Purple tang. Max size in captivity?

Rogerscody17

New member
Hello, I have a 6.2" purple tang I've had for 6 months now, healthy and getting fat everyday. Was curious, how big do they get in captivity? Current tank is a 145g reef. Thank you!
 
I have been in this hobby for 10 years. I love going to the pet stores And other people houses to see their tanks. But I have never seen a Yellow or Purple tang that is about 6 inches or bigger.
 
I've seen some wild imports that were close to 8 inches, but never one that was raised up that large. I've also seen some yellow tangs in the same size range, but they were collected at that size as well.
 
Really depends. I temporarily housed one the size of a small dinner plate that another individual grew from quarter size in a 75g. Lived in my 150 for a couple months before rehoming in a buddy's 240. Biggest purple I've ever seen, did laps constantly in my tank. On the other hand, I acquired one from a another friend who had him for 12 years. Grew slightly smaller than a softball, despite living its whole life in a 220 reef. It died overnight at the age of ~15 with no known cause...

I recall someone telling me it has to do with sex, with the females getting bigger than the males. This could be false, though.
 
Really depends. I temporarily housed one the size of a small dinner plate that another individual grew from quarter size in a 75g. Lived in my 150 for a couple months before rehoming in a buddy's 240. Biggest purple I've ever seen, did laps constantly in my tank. On the other hand, I acquired one from a another friend who had him for 12 years. Grew slightly smaller than a softball, despite living its whole life in a 220 reef. It died overnight at the age of ~15 with no known cause...

I recall someone telling me it has to do with sex, with the females getting bigger than the males. This could be false, though.

Sorry to here about that... at that age is crazy! By far one of my favorite fish to have. Not sure why... I just know if i were to lose him i'd be devestaded.

On the other note; is there anyway to tell sex?
 
I have been in this hobby for 10 years. I love going to the pet stores And other people houses to see their tanks. But I have never seen a Yellow or Purple tang that is about 6 inches or bigger.

I feel you on that one! What's your opinion about housing a purple tang and yellow tang together? Ever seen it done before?
 
I did see a large adult that was ordered for a guy in NJ. It was by far the largest purple tang I have ever seen. Easily a 10" tang maybe more and fat. The order also included the largest annularius angel I have ever seen as well.
 
Good luck on that build! Possibly order a XXL wild caught purple tang?

I like my fish small when I get them to watch them grow... I had 2 purple tangs in my 180g 13 yrs ago without problems so a yellow and a purple could coexist together providing the tank is large enough and they are added at the same time.
 
I feel you on that one! What's your opinion about housing a purple tang and yellow tang together? Ever seen it done before?

I don't have big tank, I only have a 120 gallons tank. I hate conflict in the tank, so I only keep 1 Yellow tang. He or she is the king of tank. Its very peaceful and happy cruising around. I have seen many big tanks with multiple tangs in it. They all survive and live but its just not peaceful at all. They all fight and stress out. Personally I just don't like seeing that.
 
i don't have big tank, i only have a 120 gallons tank. I hate conflict in the tank, so i only keep 1 yellow tang. He or she is the king of tank. Its very peaceful and happy cruising around. I have seen many big tanks with multiple tangs in it. They all survive and live but its just not peaceful at all. They all fight and stress out. Personally i just don't like seeing that.

+1
 
Can't post a picture because he was killed in a rock-collapse about a year ago, but prior to that, my purple tang had lived in my 150G for about 4 years. Got him at around 3-4 inches and he stopped growing at 6 inches

Edit: forgot to mention that he was housed with a yellow tang that we got at the same time at around the same size. Purple was always a tiny bit fatter so he dominated the yellow but they rarely fought. They were both subservient to the powder blue I also had. Yellow and purple died in the same rock collapse caused by my engineer goby.
 
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