Purple and yellow tang together

[sully08]

To all you tang professors......
I have a purple and yellow tang separated in quarantine, about 3" each. Soon they will meet in my 150g DT. Am I asking for trouble with aggression, has any had success? Comments welcome.

[H2o2]

Maybe add the yellow first for a few days as purples are a bit more of a d*ck

[DKoKoMan]

I may have lucked out but... I have currently living together in my 300g a yellow, purple, powder blue and hippo tang. They all leave each other alone and very rarely show any aggression. I think a big thing is to introduce them together as there is no claimed territory. As long as they have room to establish their own space you should be good to go. Also if they are around the same size that seems to help. By far my worst tang in the bunch is the powder blue. He will chase any newcomer around for a day and then gets bored.

[sully08]

Yes, I was told to add them at the same time

[albert_dao]

Q: I have a cat. Can I get another cat?

A: shrug....

Same answer for most saltwater fish. They all have different personalities.

[smokinreefer]

There are always exceptions as each fish is unique in personality.

In my experience, aside from the temperament of the particular specimen you have, a large enough tank, with enough aquascaping so the fish are constantly staring at each other will help with your success.

If they are similar in size is helpful.

Introducing at same time is a bonus, but how often do you get to buy all the fish you want at once? If not possible to add at same time, it's said to be helpful (and I've done this myself) to rearrange some rock work/ coral placement to disrupt established territories, and i usually give a big feeding too as a momentary distraction.

In my past 180g mixed reef, I was able to add several tangs at different times with success. Yellow tang first. Purple tang second. Red Sea sailfin third. Powder blue tang last. If I recall, time frame from 1st to last tang being added was between 1-2 yrs.

I currently have 2 tangs, added at the same time. A yellow and a powder blue, both of which were approximately the same size when added (juveniles). I plan to add a similar sized red Sea sailfin when I have the chance. Most likely that will be the last tang I will get.

So long story short, I think you would be fine with those two.

[sully08]

Thanks for the feed back....I would like to add one more tang in the future and when I do I will change my aquascape around, hope that works..

[Vicreefer1993]

Adding multiple tangs at the same time is beneficial if the tank has room, also an egg crate divider to let the new fish settle in is a very good idea.

[straightrazorguy]

While I agree that adding them both at the same time is ideal, it doesn't always work the same way. I had an established 4 inch yellow in my DT while I was quarantining a 3 inch purple. When the quarantine time was up I caught the yellow and swapped them: yellow went into QT and purple went into the DT. After a week or 10 days I added the YT back into his old home. They've been OK since. There are bouts of squabbling, every now and then, but nothing worrisome....

Edit: I also had a Kole in the same tank, who stayed in his home throughout the ordeal. He never bothered anyone, and continues to be a model citizen...

[scilover]

From what I know, the purple tang is the most aggressive fish from the Acanthuridae family. They rarely get along with others. However, if you still want to have them together, I recommend putting them together into the same aquarium at the same time.

[Ryan]

From what I know, the purple tang is the most aggressive fish from the Acanthuridae family. They rarely get along with others. However, if you still want to have them together, I recommend putting them together into the same aquarium at the same time.

I would put the Sohal at the top of that list with the Clown tang right there with it. The powder tangs and Achilles are also far more aggressive I have found than Purple. Even in the Zebrasoma family the Sailfins I have experienced are worse than purples. In terms of tangs, Purples are pretty mellow.

Lots of people have paired Purple Tangs and Yellow Tangs together. I have them together currently in my tank and they get along fine. Like mentioned, there are some methods to getting the fish to get along however over all they are pretty easy and I wouldnt hesitate to try it.