Tennenti Surgeonfish...any advise

Grazer, peaceful, and hope you have a large tank as they get to be around 10-12 inches

 

Yes. Mine grazes on the rock all the time and when he's not him and my sailfin tang chase each other. They don't do anything to each other really but I also got them both as juveniles. I also have a hippo tang but they don't care about him for some reason. The Tennenti is a beautiful fish and does get pretty large so be prepaired.

 

How big is your tank again? Not just gallons, but how long is it too?

I successfully had a yellow, purple, and blue hippo in a 4 foot long 75 gallon tank for about 4 years, but I always knew that it was a matter of time before they 1) got too big, and 2) wanted larger territories and would go psycho.

You are looking at 3 large tang species to add to a tank with an established yellow tang. Many "experts" would argue that you are asking for serious trouble, but if you take it super careful and rearrange the rock to confuse the yellow, and then put up some sort of barrier to keep the new tangs separate from the yellow (and maybe each other) but in the same tank, that *might* help, but you need a REALLY big tank long term and possibly short term.

 

Oh wait, you have a 90 or 95 gallon or something like that (different posts list different sizes).

I would say "no" to adding more tangs. Again, there are success stories, but they are usually by people that planned ahead and didn't already have an established tang, especially a yellow, in their tank. The yellow tang is often considered the last fish to put into a tank. You will get into territorial issues soon enough putting those tangs together. In order to get the 3 new ones not to be already "too big" for the 95 gallon, they need to be small, and then the yellow will really pick on them.

If you really want a yellow, you could get rid of the current one, and add a new one that is similar in size or a touch smaller than the other tangs and add them all at once so that they establish their safe zones at the same time as well. This is still a short term situation and you will be needing to rehome the fish in a couple of years.

 

Nick is spot on with everything he said. Yellows can be one of the more aggressive tangs and their shape is similar to a sailfin which will cause problems. I have a 125 with the 3 and I fear if I don't get a bigger tank down the road I will have to get rid of one because they do get big.

 

Just remember that the cute little blue hippos you see are going to grow super fast and will outgrow your 90-95 gallon in a couple of years. That is why they are often caught so small. They are also the most "scared" of the tangs and get stressed and potentially sick the easiest. The yellow tang will definately NOT like the blue being there.


Be sure to move around the rocks a lot before adding the new tang as it will help the yellow tang think that it is now in a different part of the "reef" and not be so established. Also turn the lights off for a couple of days to help keep things settled.


This is, of course, after a quarantine process to make sure that your stressed out blue hippo isn't even more stressed and showing signs of disease. They can be treated much easier in a QT.





My wife loves tangs, but I am partial to dwarf angels myself. They won't outgrow my 125 gallon, but my wife's desire for a blue hippo means that if we get one, in a few years I will have to find a bigger home for it as well.


Here are the types of dwarf angels that i have right now:


Eibli:





Flame:





Coral Beauty:





At first the Eibli and Flame picked on the Coral Beauty, but now the Coral Beauty is the boss of the trio.


I used LiveAquaria pictures just because they were easy to find photos and I believe LA is a sponsor of the forums. You should be able to get some good fish from one of the places in Des Moines, or head over to AC&C near Waterloo and Craig or John can hook you up. Call first, of course, for availability or to order what you want. AC&C website. http://clownsandcorals.com/index.php

 

Any angelfish *can* pick on corals. I have just a couple of corals, and they leave them alone. then again, I feed mine pretty well too. I guess if there was a buffet in front of them, they might. Not real sure.

Probably one of those "I wouldn't risk" it kind of things like getting 4 large tangs for a 90-95 gallon tank. ;-)