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Originally Posted by LostMind
Just adding on, shao's got a purple and a hippo, but his tank is double the size of the 90g.
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ok, i suppose since i've chirped in on this thread i should at least provide some relevant info...
i actually have a red sea purple tang and a powder blue tang in my 180. the purple was established int he tank already, and the powder blue was added second. the powder blue is at least an inch larger than the purple. there has
never been any aggression between the 2. not even at introduction, which honestly was a very very pleasant surprise. i was expecting WW3.
i had 3 tangs in my 135 previous to this... one of them being the red sea purple i have now, a yellow and a red sea sailfin. both of which died in holding tanks when my 135 cracked, which of course led to my impromtu upgrade to my 180.
in that tank, the yellow was established and the red sea sailfin and the red sea purple were added second, at the same time. both were similar in size, and smaller than the yellow. the yellow remained dominant. and the red sea sailfin packed on size like ther was no tomorrow. it quickly grew to match the yellow in size. the purple on the other hand, grew at a much slower pace, it remained very healthy, just didnt put on much size. it was on the bottom of the tang pecking order, and was harrassed to the point that it became timid and was in hiding a lot. (before the tank cracked and the 2 tangs died, i was contemplating catching and removing the yellow tang, to alleviate the aggression between the conspecifics)
from this, i would not recommend 3 tangs in a 135(wide tank). though one may have greater success with different tangs, as the 3 i had were all zebrasoma sp.
having gone through that, even though i do miss my yellow and red sea sailfin (beautiful fish) i am happy to have my surviving red sea purple and stunning powder blue tang!
as big of a tang fanatic i am, i am so happy with my current tangs, i would not want to introduce another to my tank, as i would fear their behaviours may change. (but who knows what the future holds, bigger tank hopefully
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i am not trying to say what can and cannot be done in terms of tangs, but just sharing my experiences.
just as a side note, while total water volume is great for improving water quality, tangs need actual tank water volume as they do require more swimming space than most fish.
this is what i feel helps contribute to my success with tangs...
good stable healthy environment, meaning established tank, good water paramaters, enough swimming space, enough territory/ rockwork, healthy fish and good feedings.
HTH.
oh, tips on adding a second tang, of course be sure the fish is healthy... but try for a noticeably larger tang, and different species (body shape) and color will improve your chances of success as well.
and also consider the future of the fish, will you be having a larger tank? etc. will you be able to house and care for it when it grows up? they're all easier when theyre small, its when they start getting bigger that you run into more problems.
snoop, all said and done, i wouldnt recommend adding a small blue tang.
and talking about ick... well thats a whole other topic.