Psychotic Purple Tang   2/25/07
Hi,
<Hello Brian!  Mich here.>
I have a new red sea purple tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)(purchased from liveaquaria.com) in my 75-gallon tank.  
<Usually recommend a minimum tank size of 100 gallons for this fish.>
Its tank mates are 1 lionfish (approx. 5"), 1 coral beauty (approx 2.5"), 1 copper band butterfly fish (approx. 3"), 1 tomato clown (approx. 2.5"), 1 snowflake eel (approx 9"), and assorted hermits crabs, snails, starfish, and sea cucumbers.  The tank has about 100 pounds of Fiji and Florida live rock and a 30-gallon CPR Aquafuge Pro refugium under the tank with miracle mud and algae in it.  The lighting is a satellite unit with 4 65-watt bulbs (2 actinic and two 10000k).  My chemistry is stable and good (no nitrates, pH around 8.1, no phosphates, no ammonia, no nitrites, temp around 81, and specific gravity about 1.023).
<I think a I would raise the specific gravity in your system to 1.025, would benefit the Zebrasoma xanthurum.>
The tang eats well (both off the live rock and the food I place in the tank), but its behavior is bizarre.  It will swim up against the same wall of my tank for extended periods of time (as much as ten minutes straight sometimes).  It looks like it is trying to swim through the side of my tank in a crazy obsessive way.  All the other fish swim peacefully around the tank.  Is there something wrong with the tang?
<Most likely aggressive behavior in response to the other purple tang he is seeing in your system... i.e. his own reflection in the glass.  Try covering the area where he is displaying the behavior with dark paper or allow to grow over with algae.  Hopefully the behavior will diminish.  
Thanks!!!
-- Brian
<Welcome  -Mich>

Purple Tang & Black Percs  10/26/06
   Good evening!
<Going on mid-day in this particular space/time orientation>
  I keep an SPS reef with 75G fuge/30G prop/100G sump.  The display is a 125G six footer that is "lightly" stocked with:
  1XPurple tang
  1XSix line
  Mated pair of cultured black Percs
  Mated pair of cultured Frid Pseudos
  and a little orange spot Goby
  Aside from that its just Acropora, Montipora, the cleaning service, and a clam.  My question is in regards to the purple tang and the black Percs.  I recently acquired my mated pairs from Inland, both are doing very well.  The Percs ran laps the first three days and have finally settled down in the left hand corner of the tank.  My Purple Tang swims long laps around the tank but every time he comes to the Percs corner he stops and chills for about 20 - 30 seconds right up in their faces.  There is never any outward aggression, you would think he was easing up to a cleaner shrimp, but never the less it bugs me that maybe some passive aggression is going on.  The female perc is the only other fish in the tank that could begin to compete size wise with the tang, she is about 1/2 his size.  The tang just swims over real slow and then very slowly floats among the clowns.  Sometimes it appears that he may be "herding" them away from the corner, but the thing that throws me is how slow everyone is moving while all this is happening.
Any advice?  
<I urge patience here. The tang is "posturing" for dominance... but there's space for all listed>
I have a 75G refugium on this display with a metric ton of tang heaven green and red from IPSF and wouldn't feel the least bit badly about tossing the tang in there if you think this is aggression.  I just do reefs, I don't know much about this fishy business.  The only other thing to consider is that my skunk cleaners have two stations on opposite sides of the tank and the Percs area is very near one of these stations.
<Likely the six foot separation will suffice... they'll go to their respective corners in time>
   Thanks for your time and attention, I really appreciate it,
   Jeff
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Purple tang
I have read through your faq's on purple tangs and I found one that relates to my problem, but I have a few other questions. I recently moved my purple tang from qt to my 55 gallon. His other tankmates were a blue damsel, lemon damsel, yellowtail blue damsel and a gold striped maroon clown. My question is that today I noticed my clown on the bottom of the tank with all of his fins chewed badly. From what I have read, it was probably the tang. My question is that I have the clown in the qt tank now so that his fins can heal but will I ever be able to reintroduce him into the tank or will he just get beat up again?
<In this size, shape, kind system, very likely it will never get along with this Tang>
Also, would adding an anemone help him when I add him back in? The 55 is soon to be a 135 gallon in a few months, so would I have a better chance of just keeping the clown in qt until the move?
Thanks for all of you help,  Deanna
<I would wait on all till you have the larger system... then place the tang in a floating colander of size (plastic, for draining pasta normally) and keep it there, separated from the Clown for a week or so... and read re anemones...: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm  Much to understand, go wrong...  Bob Fenner>

Purple Tang 
<Hi Mike>
I was wondering if you have ever come across a Purple Tang that swims very aggressively especially when the lights dim. I just recently added a Foxface to my tank (could that be the issue ). The tang will swim very aggressively from the top of the tank and dive toward a clam then he swims backwards the entire length of the tank. the fish eats well and the water parameters are fine. He has no other symptoms that can be seen only this erratic behavior.<Sounds like the tang is just establishing that he is the head cheese.  James (Salty Dog).>Thanks...Mike