I take care of a tank that has a yellow,and purple and they have been together for at least 12 years now- they share the 125 with a 15 year old blue hep. I have mixed purples and yellows in the past- and it is dependent on the individual fishes personality. There does need to be room for territory though- the purple and yellow stay at opposite ends of the tank, other than feeding time.
Purple And Yellow Tang compatibility
- Thread starter Breakbeats2334
- Start date
nsmith_mma
New member
Wow the establishment is coming down on me hard here. I feel like Newt Gingrich all of a sudden.
And he is not an expert because I say he is an expert. Him being an expert is what makes him an expert. You guys can follow rules posted in a sticky thread. Wow. That makes you experts? No it does not. It means you buy what's given to you. Someone who experiments is much more of an expert because they can provide actual experience rather than theoretical experience.
So far the only person in this thread who has engaged me even somewhat intellectually and without judgment has been sandwi54. I knew feathers would be ruffled when I challenged the status quo, but I didn't think you guys would throw such a hissy fit because something that you think shouldn't work actually has worked.
And he is not an expert because I say he is an expert. Him being an expert is what makes him an expert. You guys can follow rules posted in a sticky thread. Wow. That makes you experts? No it does not. It means you buy what's given to you. Someone who experiments is much more of an expert because they can provide actual experience rather than theoretical experience.
So far the only person in this thread who has engaged me even somewhat intellectually and without judgment has been sandwi54. I knew feathers would be ruffled when I challenged the status quo, but I didn't think you guys would throw such a hissy fit because something that you think shouldn't work actually has worked.
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
Nice circular reasoning, don't see much of a point in trying to have a discussion with you on this subject any longer.
BTW -- I did state my experiences with trying a purple tang (( just a purple )) in a 4 foot tank, and it didn't work --- is that a "hissy fit"?
nsmith_mma
New member
The way you went about it seemed a bit hissy fit-ish. You discredited my source first, then shared your own experience second. If you don't like circular reasoning, see my first couple of posts which explained why I consider him an expert. If you had read those, then I don't think I would have had to make a mockery of the process of reasoning as I did. Since the reasons I provided weren't sufficient to you, I figured why bother. If you aren't going to hear my argument, it does me no good to reiterate points I've already made.
It's funny because I predicted that people would default to the "he isn't an expert because his success doesn't follow our formula" argument, but still you went that route anyway even though I already pointed out that that would be the response. So I would like to say -1 to you for being predictable.
Now if you want to be ignorant to points I'm going to make, then don't bother taking the authoritative "don't see much of a point in trying to have a discussion with you on this subject any longer" stance as it only makes your argument look weaker since at no point in this discussion have you demonstrated knowledge to me that suggests your words have authority over mine. Your negative experience and my cousin's positive experience cancel out and lead us to the already established conclusion of "it depends, but it can be done". If you want to continue to discuss this with me, I will gladly oblige you. But I would ask that you at least read my previous posts and make sure the information on which you are seeking clarity hasn't already been covered.
It's funny because I predicted that people would default to the "he isn't an expert because his success doesn't follow our formula" argument, but still you went that route anyway even though I already pointed out that that would be the response. So I would like to say -1 to you for being predictable.
Now if you want to be ignorant to points I'm going to make, then don't bother taking the authoritative "don't see much of a point in trying to have a discussion with you on this subject any longer" stance as it only makes your argument look weaker since at no point in this discussion have you demonstrated knowledge to me that suggests your words have authority over mine. Your negative experience and my cousin's positive experience cancel out and lead us to the already established conclusion of "it depends, but it can be done". If you want to continue to discuss this with me, I will gladly oblige you. But I would ask that you at least read my previous posts and make sure the information on which you are seeking clarity hasn't already been covered.
betamed
New member
my purple has killed a sailfin tang and two wrasses. Currently in a 300g but this was in a 48" 150g. keeping any combination of fishes together depends on a number of factors with the personality of the fish being a wildcard. Hippo tangs get 12" so seeing one in anything less than 6' tank makes no sense to me.
lucky_snapper
New member
I currently have a powder blue, Purple and Blue hippo tang in a 55 gallon holding tank. They have been there for about 3-4 months and there was some picking and chasing at first but they have all settled in with out a problem. In a few days they will be added with Sailfin tang to my 210 that currently has a Yellow tang. All tangs are about 4 inches in length and are fat and happy. Over the last 4 moths or so all three tangs in my 55 have grown and are very fat and healthy. Would I keep 3 tangs in a 55 long term no but I plan to add the 4 tangs to the 210 at the same time and hopes that they will settle in. The yellow chased my fox face for the first few days he was in the big tank but now they leave each other alone.
I was told from day one that a powder blue and purple would never live in the same tank but I can honestly say that I proved that wrong.So from my experience you can do it ... although it may not be optimal it can be done.
I was told from day one that a powder blue and purple would never live in the same tank but I can honestly say that I proved that wrong.So from my experience you can do it ... although it may not be optimal it can be done.
MrTuskfish
Team RC
IME, a purple and a PBT are not a big deal---if they have enough room. Fish of these two genera are often kept together. A purple and a yellow; being the same genus, are much more likely to be a problem. BTW; IMO, one exception doesn't prove anything wrong.
I made an error of judgement last year to help out a fellow reefer.
I took a 2'' Purple Tang through my inexperience and added it into my system with an already established pair of Yellow Tangs and a 4'' Purple.
WWIII ensued for 24hrs. I honestly thought that the small new addition was history and that I would be fishing out a corpse.
Nope. Within the first 24hrs, the fish had sorted out who was the boss and the small PT was being shown around the tank by the larger one. I now have a smaller PT that thinks he can get away with anything because he has larger mates to back him up.
Completely against the rules...but so far I am getting away with it.
But then again...I like doing things the wrong way:spin2:
I keep a Citron Goby with SPS...no issues.
I have a pair of Lawnmower Blennies....no issues.
I have a pair of Tiger Pistol Shrimps and Randalls Gobies...no issues.
Am I prepared to act if I do start having issues....yup.
I took a 2'' Purple Tang through my inexperience and added it into my system with an already established pair of Yellow Tangs and a 4'' Purple.
WWIII ensued for 24hrs. I honestly thought that the small new addition was history and that I would be fishing out a corpse.
Nope. Within the first 24hrs, the fish had sorted out who was the boss and the small PT was being shown around the tank by the larger one. I now have a smaller PT that thinks he can get away with anything because he has larger mates to back him up.
Completely against the rules...but so far I am getting away with it.
But then again...I like doing things the wrong way:spin2:
I keep a Citron Goby with SPS...no issues.
I have a pair of Lawnmower Blennies....no issues.
I have a pair of Tiger Pistol Shrimps and Randalls Gobies...no issues.
Am I prepared to act if I do start having issues....yup.
joejoe1055
New member
nomoney u said u had 3 yellows and a purple in a 75
what happened to them? do u still have them together?
what happened to them? do u still have them together?
Dragon moray ki
New member
I'm planning on keeping a kole or a tommi tang in my 90 just one tang not 2 I can't imagine those tangs in a 60 gallon cube listen to todd and very one else here
nsmith_mma
New member
rpjaws74
New member
Interesting thread and some good points on both sides of the spectrum! Ive been in this hobby for over 12 yrs and I can tell you I have seen good hunbandry and not so good. Im not here to tell anyone where and how to keep there fish but the goal of this hobby is to mimic nature as close as we can. And I will say this in respond to the question on hand like it was said to me; You wouldnt keep a lion and tiger in the same cage or would you? And just because you can keep a tiger in a cage for many years it doesnt mean its happy or thriving. Sure its a bit dramatic in comparison but I guess its proves a point.
nsmith_mma
New member
I hate to revive this thread, but I wanted to post a picture of this 60 cube that my clearly novice cousin who couldn't possibly know anything about reef keeping has been running for well over 2 years now with 3 tangs, a thriving copperband butterfly, a mated pair of mystery wrasse, and a mated pair of black perculas.
Wow they must be truly unhappy in such a clearly unsuitable environment. I mean look at the atrocity of that tank....he clearly is a totally inexperienced reefer, even though his tank is pristine (the tank actually texts him if one of his parameters goes slightly off balance and he can correct them with his phone) and the lighting is perfect for the coral (made entirely of LEDs, can be controlled by his computer, can simulate clouds passing or lightning storms). Not to mention that compared to other specimens, his tangs are not nearly the same. I would actually say they are much better looking than most specimens I have seen. The PT is easily the best I have seen, and his copperband is fat and now eating nothing but prepared foods. His inexperience somehow weened him off of blackworms and onto prepared foods, something that is supposedly very difficult to do.
You guys were pretty quick to judge, and I know you are still going to, but this tank speaks for itself. Here are a couple of pics from his 240 at his house:
Young tank:
Coral Growth:
Frag Rack:
Tangs:
As you can see, he is clearly a novice aquarist, even though he has gotten colors out of his corals like I have never seen on this board from any of your tanks, his fish are all healthy, fat, and thriving, and his tank is set up in a way to where it is borderline self-aware. Both of his tanks, but especially his home aquarium, are TOTM worthy. But just because he has three tangs in a 60 cube that are thriving and you think they shouldn't be, then you guys feel the need to discredit him and act like he's some novice. Grow up. Ask questions. Experiment with things. I have seen these tanks first hand and trust me when I say they aren't surviving, they are thriving.
Wow they must be truly unhappy in such a clearly unsuitable environment. I mean look at the atrocity of that tank....he clearly is a totally inexperienced reefer, even though his tank is pristine (the tank actually texts him if one of his parameters goes slightly off balance and he can correct them with his phone) and the lighting is perfect for the coral (made entirely of LEDs, can be controlled by his computer, can simulate clouds passing or lightning storms). Not to mention that compared to other specimens, his tangs are not nearly the same. I would actually say they are much better looking than most specimens I have seen. The PT is easily the best I have seen, and his copperband is fat and now eating nothing but prepared foods. His inexperience somehow weened him off of blackworms and onto prepared foods, something that is supposedly very difficult to do.
You guys were pretty quick to judge, and I know you are still going to, but this tank speaks for itself. Here are a couple of pics from his 240 at his house:
Young tank:
Coral Growth:
Frag Rack:
Tangs:
As you can see, he is clearly a novice aquarist, even though he has gotten colors out of his corals like I have never seen on this board from any of your tanks, his fish are all healthy, fat, and thriving, and his tank is set up in a way to where it is borderline self-aware. Both of his tanks, but especially his home aquarium, are TOTM worthy. But just because he has three tangs in a 60 cube that are thriving and you think they shouldn't be, then you guys feel the need to discredit him and act like he's some novice. Grow up. Ask questions. Experiment with things. I have seen these tanks first hand and trust me when I say they aren't surviving, they are thriving.
nsmith_mma
New member
I got nothing but attitude when I was talking about my cousin's tanks, so excuse me if I'm a little annoyed.
And I brought it up to justify my point. And to prove to you guys that you don't always know what you're talking about, even if your info comes from the holy grail of info (the tang tank size sticky).
I'm sorry, but if you can come into a thread and tell someone they don't know what they are talking about based on something you have read and mock me for it, then you better be prepared to get the same in return when I told you I had actually seen it and could provide evidence to back my claim. So sorry, but I don't intend to change my tone until you guys can admit to me that the expert I cited is actually an expert based on the evidence provided. Since I know that very likely will not happen, my tone will likely stay the same.
Now, to be fair, you were one of the only people to provide me with a real world example, albeit it was only one example. So I will say I thank you for that.
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nsmith_mma
New member
Oh I will. I first saw it 2 years ago, and the picture I provided was from a couple of months ago. He knows the fish won't reach their wild size in his aquarium. He also knows they live perfectly fine together. This is the type of knowledge that comes along with being an expert and actually creating evidence to observe, not just read on a forum somewhere.
I'm sorry I proved you guys wrong. Don't be mad at me for it though. It's kind of silly.
jason2459
Well-known member
The corals look great and have to go by what you say about the tangs getting along together. It still does not change my opinion that there's no way I would do that even in my 180 and think it's a disaster waiting to happen and irresponsible to cram in those fish that should reach 1+ foot in length in that small of a tank. But that's just my opinion.
Edit: re-read and all those are in the 240 not the 60...
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nsmith_mma
New member
That's fine. The bottom picture with all the tangs is actually in his home 240. He just has the 3 tangs in his 60. It's ok to have opinions, but I just wish you guys would go about it differently. Every time a thread pops up where there's a yellow tang in a 75 gallon tank, someone pops into the thread with this response:
It's so standard that it really gets kind of old. It's almost like a robot is programmed to click every link that says "tang" and post that standard response.
So I really am sorry that this had to incite such a heated debate, but since it did, I felt the need to justify my claims. And since I had taken so much heat for it, I felt the need to reciprocate in that area as well. Just try and be less quick to judge, that's all. Because there really are tanks out there that are more than suitable environments for tangs even if they don't meet the reccommended sizes.
That said, I'm not going to put a tang in a 30 gallon. I do understand that there has to be discretion involved and there has to be some limits as to what fish you can keep in your tank. I'm not an idiot lol.
Yeah you're good...no worries.
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