purple tang and powder blue tang?

possitive k · #1 08-24-2005, 12:34 AM

just tring to get some input before i buy.

can they be housed together, and are they a difficult fish to take care of?

thankx kristian

mark · #2 08-24-2005, 02:22 AM

Can't comment about the two together nor the blue first hand, but my purple is pretty much simple. Just add water, nori and mysis.

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #3 08-24-2005, 02:28 AM

PB are beautiful but ick-magnets. Any stress will usually cause it to break out. Know too many people who have tried & failed with Powder Blues. Purples can also be highly aggressive & will try to kill most other tangs you put in with it, unless you're very lucky or its a huge tank.

Anthony

motox · #4 08-24-2005, 03:01 AM

I have no problems with a purple,scopas and a regal. they were in a 50 but now they are in a 90. they tend to hang out together not one on one side and the other on the other side

Psyire · #5 08-24-2005, 05:25 AM

Powder Blue's also require a large swimming area 6' or more in length. Any less and your asking for stress and with that comes disease. I don't know what size of tank you have but it's something to keep in mind.

smokinreefer · #6 08-24-2005, 06:46 AM

i have a red sea purple and a powder blue in my 180.

they get along fine.

only had ick upon the first week or so of introduction for the purple...

and maybe a slight case of ick for the first couple of days for the powder blue.

my experience doesnt seem to be the norm though. most people seem to have more problems, especially with the powder blues.

hope that helps.

heres a pic of the tangs, probably within the first hour of introducing the powder blue. note, the white marks aren't actually on the fish, it's salt residue on the glass!

EmilyB · #7 08-24-2005, 07:10 AM

I thought your tank was gone shao?

Was this before?

Chin_Lee · #8 08-24-2005, 07:29 AM

they will co-exist although I will not recommend a powder blue. beautiful fish but will probably die shortly after. they are one of my favourites and i've lost my fair share of them.,..... unfortunately.

reeferaddict · #9 08-24-2005, 08:58 AM

I currently have one of each in my 135... Interesting behaviour as I added the PB last, and the Purple Tang went nuts and actually made a nasty gash on the PB. I thought it was probably done for, but it made a slow and steady recovery, and now they co-exist without the slightest hint of aggression towards each other. They DO need the swimming length, as they never seem to stop. Food I thought was going to be a challenge, I never noted any interest in anything offered, but he absolutely decimated my ugly algae during his first week in the tank, and in fact I think the competition with the PT has made them BOTH more efficient algae cleaners. I feed nori virtually every day, and both of them will come and eat it right out of my hand, again with no aggression... they actually take turns. While the PT shows no agression at all to other species, the PB will actually chase my chromis or 6 line wrasse from time to time, but nothing too serious yet anyways.

He always seems to have ich, but at the same time this isn't seeming to affect him the way I have seen it with other fish.. it doesn't seem to affect his respiration, and his appetite is now ravenous, he'll eat anything from mysis to brine to formula one to flake to spirulina, making it easy now to get some garlic into him and hopefully curb the ich. For the time being he is keeping my 3 cleaner shrimp very busy. They're comical to watch as they have to ambush him with him being such an active fish, one will wave back and forth at the reeftop and as he swims by the other two wait behind the reef ready to pounce as soon as he goes by. Interestingly, he actually swims right into my fire shrimp's small cave and will patiently allow him all the time in the world to pick at him. In contrast, I have yet to see a single spot of ich on my PT or any of my other fish.

As you can tell from my experience, it can be done, but I also caution anyone that wants to try to be prepared for failure, as any combination of fish may or may not work depending on the tank size and other inhabitants. For those that are willing to provide the space and diet, I wish all the luck in the world as thus far it has been a very colourful satisfying addition to my tank.

smokinreefer · #10 08-24-2005, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmilyB

I thought your tank was gone shao?

Was this before?

nope my tank is still there... i just lost 95% of my livestock. All sps are gone.

all the fish survived!! my leopard wrasse made an appearance about 2 weeks after the disaster, as did my second cleaner shrimp!

mushrooms/zoos were ok, and my large fiji leather made it, large gargonia made it, as well as my large pagoda... thats pretty much it!

oh! most of the clams made it too. only lost a couple of them... though one of my favorite croceas died.