| The surgeonfish family is a very well represented | | | | easily exceed $100 per specimen with larger show |
| family within the marine aquarium hobby. While they | | | | sized specimens commonly exceeding $200 on the |
| are generally large, they also come in a variety of | | | | market. They are also aggressive. Among the two, |
| colors and are generally one of the more popular | | | | the Sohal Tang is an absolute brute. At 18 inches it |
| marine aquarium fish in the hobby. | | | | will most likely dominate the entire aquarium short of |
| They normally get along well with a wide variety of | | | | the presence of a larger triggerfish or grouper. |
| species in captivity as long as they are not from | | | | They are highly territorial and will absolutely destroy a |
| within the same family and especially of the same | | | | member of the same species within the same |
| species. But beyond that fact, were do have some | | | | aquarium. While there are always exceptions, this |
| that are quite a bit more aggressive than your usual | | | | usually holds true in the hobby. Once established, |
| run of the mill surgeonfish. | | | | they will usually consider the reef aquarium as "Their |
| The we are focusing on in this article are the Sohal | | | | Reef" and will even go after algae cleaning equipment |
| Tang (Acathurus Sohal) and the Purple Tang | | | | once it is in the water. |
| (Zebrasoma Xanthurum). I personally don't know | | | | While also aggressive, purple tangs are nowhere near |
| what it is about red sea specimens that make them | | | | as dominant as Sohal tangs are. They generally do |
| so aggressive but it seems to hold true with these | | | | not get along well with conspecifics and any other |
| two surgeonfish. While most tangs can be seen in | | | | fish that has similar body shapes, namely all other |
| large shoals in the wild, these two are usually found | | | | members of the genus Zebrasoma (Yellow Tang, |
| either alone or as pairs. | | | | Sailfin Tang etc). Given a straight fight between an |
| They are both very beautiful and are always in high | | | | equally sized yellow and purple tang, the purple tang |
| demand in the marine aquarium hobby. Prices for both | | | | will almost always win. |