Agressive Purple Tang

[Jeffcb]

Purple tangs can be real bullies. My Scopas tang made my Purple tank stay in a cave for about 3 months. Added them at the same time with a Gem tang also (3 Zebras). When I added a my Blue Face angel he decided he wanted the cave the Purple tang was in. Now the Purple decided he has had enough and was tired of being bullied. The Purple beat the heck out of the Scopas! Now the Scopas has to hide in a rock. The Scopas hid for almost 2 weeks. I though he was dead. After about a month the Purple lets the Scopas swim around some but not much.

Long story short adding another fish or changing the tank in any way can dramality change the pecking order. It can flip one way or the other as time goes on. Good Luck!

 

[czoolander]

I feel you will be fine. I would go with a smaller Purple tang, maybe 2.5-3 in's and let it grow into the tank. It may get beat up on a little by the Tomini tang initially, BUT, it will find it's fins and grow up.

The other fish are a none issue.

I currently have a Purple tang, Gem tang, D. Sailfin tang, Achilles tang, True Blonde Naso tang, and a Tomini tang in my 225 gal tank.

Yeah I could have bought a medium size purple for $300 months ago but I have been waiting for a small purple at $200 for months . So I think he will be in that 2-3 inch range . my tomini is about 4-5 inch and hoping he does not bully to much . I have never seen any aggression from him at all he seems like the most chill fish in the tank LOL

I guess after QT ill put the purple in acclimation box and gauge the reaction from the tomini for a day or so before I release him

 

[Sylvester]

I had a hard time with a purple, Desjardini, and PBT in a 130 gallon Waterbox. I can’t imagine the purple letting you being high on the aggressive list.

 

[Billldg]

Yeah I could have bought a medium size purple for $300 months ago but I have been waiting for a small purple at $200 for months . So I think he will be in that 2-3 inch range . my tomini is about 4-5 inch and hoping he does not bully to much . I have never seen any aggression from him at all he seems like the most chill fish in the tank LOL

I guess after QT ill put the purple in acclimation box and gauge the reaction from the tomini for a day or so before I release him

I would look at TSM Aquatics for a QT'd tang.

 

[czoolander]

I would look at TSM Aquatics for a QT'd tang.

I know there are cheaper and better options for QTd fish in the states however I am in Canada my choices are limited unfortunately . Hence me having to wait 5+ months for my purple tang to come into the store haha

 

[GHOSTLY]

Not to hijack the post but I was planning on adding a purple tang to my tank . It is a 109 gallon 5ft long and only have a tomini tang right now for tangs in my tank. other fish foxface rabbit. 2 chromis . 1 clown. 1 wrasse. 1 coral beauty . They all get along right now with no issues

Thoughts ?

Your fine

 

[bnord]

There is so much dependent on the individual personality of the zebrasoma tang but in my experience and in the preponderance of what we read, purples can be at the aggressive end of the bell-shaped curve.
and never know what will make them snap.

have a 6’ 180 that has a year old good sized gentle giant vlamingi (which will need a re-homing if i can’t convince the wife a 300 peninsula is in the house plan) and had a royal blue. Added a purple and all was well for months.

not wanting to push the tang-tension any further, but wanting to add to the lawn maintenance (as the vlamingi does not graze one bit) added a smallish fox face. That night the purple decided to take off after the royal, so I turned the lights out and by noon the next day when I was going to try to remove one, the purple had killed the royal.

So the concerns are real, and the consequences can be extreme.

original poster is doing all he can to make a tough situation tolerable but I for one would think the sail fin is in for a stressful worrisome life and re-homing now might be the best path forward - in my opinion based on heartbreak

 

[bnord]

Also have two different bristle tooth, and a mimic in a 4’ 90 gallon lagoon, (with a cb rabbit fish) all added at the same time and never a moment of aggression (hope they don’t read this) so multiples and close relations can work, but purples can be problematic

 

[i cant think]

In a 90 gal tank, 3 tangs, 2 of which are Zebrasoma, is to small. I have 6 tangs in my 225 gal tank and see aggression.

The problem is that you added 2 tangs to a small tank that is owned by the Purple tang. Honestly, and I say this with the utmost respect, I would get rid of the Sailfin asap. It will quickly outgrow your tank. I have a D. Sailfin tang in my 225 gal tank and I will have to rehome it eventually. They grow up to a size of a dinner plate.

I planned my aquascape with tangs in mind, meaning, plenty of hiding spaces, but I still see aggression. I also added 4 of the tangs at one time to overwhelm the 2 tangs that called the tank their home.

In a 90 gal tank, I would go with a Bristletooth tang along with the Purple tang.

Can I just ask quickly, have you ever seen a true 15” sailfin in captivity? No, they stay more around 12” in captivity. Yes they can get up to 15” but very few do.
I highly doubt you would have to regime yours - Unless you mean dinner plate size which is including the fins?

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Feed well, lots of hiding spots, and supply an overabundance of flow helps.

Hell, i've had four tangs (clown, blue, sailfin, powder blue) and fox face in a 50 gallon for months while setting up a 200 gallon... (and a copperband, lol)...

i have no aggression issues. I also set 3 mp40's up to 90% flow for half the day and feed well and they have caves.

It really depends on the individual fish... and your discipline methods, lol, jk

..

 

[Billldg]

Can I just ask quickly, have you ever seen a true 15” sailfin in captivity? No, they stay more around 12” in captivity. Yes they can get up to 15” but very few do.
I highly doubt you would have to regime yours - Unless you mean dinner plate size which is including the fins?

I am including fins and all. Their fins are bigger than standard Zebrasoma tangs. All 3 of my Zebrasoma are about the same size, until they flash their fins, then my D. Sailfin is already bigger than the other 2.

 

[dieselkeeper]

4-5 inches is a big fish, for a 90 gallon. How much rock do you have? I would think you need swim room and some hiding spots. I have 6 tangs in a 210 gallon. When I added a new tang, I would feed a lot of nori. The last one I added was a mimic tang. He suffered 3 days of attacks from the other tangs. He lived behind the rocks. One day I came home from work and he was swimming around with the others.

 

[i cant think]

I am including fines and all. Their fins are bigger than standard Zebrasoma tangs. All 3 of my Zebrasoma are about the same size, until they flash their fins, then my D. Sailfin is already bigger than the other 2.

This makes sense - To me, Z. desjardini is more like an Acanthurus tang, 8’ tank yes (I won’t lie - I did forget they had a Desjardini in the tank). My dream tang is a Desjardini but I wouldn’t be able to afford the 8’x4’ unfortunately so the whole Desjardini tang idea has gone, however if I can afford a nice sized tank then I would be torn between Desjardini and Achilles. I haven’t seen a top down 12” desjardini so I can’t say I know how big their fins are.

I still think the OP could get away with the three tangs and just upgrade to 4’ until the desjardini is at 4-5” then when it reaches that try Atleast to get a 7’ tank.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Here's what i mean by lots of flow. It's like a treadmill for the fish. I definitely think this has let me get away with temporarily holding the tangs until the 200 gallon is done. It's just too much flow for them to pay attention to each other that much. Keeps them swimming at a pretty good clip.

Small fish just seek out caves.

Sometimes (often really) the tangs swim directly into the mp 40's--so they do like it. Kinda neat to watch.

When the lights come, i reduce flow for coral extension.

Having a ton of flow in a larger tank would help long term i think too.

Just an idea to help with aggression... with other tanks i have had, it seems if you can get past initial agression issues, the fish come to get along.

I will say the blue tang showed aggression to copperband at first. But the copperband nailed him with a dorsel spine and that ended that...

If aggression popped up in this tank, i just hire someone to quickly finish the room the 200 is going in. But this has bought me time to work on that room myself.

 

[i cant think]

Here's what i mean by lots of flow. It's like a treadmill for the fish. I definitely think this has let me get away with temporarily holding the tangs until the 200 gallon is done. It's just too much flow for them to pay attention to each other that much. Keeps them swimming at a pretty good clip.

Small fish just seek out caves.

Sometimes (often really) the tangs swim directly into the mp 40's--so they do like it. Kinda neat to watch.

When the lights come, i reduce flow for coral extension.

Having a ton of flow in a larger tank would help long term i think too.

Just an idea to help with aggression... with other tanks i have had, it seems if you can get past initial agression issues, the fish come to get along.

I will say the blue tang showed aggression to copperband at first. But the copperband nailed him with a dorsel spine and that ended that...

If aggression popped up in this tank, i just hire someone to quickly finish the room the 200 is going in. But this has bought me time to work on that room myself.

This is for sure one of the ways I have managed to keep aggression down between my wrasse (And tang! He lets me add in other fish as long as they don’t interfere with his hourly except size against the wave maker).

 

[i cant think]

It’s interesting to hear different peoples experience with tang aggression - When I get Atleast a 6’ tank I’m hoping to try an achilles with my Twin spot bristletooth.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

It’s interesting to hear different peoples experience with tang aggression - When I get Atleast a 6’ tank I’m hoping to try an achilles with my Twin spot bristletooth.

The tang police were in full force in the 2000's. There was this practice, or thought, you HAD to plan stocking for many years to come... kinda silly IMO.

Made more sense when we were all DIY and didnt upgrade tanks often and thought of fish more like dogs or cats--permanent members of the tank/house.

Some of us have come realize, however, that you can have happy fish in a variety of tank sizes including smaller tanks, and if it doesn't work--just up size the tank or trade/sell the fish... lots of quality, not that expensive, large tanks to buy or move the fish to...

The utility of the fish with algae control makes the hobby much better and easier, full tanks of fish--especially tangs-- look awesome. If you're willing to swap out fish, it's really not a big deal at all to try whatever you want... just another facit of the hobby--finding and keeping a happy community of fish and a tank you like..