Hello,
One point of contention is that tangs don’t “school”. They shoal. I don’t mean to split hairs, but it’s important to understand the difference.
Shoal or School - Ocean Dimensions
Do you know the difference between a shoal or school of fish? While in the water we see plenty of fish that group together. There are certain behaviours and characteristics to look out for to determine if the group is a shoal or school. Shoaling All social groupings of fish are considered a...www.oceandimensions.com
Fish that school often “need” or feel most comfortable together. Shoaling can begin and end and is more what you see in tangs.
They often stick together to feed but if they could feed in each others absence they may even prefer that. Anyway, enough splitting hairs!
If you have enough “real estate” - this may work. Purple are more aggressive as zebrasoma go but with several I’m sure you’d be fine. In fact, even powder blues get along with one another in numbers great enough! I’ve had 6-7 together for a time but disease took it all but 2. 2 didn’t work. But I’ve seen this in large aquaria many times and I consider PBT particularly surly.
The small size is likely to make them less of a threat and less of a target to the incumbent tangs. However - it sounds like the sailfin is the true tank boss. He doesn’t allow aggression because he is top dog (I hope that never changes or you’ll end up with a likely “mad king” situation if you get the reference).
However, your sail is a zebrasoma tang as well so it’s possible he would not approve of this idea but I’m guessing numbers are your friend in this instance.
However - being so small, it also makes the new purples more susceptible to death by aggression as they will be quite fragile. As ruthless as it sounds - if you want 7, I’d buy 10. Law of averages and things happen. 2-3 isn’t likely to work so you’ll want to ensure you have room for loss.
My typical disclaimer though is that individual fish have individual temperaments and nothing is ever guaranteed - I try to operate (based on experience) on suggested probabilities!
If you do accomplish this, you must post videos! :)
I appreciate your response, yeah I was thinking 9 to end up with 7 but can buy 10. My worry is indeed that the sailfin will pick the weakest and destroy one at a time. I am hoping 2 mirrors along with extra large PVCs that change the landscaping to keep him occupied might allow the purples to settle in.
I'd be pretty ticked if this many would die in my tank; the financial loss being secondary.
BTW. I have 6 cherub (argi) angels in the tank and the way they behave is pretty hilarious; I love it. They look like SWAT team clearing each room on the way from one side of the tank to the other.
