Purple tang input

[gudgreef]

I've always wanted a purple but have been scared off by the reports of their aggressiveness. I will be setting up a 90g in a month or two and am working on a fish wish list (say that 3 times fast). Other thoughts were -powder blue (90 too small?) or Tomini? Anyway, any tang input would be appreciated.

tom

[steveoutlaw]

Never had a purple. Naso's are nice but can quickly outgrow your tank. Yellow and Hippo are always good choices. I wouldn't put more that 2 Tangs in a 90. If you are going to get one that has an aggressive nature, make sure you introduce them at the same time.

 

My $.02

[Caribbean Jake]

Zebrasoma xanthurus is a Red Sea tang, similar in ecology to the Yellow Tang, but has a pattern of dots and stripes that is subtle. They will thrive well in a large aquarium of at least 100 gallons. They are the most aggressive members of their genus, so they probably cannot be kept in small groups of tangs. Be careful in mixing the Purple Tang with other surgeons! They are agressive towards blue tang, sailfin tang, yellow tang. This does not mean they can not be together but in a 150-gallon tank they only *marginally* coexist. In any case, provide plenty of rockwork so all the fish can stake out their own territories out of sight from the other fish. As with all tanks with surgeons in them, macroalgae will be eaten much faster than it can be propogated, so leave it out of the scenario. Keep the lighting intense to support a strong growth of microalgae, which tangs will eagerly devour. Be careful in keeping them with delicate inverts, though, because even though this is an herbivorous species, it has sharp teeth and is potentially dangerous to some inverts

 

I kept three tangs (yellow, purple, powder blue) in a 125G and they went after each other once in a while. You definitely want to introduce the purple tang last, and mix it with a tang not much agressive. I have no other experience mixing Purple with other than those tangs. Have you checked Borderman's book regarding fish combination?

[jwildman]

I have 4 tangs in my 180 (Sailfin, Yellow, Purple and Blue Hippo) and they are all doing well and thriving. The purple is the most aggressive of my four. However, he and the yellow tang are the ones usually going at it. With that being said, he is usually (~90%+) fine and I have never seen him bother any of my other fish.

Like Jake said, I would put him in last and if you are getting 2 tangs, I would suggest that you get two with differnt body types, like a purple and a hippo for instance and I highly suggest you put them in the tank at the same time.

 

Good Luck,

 

John

[Guest ethandvm]

I have a Hippo and Yellow in a 120g and they are doing well. They do not show any aggression towards eachother. The hippo wa sintroduced after the yellow and there was some minor aggression maybe the first few days, but since then over the last year they are fine. I think that since the hippo was 1/2 the size of yellow upon introduction the intial aggression was less. They may change however since the hippo is now bigger than the yellow.

[flowerseller]

I have the most ridiculous purple tang. The drop dead prettiest I have ever seen but also a p---y of a fish.

My much smaller scopus tang keeps it in line and often holed up in a large opening in the rocks.

At one point the PT was so tattard I thought I would have to "spear" the scopus to save it.

It now gingerly swims about until noticed and quickly retreats to it's spot.

I have 4 tangs in this tank and the purple is clearly the least dominate but is the second largest.

It also was the last one added with the agression factor in mind.

[Valeria]

We currently have 3 tangs in our tank 2 yellow and one purple. The two yellow tangs will push each other around when they see each other and were the worst at the beginning. The Hippo and brown tang did not increase or reduce the aggression between the 3 tangs (2YT and PT). Currently all 3 tangs will attack any new member of the tank but the purple is definitely the worst. When I move the fish he will be the last one in the tank.