yellow tang purple tang experiment

[bosshog]

for 6 mos i have worked myself senseless, setting up 200 g tank in my waiting room(chiropractor).
stock list includes
2 false o clowns
2 firefish goby
1 bullet/dragon goby
1 flame angle
1 Purple Pseudochromis
1 pj cardinal
1 banggai cardinal
2 green chromis
1 5''yellow tang..the boss
various cleaner crew inverts
250lbs of rock.
I tried putting a naso and blue hippo and cb butterfly all died within 3-4 days. yellow tang relentless harassed them. these fish were all smaller than the yellow tang.
So.. was at the lfs.. and wow, one of the most beautiful fish i ever seen.. had a 6'' purple tang and a little 2'' blue hippo housed in the same tank.
I am aware that this gonna be a free forall. And if tried should introduce them at same time but..ytang in there and I want another tang.
So im trying it and will let yall know how it turns out.
My hypothesis was since the new purp tang is bigger, he can stand up to the yellow t, and since the yellow t with be focused on the big purple, hopefully the smaller blue hippo will be left alone.
4 days.. so far so good. the yellow t is relentless trying to bully the purple t but he not backing and today the aggression seems to be lightning up. the yellow tries to harass the little blue tang but its just in passing cause hes so focused on the purple t.
I welcome any input. Can even call me a big dummy for trying this...wife does it all the time.

 

[beaslbob]

I had a yellow and blue hippo (regal?) tang in my 55g. The grew up and lived there for over 3 years.

 

[mrdc]

I've housed a hippo and yellow tang also but the hippo was bigger and the hippo was in the tank first. I thought purple and yellows were aggressive towards one another because they are of similar features. Anyway, I think all you can do is let them be and see what happens. If the beatings never let up, I would remove yella boy!

 

[noah's nemo]

IDK,but i think sooner or later that purple tang is going to snap.Once he gets familar with things and decides to take ownership of the tank...Good luck,I Love Purples!

 

[bang guy]

If it were me I would avoid mixing a Purple and a Yellow in a 6 foot (?) tank. A Regal of appropriate size should do well once the initial squabling is over but I believe the Purple and Yellow will probably continue to pester each other.

 

[bosshog]

they have really mellowed out today. some aggressive posturing but no tail slap spuring. regals doing great. everyones eating. purple established some turf on the other side of the tank.
Its like the yellows given up.
But my concern is the Purple(a little bigger) turning the tables and start pounding the yellow once he establishes dominance.
...well see