powder blue tang or brown tang

Question
Hi, I have a 72 gallon bow front with 3 chromis, 1 clownfish and a small yellow tang. We wanted to add a powder blue tang but when asked if they would be ok together we get different answers. If not the powder blue what about a brown tang? Thanks for all your help. Shawn

Answer
Hi Shawn. It has been from my experience that you should only keep one tang per 48 inches of tank. I have seen yellow tangs get pretty nasty with the addition of a new tang into the aquarium. Most tangs can be very territorial over feeding space and will often pick on and bully a less dominant one. This is true for all the tangs with the exception of the hippo tangs who are a little less likely to show signs of aggression. Since tangs are also very prone to disease the stress of being picked on will lower the fishes immune system and make it almost a definite that some sort of disease will break out and even kill the fish. Tangs should almost never be kept together in the small confines of an aquarium.