Purple Tang Experience

[yman182]

Hi All,

I am reading a lot of horror stories about purple tangs just being the most aggressive tang in the tank. Does anyone have a good experience with a purple?

my current tang list in my tank includes

yellow tang
Powder brown tang
Sailfin


the following are arriving shortly

Hippo
Black
Gem

I’ve seen them in stores and they do not seem overly aggressive, but I am curious what others personal experience is.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Mine, raised from the body-size of a half-dollar (to now pretty much full grown), is a big baby, scared of his own shadow. He will travel the whole tank (150-gallon), but mostly using rockwork as cover. Mostly he likes to hang out under the safety of some ledges.

 

[fox0521]

I’ll preface my response with the acknowledgement that my tangs have only been in my DT for a few weeks!

anyway, I have a scopas tang and a purple tang together in a 130 g with 2 clowns. Outside of the first couple days, I’ve witnessed no aggression! What ultimately ended the aggression for mine was rearranging the rock work. Now they swim by each other, eat together, weave in and out of the rock work, without any issues. Might see an occasional tail swipe (no injuries) when food gets low, but I try to keep nori available during all daylight hours. Scopas is bigger and was added first (1 week before purple).

 

[hds4216]

Wow you'll have a lot of tangs in that tank OP!

 

[Campy10]

I have a Purple with a Yellow, Blue and Sailfin tang in a 180. They all get along reasonably but the purple is the smallest. Sometimes the Blue will chase the Purple around.

 

[codycolina707]

Hi All,

I am reading a lot of horror stories about purple tangs just being the most aggressive tang in the tank. Does anyone have a good experience with a purple?

my current tang list in my tank includes

yellow tang
Powder brown tang
Sailfin


the following are arriving shortly

Hippo
Black
Gem

I’ve seen them in stores and they do not seem overly aggressive, but I am curious what others personal experience is.

I have a pack of 3 all together all added at same time same size been a year and they all get along pretty good

 

[Oldreefer44]

IMO, the yellow will likely be dominant in that the purple will be invading its territory. The is my experience and to this day, 3 years later, the yellow periodically chases the purple around.

 

[CollectOyster04]

I picked mine up when it wasn't quite as big as a half dollar. Was worried about my chocolate tang(5 inches) being a bully. About a year and a half later(running about 5 inches itself now), my purple can be the biggest bully in the tank. It and the chocolate take turns and they each have their own fish they like to bully at times. And they both on occasion bow up to each other. Nothing overly serious, but any new additions and the purple is usually the first to "greet" them. They were in a standard 125, now are in a 240. Every fish is different, but they do have a reputation for a reason. Mine have never gone as far as almost killing any other fish, but definitely shows who runs the tank.

 

[Buckster]

I have a hippo, purple and yellow tang in a 180 and will be adding a sailfin and gem soon. The 3 were in a 30 gal QT together and the purple would try to attack the yellow. I had to put a divider to help alleviate the aggression. Once they were moved to the 180 it was amazing how the aggression subsided. The purple will only show periodic aggression. Nothing that I worry about. Time will tell when the other two are added.

 

[Zionas]

How big is your Purple?

 

[Buckster]

My hippo is 4", Yellow 3" and the Purple is 3 1/2". The Sailfin is 3" and the Gem is 4"

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

My pt is not welcome back in the dt after the fallow period is up.

He's a j erk to new arrivals, thinks he owns the whole tank and gets defensive of the nori clips.

 

[recreative]

had one, returned to the lfs . . . try a white tail tang maybe?

 

[OrionN]

Hi All,

I am reading a lot of horror stories about purple tangs just being the most aggressive tang in the tank. Does anyone have a good experience with a purple?

my current tang list in my tank includes

yellow tang
Powder brown tang
Sailfin


the following are arriving shortly

Hippo
Black
Gem

I’ve seen them in stores and they do not seem overly aggressive, but I am curious what others personal experience is.

The most important information is not in this post. The size of the tank.

The most aggressive two tangs in that group are the Purple and the Yellow tangs. If your tank is 300+ gallons, I would add the Black, Gem and Hippo first before the Purple. If it is less than 300 gals, then I think you just need to pick the ONE tang that you like them most and add it in there.

 

[PeterC99]

My purple tang was very aggressive - had to get rid of him.
Big fan of the Orange Shoulder Tang. Great community fish, leaves corals alone, and is beautiful.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’d classify my 6” Purple Tang as a bit of an oddball; somewhat of a shy fish. Currently his is in a 150-gallon with an Emperor Angel, Clown Trigger, Yellowhead Wrasse, Blue Eyed Kole Tang, and several Damsels. He is non-agressive, and basically hovers around the rocks, waiting for food. I’ve had him since he was about 1 1/2”.

 

[Patman]

It all comes down to age of the fish, tank size, food availability, and territory. With a large tank and juvenile tangs it's very easy as long as you keep plenty of food available which is no problem with nori clips on each end of the tank.

 

[schuby]

I've always read that yellow and purple tangs will naturally fight because they have the same body shape. I have no idea how they recognize their own shape. Don't know if I believe this theory.

Over two tanks across 13 years, I've had 3 sets of yellow & purple tangs together in same tank (2 sets first, 90gal tank, 1 set now). I buy them same size, small, at the same time. They grow up together. First set passed when I left return pump off overnight (2 yrs). 2nd set went with tank when I sold it because I moved to MA ( 8 yrs). Last set I have now (2 yrs).

My current 150 gal has 4 tangs: yellow (5"), purple (5"), powder blue (5"), & hippo (6"). It has a good amount of rock with lots of caves. I believe that adequate feeding and plenty of hiding places prevents most aggression: I feed frozen once a day & put a day's worth of nori on a clip each day.

My tangs will occasionally tail-swat each other, but most of the time they're cruising around. Hippo/ Dori frequently "hides", but that is just her demeanor. None of my tangs have any scars nor are any of them bullied.

One thing I'm pretty sure of is that fish live to eat!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Oh my God I am grabbing the popcorn.

 

[Operation Philo Beddoe]

Oh my God I am grabbing the popcorn.

Hi All,

I am reading a lot of horror stories about purple tangs just being the most aggressive tang in the tank. Does anyone have a good experience with a purple?

my current tang list in my tank includes

yellow tang
Powder brown tang
Sailfin


the following are arriving shortly

Hippo
Black
Gem

I’ve seen them in stores and they do not seem overly aggressive, but I am curious what others personal experience is.

I’m assembling my tang clan for an upcoming 300 gal. Everybody is in quarantine. My Purple is definitely most aggressive, slinks around the PVC, had to separate from the sailfin because it was getting HLLE, which I’m still trying to recover from. These 2 are 2-3” in a 20 long. I have 2 yellows in separate 10 gallon on the kitchen counter. I started off with the tanks end to end, and yesterday rotated so my yellows are now eyeballing each other. Ok, here is where I get a little strange. The new big Planet tank, is for the Goldflake Angel I purchased 3 yrs ago and put in my Redsea170.
and then I saw an Achilles at my LFS,,, and brought his little fins home as well. Archie the Achilles is in a 20 long on a cart. He and my goldflake have been 4-5 feet apart for the last month eyeballing each other,,, except for when I roll his fins into the kitchen to observe his future subjects. The Planet tank arrives soon but the Geo sump is “worth the wait” maybe Sept. so I purchased a 40 breeder that is going to become the playground. Everybody (minus Goldflake and Archie) are going to have a play date in “the octagon”. There is no question who is more aggressive between my little sailfin and purple, the purple was smaller a few weeks ago and now is bigger than the sailfin,,, simply because he eats a wider variety of the foods offered in a more aggressive manner. I’m watching the bugger,, I think I may have to buy 1-2 more purple to diffuse aggression. My baby Yellows are looking at each other in their respective 10 gal, ,,only care about what the other is doing. I have a coral beauty with one yellow and they hang out and sleep together. I’m going to walk up with a net and see if I win out. Nope, they eyeballed the net for a sec and “back to what that funny yellow dude is up to”.
obviously there is little cooking in the kitchen (or women in the house, sigh).