Purple Tang question

[crossxfire2]

I have a very aggressive purple tang, and I would like some reef safe fish that can survive his wrath! In yall's infinate wisdom, do you have any suggestions as to which fish are reef safe, and agressive as well? These fish need to be compatable with a 100 gallon.

Thank you!!!!!!

[Ping]

Good luck with this, no sarcasm intended. A good rule to follow if introducing another Tang is that the new fish should be much smaller or much larger. This helps eliminate long term aggression.

Non Tang related fish should be fine, but others may have had different experiences with this.

[ACE]

I had a purple that was very aggressive too. He beat up and killed a BF Angel, and kept a Puffer and Trigger inline as well.

[corkyGramma]

Purple tangs are very bold, as yellow tangs are. One trick that worked for me is as you are acclimating the new fish... put a mirror on one of the sides of the tank-the image of himself is a bigger threat and he'll attack himself instead of the new guy . One other tang that does not "seem" to cause competition with those bold tangs are blue hippo tangs-this is due mostly because he is a different shape, color and temperment. Most hobbists want to introduce a variety of inverts and coral to their systems so just keep compatability in mind as you select your fish, those large preditory fishes limit your choices greatly.

[kkiel02]

Mine is about 3 inches and is quite calm. I think this is because my other tang ( sailfin) is about an 1/2-1 inch bigger. If you get another tang I would get a "calmer" larger tang. Or remove the tang while you introduce a new one then reintroduce the purple after the other tang is comfortable in the tank. Like I said I think my sailfin keeps my purple in line since it is larger. Anyways good luck and hope it works out for you.

[alton]

Add fish that do not compete for free swimming space. A pair of Clownfish, Long Nose Hawkfish, and Gobies come to mind.

[sampsonndelila]

I have mine with other tangs and he is fine. They are all the similar size. But I have heard if you have a bad reaction like fighting you can rearrange the rocks? Good luck.

Lion fish are reef safe and seem to get along with most fish.

[Kristy]

How about a yellow tang the exact same size as him? Oh, wait... that's the WORST thing you could add!

We had a very dominant yellow tang in our 100g and added a purple the same size (they have the same body shape as the yellow so those two are the most at odds with one another)! They scrapped pretty badly until we put a big piece of egg crate in the tank to separate the two for a week. When they got used to one another, it was just fine. You'd be better off choosing fish that are dis-similar in size and shape.

Of all our tangs (yellow, purple, blue hippo, and powder blue), our purple is the "low man" on the totem pole. For whatever reason, the fish he chooses to take his frustrations out on is the long-nosed butterfly. I guess he sees him as most similar in size and is threatened. No problem between him and the wrasses, gobies, clowns, anthias, hawks, etc. Just gives heck to that long-nosed butterfly fish.

Good luck. Definitely try the rearranging of the rock work when you put a new fish in, and maybe try putting the new fish in pairs so that it takes the heat off of just one.

[z28pwr]

You should get a breeder box or a small acrylic "tank" with holes that fits in your tank, this will allow the purple tang to see the new fish but not allow him to hurt him. Leave the new fish in the box for a couple of weeks then release him at night when it's pitch black. It also helps if you add more then one fish at a time. I had to add 3 tangs at once to my tank to avoid them getting beat up.

[RICKY81]

in my 210 gal...i have a Purple tang with a Scopas Tang, 2 Yellow Tangs (first ones in the tank), Blue Hippo, Naso Tang, Orange Shoulder tang and the newest Achilles Tang...and out of all these my most aggressive would have to be my smallest Yellow tang, but the Purple Tang will fight mainly with the scopas and small yellow tang ( i guess it's do to the body structure).....

what i have done especially with my latest addition my Achilles Tang is that i left the bag with the fish in the sump to acclimate to water temp. but at this time the aquarium lights had been off for the night, and all fish were "asleep" (got knows what really is happening behind the rocks), i then released the fish into the tank, and kept the lights off till the next day for approx. 8-10hrs or so, and immediately the Achilles was swimming on its own little world back and forth not worrying about the other....

i have tried this method with all my fish and they seem to do pretty good.

other fish that i have in the tank with my Purple Tang.....Coral Beauty, Flame Angel, and Koran Angel, and they seem to get along good...with no problem.