Adding a Small Purple tang with a Large sailfin tang

Borgie234 · Jan 20, 2020

So let me start off by explaining my current situation. I am currently in my 2nd fallow period due to an ich outbreak in my 300 gallon DT. I have removed all of the fish and put them into a 200 gallon QT tank. The 200 gallon system is at full copper dosage (Cuppermine hannah checker reads .55) since January 1st. In that tank I currently have a blue hippo, convict, powder blue, keyhole, and a yellow tang as well as several other different types of fish. I also have a 30 gallon QT with a snowflake eel and a longfin clownfish, with no meds as of yet. I also have a 40 gallon QT with 6 inch sailfin tang. I was gifted a purple tang last night that is only about an inch long. As of now I have placed him into the 40 gallon breeder with the sailfin tang but with the lights off until I get home from work today, to watch for any aggression . I was thinking about moving the clown fish to the 40 gallon so that way I can begin copper treatment as I heard eels can not handle copper. My question is do you think I am safe with having the purple tang with the sailfin tang, since they are so different in size or am i asking for trouble? and if I am safe do you think i should add the clown fish into the 40 gallon before turning on the lights to diffuse aggression if there is any at all. Another note would be I have had the sailfin for about a week now, he is eating but seem fairly shy, when I walk up to the tank he always swims into his pvc and doesnt come out until I walk away. I have scene no signs of disease in either the 30 gallon or 40 gallon QTs but want to take the approach of treating everything that is wet. Also the reason why I feel rushed to get the sailfin and purple tang treated is so that way I can add those 2 in first to my DT before adding my original sets of tangs back into the DT. Please let me know your thoughts

reef lover · Feb 4, 2020

@4FordFamily any thoughts here..

4FordFamily · Feb 4, 2020

It’s always a risk mixing the two, especially when they’re the only inhabitants but many sailfin tangs given the size difference are pretty docile. I’d just monitor it and hope for the best.

Zos4me · Feb 4, 2020

My tang and clown were fine til this week.the tang hit a point in maturity and now he is a bully.i had a purple and a sailfin in my last tank and they got along fine but they were the same size

fishguy242 · Feb 4, 2020

imo big size difference ,purple is no threat to sail ,should be no problem just opinion

Punchanello · Feb 4, 2020

Agree with @fishguy242. Given the size difference there's unlikely to be an issue.

Borgie234 · Feb 5, 2020

Sorry guys, just now seeing these reply post, turned out the sailfin did pick on the purple, didnt seem to attack but definitely pick at him when going for food, so I removed the sailfin and placed him in a 30 gallon QT for now, which both seem happy for now.

PEP12 · Feb 5, 2020

I have a large Sailfin and a slightly smaller purple tang, most of the time they are alright together but now and then they lash each other with their tails with no injuries occurring, the Sailfin is a bit of a bully to other fish as well, just chases them

jsvand5 · Feb 5, 2020

Keith Boigegrain said:
Sorry guys, just now seeing these reply post, turned out the sailfin did pick on the purple, didnt seem to attack but definitely pick at him when going for food, so I removed the sailfin and placed him in a 30 gallon QT for now, which both seem happy for now.

How long did you leave them together before removing the sailfin? There is pretty much always going to be at least some picking/chasing for the first couple days when introducing a new tang to an established one.

Borgie234 · Feb 5, 2020

jsvand5 said:
How long did you leave them together before removing the sailfin? There is pretty much always going to be at least some picking/chasing for the first couple days when introducing a new tang to an established one.

I didnt wait too long he was only in there for a day, but I wanted to give the purple tang time to of peace and get him eating before having to worry other tank mates, they will be re-united in the DT

jlts21 · Feb 5, 2020

Keith Boigegrain said:
I didnt wait too long he was only in there for a day, but I wanted to give the purple tang time to of peace and get him eating before having to worry other tank mates, they will be re-united in the DT

you should have left it in there. It's going to happen all over again when you reintroduce the sailfin. There is always going to be some picking/chasing the first couple days no matter what. It's part of what happens. The fish have an established pecking order and once a new fish is introduced, that pecking order then needs adjusting. IMO the only time you should remove a problem fish within the first couple of days is if the bullying/chasing/picking is so bad that the receiver is getting injured/seriously beat up

steallife904 · Feb 5, 2020

yep I would put him back. right before you do maybe rearrange the rock, pvc or whatever you have in there. Move it around and add more if you can!

Katrina71 · Feb 5, 2020

Baby purple tang pics please.

Borgie234 · Feb 6, 2020

Ill have to get the pic alittle later. I currently have 3 different QT tanks, 30, 40, and a 150 gallon. All of my fish that where in the DT when I had the ich outbreak went into the 150. The 40 gallon (currently at full copper dosage) as the purple tang and the 30 gallon (currently at full copper dosage) has the sailfin. My date for the end of the fallow period is March 7. So that gives me the time to fully treat all the tanks. My plan is to add the purple tang and maybe a couple of docile fish from the 150 back to DT first, then add the sailfin with a few other tangs I have, that are more his size (not as big but close). So i figured the larger tangs would be more focused on each other rather than the small purple tang. What do you guys think? Should I still add the sailfin back to the 40 gallon now?