Purple Tangs and Zoos

[JTrigger]

Anyone with a purple tang have trouble with it chomping on their zoos? Just wondering... and also wondering what people thought when considering purchasing either a yellow or a purple in terms of pros/cons.. I presume both are quite resistant to ich and that as a sole tang they should be fine, but would a purple tend to quarrel more with other fish or is it more aggressive in general?

JT

[Alice]

Tangs are nicknamed "ich magnets" and with good reason. They seem prone to ich more than any other fish we typically keep in home aquaria. IMO it's due more to the inadequate conditions that these fish are often kept in, rather than a natural inclination to be more susceptible to ich.

Tangs are often kept in aquariums that are too small with not enough free swimming space, thrown together with tankmates that cause them stress, aren't provided with an adequate diet heavy in greens and readily available for grazing and placed in immature systems that suffer in water quality from too many fish too soon.

If, however, a quality environment and diet can be provided, tangs don't seem to be affected much more by ich than any other fish. QT'ing all new arrivals, fish and invertebrates, will go a long ways to keep ich from entering your system.

As far as munching on things, tangs don't get much of a bad rap, it will probably depend on the individual appetite of the fish.

IME, yellow tangs tend to be more skittish; purple tangs more aggressive but all tangs can be belligerent and territorial.

I hope this helps :)

Alice

[vjvl51]

I have a powder brown tang that has been a model citizen. No problems with aggression or munching until this week. He has decided he likes my leather polyps. Both leathers are complaining!!! I'm hoping that when the new tank is set up (probably in a couple of months) that things will improve as the leathers will go into the new tank. Hopefully he won't develop a taste for something else. :( In the meantime, the leathers might have to be moved to the refuge with very low lighting.

I agree a proper diet will probably go a long way to avoiding ich. I have a veggie clip in my tank to hold daily portions of sushihane, dulse (both types of nori - seaweed for human consumption) as well as tang heaven, ulva or grape caulpera. When the clip is empty, I add more.

Vickie

[JTrigger]

Thanks for the reply to both of you. Yep, I'm trying to keep a well rounded diet in the tank at all times... just tough sometimes because my roomate feeds for me as I'm at the hospital ~100 hrs/wk, but now that I'm going to buy a tang after my tank has been reestablished I'm hoping things will be fine.

So what else would people think when considering purchasing a yellow v. purple v. any other Zebrasoma of a similar body configuration given blacks don't come around too often *grin*

JT