Playing with fire

[Paxthemax]

I've always wanted a tomini tang. When I set up the tank (75gal) I was going to get one but my wife saw this tiny (2" or smaller) purple tang and "had" to have it. 7 months later and an upgrade from a 75 to a 125 and the tang has grown significantly (6-7").

Well we were at the LFS and they had a tiny tomini tang on hand (1-2") and according to my wife "it's so tiny and cute we just have to get it" so now we have 2 tangs.

I'm hoping that the difference in species and sizes keeps the purple from killing the tomini. I have a breeder box I can put in there to use as an acclimation box but I dont want to yet.

Has anyone done a similar pairing or had a similar situation? What was the outcome?

Here's a full tank shot just for the heck of it.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Purple will be aggressive with the Tomini.

Your tank doesn't have a lot of corals, so with that, I would rearrange the rock work. As well, using a mirror may help. It may distract the purple. But I would do both to achieve some degree of success.

Good luck.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

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[AbnormalReefer]

Personally I wouldn’t worry. On average tangs of different genus get along pretty well. Tomini is in the Ctenochaetus genus, and Purple is in the Zebrasoma genus. I would not recommend keeping both in a 75 gallon for life though. They’ll be fine as juveniles, but may age aggressively. I’d get rid of one of them or upgrade the tank.

 

[nereefpat]

So, it looks like they are both in a 125 now? I think you have a decent chance with that working. Use the usually tricks, like acclimation box and mirrors.

If you added a Tomini to a 75 with an established purple, i would say you would be playing with fire. I had two different yellow tangs go postal in my old 90 gallon.

 

[Jesterrace]

Tough call, Purples aren't known for their sweet disposition, but the tank might be large enough for the two to coexist. Keep an eye on the Tomini as the smaller ones tend to have a fairly high mortality rate.