement with all the equipment i needed. because of random life events i didn't get it set up until 3 years after purchase, after we moved.

[Kizzy911]

Changed my mind to just 2 tangs.
1) Purple Tang
2) Kole Tang

what other livestock are bright and fun to watch?

[Sugar Magnolia]

Wrasses. Lots of beautiful colors.

Skip the mandarin in the 40g. Even though it may be full of pods it won't be for long if you put a mandy in it. They graze continuously and will quickly decimate your pod population then slowly starve to death.

[joshky]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

Wrasses. Lots of beautiful colors.

Skip the mandarin in the 40g. Even though it may be full of pods it won't be for long if you put a mandy in it. They graze continuously and will quickly decimate your pod population then slowly starve to death.

+1 well said.

Some of my favorite wrasses off the top of my head:

Fairy Wrasses

C. marjorie
C. lineatus
C. rhomboidalis
C. solorensis
C. roseafascia
C. cf lanceolatus
C. earlei
C. bathyphilus
C. cf lunatus
C. filamentosus

Leopard Wrasses (these eat pods, may not be right for your tank if you want a mandarin)

M. geoffroyi
M. kuiteri
M. bipartitus
M. negrosensis

Flasher Wrasses

P. attenuatus
P. carpenteri
P. mccoskeri

I'm sure I've missed quite a few that should be on that list, I know I have, and I didn't bother adding any halichoeres. Many more beautiful specimens can be found in that genus, but they are mostly "with caution", generally speaking snails, hermits, clams, shrimp etc. are all a possible treat for them.

[Kizzy911]

Thanks everyone ! appreciate it.