Compatibility of Fishes

[jykel]

Hope that someone can help me out on this one..

Just bought a Blue Tang from Lim Chu Kang today and the fishshop owner told me that there would not be a problem with the purple Tang that is currently in my tank. However, the moment i put my blue tang into the tank, he got such an attack from the purple one that it went immediately into hiding...

As i am new to this, can someone kindly advice if these two are not suppose to be together in a tank? Is there anything that i can do to ensure that these two tangs can live together in my tank??

Regards

[mhermie]

hi,

from my previous experience, purple tang shld be the last tang to put in the tank. They are quite territorial. Used to have a purple tang and have the same prob like yours. In the end, sold it away. older or established tangs will chase n attack those new additions. just give it a day, and everything shld be ok. Advise from fellow reefers, are like eg: use the mirror method, introduce when the lights is off.....

[Batman]

purple tang is fierce ... my experience was blue tang in tank for abt 9 mths & added yellow tang, both are ok.... thereafter i added purple tank, yellow tang chased it everywhere... however, purple tang survived ...... when upgraded my tank, i released both at the same time (last 2 fishes).... now, yellow abit scare of purple though occasionally both still play around..... yesterday, just added a Sohal Tang (nice fish!!!), same thing purple chase it more than yellow tang but today, Sohal already swimming around with other tangs around..... Sohal also one,kind of fierce fish, noticed purple tang also kana fin hurt though still act agressively..... fyi.

[giantbicycle]

use the mirror method...

[jykel]

hi,

from my previous experience, purple tang shld be the last tang to put in the tank. They are quite territorial. Used to have a purple tang and have the same prob like yours. In the end, sold it away. older or established tangs will chase n attack those new additions. just give it a day, and everything shld be ok. Advise from fellow reefers, are like eg: use the mirror method, introduce when the lights is off.....

Hi, many thanks for all of your advice. By the way, as i am new to this hobby, care to explain whats the mirror method?

What i have done now is to segregtate the blue tang from the rest of the fishes by encasing it in a black mesh box...i think will let it stay there for about a week before removing the mesh box from the tank...hope that it everything will be fine...

By the way that you guys describe your past experience, i gather that Tangs are actually quite territortial fishes??

[Godzilla]

put a mirror at the side of your tank to distract the purple tang..the PT will ignore the blue tang as it will be chasing itself. after a few days they should be use to each other liao.........

[jd_n]

Tis chart will be useful in helpin u to decide on fishes compatibility

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

[Tiny Tears]

This article also good.

http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/compatibility.shtml

[Domino]

how big is your tank? You need a pretty big tank to house two tangs in the same tank.

BT are shy by nature to stat with. In a peaceful tank it can take up to weeks for the BT to feel at home from my experience.

[jykel]

how big is your tank? You need a pretty big tank to house two tangs in the same tank.

BT are shy by nature to stat with. In a peaceful tank it can take up to weeks for the BT to feel at home from my experience.

My tank is about 3.5 to 4ft in length...is that considered big enough to house the 2 tangs?? By the way..if you mentioned that it may take up to a few weeks for the BT to feel at home, does it require me to isolate the poor BT for a few weeks? Coz the last time i let it lose into the tank, it got chased around by the PT and end up hiding in a piece of life rock..and the poor BT nearly died of hunger....

[XPeriment 626]

I ws told that if you rearrange some of your rocks in the tank it helps, as the PT will not recognise its territory and will spend more time exploring the area and trying to choose a new piece of territory as opposed to chasing the BT around. In essence, the PT thinks it is in a new place and won't chase anybody "out of the house" until it establishes a new "house". Hopefully by then, the BT will settle in and find its own territory too.

Not sure about the truth of this statement though, try it at your own risk