Who has kept a Dussumieri Tang? I want one for my upgrade...

[Daniel@R2R]

Who has kept one of these guys? Please share your experience. Anything I should know before I get one? Anything it shouldn't be housed with? This is one of those dream fish for me and the main reason I want a 400g reef...well...ya know...besides the fact that it's a 400g reef.

 

[4FordFamily]

I will say very few are as striking as the one showed but when full adults they can be equally as gorgeous. Until about 8-10" they're significantly less aesthetically pleasing generally. That said they become absolutely enormous. In a 400G you should be fine with one. They're not particularly aggressive I don't believe but will require the system to be parasite free. Ich management is more difficult with acanthurus tangs in general although I personally have no experience attempting this with these fish.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I will say very few are as striking as the one showed but when full adults they can be equally as gorgeous. Until about 8-10" they're significantly less aesthetically pleasing generally. That said they become absolutely enormous. In a 400G you should be fine with one. They're not particularly aggressive I don't believe but will require the system to be parasite free. Ich management is more difficult with acanthurus tangs in general although I personally have no experience attempting this with these fish.

Thanks! I'm planning a strict QT regimen for this system. I want it to be parasite free. EVERYTHING will be going through LONG QT process with preventive treatment given to each new addition. Do you think that will be enough of a plan?

Also, any idea if I could house one of these with a Sohal in a 400? If not, I'll have to pick one of them...

 

[4FordFamily]

Thanks! I'm planning a strict QT regimen for this system. I want it to be parasite free. EVERYTHING will be going through LONG QT process with preventive treatment given to each new addition. Do you think that will be enough of a plan?

Also, any idea if I could house one of these with a Sohal in a 400? If not, I'll have to pick one of them...

You shouldn't have a problem IMO. Get a sohal much smaller, and add other tangs simultaneously. My sohal is not even remotely aggressive nor was my last. It only fought when it was picked on. Otherwise it is/was a model citizen. I'm serious all these stories about how awful they are are just a few experiences that hundreds of members have read and they get repeated now by hundreds of people as if they were real experiences.

Sohal tangs are NOT that bad. Clown tangs can be worse actually, but neither are horrible. There are always exceptions and because sohal get so large they can do a lot of damage if you do have a bad apple. A tank full of other tangs will negate any aggression 9/10 with this fish so long as it is well fed. I actually really like sohal tang temperaments. Most I know with them would agree that they don't start fights but they finish them. Unlike powder blues which are nasty as heck and hold permanent grudges consistently, sohals do "forgive and forget". My powder blue at one point got in to it pretty bad by attacking the sohal. The sohal beat up on him pretty bad leaving a nasty gash. It healed and the sohal tang could not care less what the PBT does. He will swim right past him without so much as a dash towards it to establish dominance. If this were flipped around and a PBT had it out for a sohal and had a size or aggression advantage the sohal would be bulldozed to absolute death relentlessly no matter the circumstances or steps taken to prevent it almost every time.

I love PBT but they have such terrible temperaments so often.

 

[Reef_Lounge_USA]

We have a big Dussumieri at the shop right now. Been with us for a few months in one of our bigger display tanks, about 450 gallons. This one is about 8 to 9 inches and is by far the biggest fish in the tank. Doesn't show any aggression, even to the other tangs. Eats like an absolute pig. We feed it frozen ghost shrimp. Interesting to see this fish change colors throughout the day. Sometimes its body is almost white and sometimes it is much much darker. Lots of character too. One of my favorite fish in our shop right now.

Here are a few pics. Definitely not as dynamic in the coloring as the one you posted but still a beautiful fish.

 

[eatbreakfast]

There is a dussumeri in the show tank at a shop near me. It does not have the nicely contrasted fin color. They have tried to catch it out for years and been unable.

My experiences with sohals are quite different than 3ford's. I have one in a customers 350 w a half dozen other tangs. He is vicious. Except when eating he is constantly harassing the other tangs, and will focus his energy on one specimen for a few days, then once that one doesn't come out he will pick another tang to fight until that one needs to hide. Fortunately, there are enough tangs in their to spread it out a little. But he has been removed on a few occasions to give the others a chance to establish themselves, but in short order on his return is back at his aggressive ways.

 

[melypr1985]

My LFS has one of these in one of the coral tanks. He's been in there a long while and is one of my favorites. They can't catch him to sell, so I named him Fred. He has so much personality and obviously doesn't like my friend who works there and feeds him every day. He gets bit every time his hand is near Fred. I showed him that it was just him the tang hated by using his coworkers and myself as a test. We eat put our hands in the tank near the tang and food. Nobody got bit but my friend. lol Fred's pretty cool. My friend deserves to get bit occasionally.

 

[All Delight]

I need a tank big enough one day

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful tang!

 

[Oracjoe]

I over see a 13,000 gallon tank that has a group of 6 of them. As most every one has said they are typically not that colorful and even less so when older. In my experience they are more prone to lateral line desies. Would recomend soaking food in nutrition supliments to keeping them looking good. Only other thing really is the space for them the larger ones of the group are around two feet in length.

 

[revhtree]

I am loving mine so far! Eating great and pretty peaceful. HOG!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Still one of my favorite fish! Gonna get one for the big reef...if I ever get a big reef.

 

[revhtree]

Who has kept one of these guys? Please share your experience. Anything I should know before I get one? Anything it shouldn't be housed with? This is one of those dream fish for me and the main reason I want a 400g reef...well...ya know...besides the fact that it's a 400g reef.

I wonder about what age they get these type colors? Mine is beautiful and changes colors depending but not this extreme so far.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I wonder about what age they get these type colors? Mine is beautiful and changes colors depending but not this extreme so far.

That may just have been an amazing specimen...or a creative photographer. My understanding from what I've read and seen is that while they are beautiful, most don't get THAT bright.

 

[revhtree]

It's a super docile tang, hard worker and I can pet it a little.

 

[Homewrecker]

My buddy had one in a 600 gallon reef and that wasn’t enough. I would avoid

 

[Crimsonvice]

Bump! I wanna add one to my tank!

 

[Thomashtom]

I have this one in my 475 he is a model citizen. Eats like a pig and has grown alot since i got him about a year ago. Colors are getting better and better. He is about 9 inches now he was 5-6 when i got him. Thanks

 

[Crimsonvice]

He is huge! Beautiful fish for sure.

 

[Initialr]

and the favorite fish list gains another member........going to end up with a tank with a house on the side