Powder Blue Tang

[NorCalcorals]

Can Anyone Keep A powder Blue tang alive more then 2 months? Iv gone through about 3 of them, and no matter what they always get ick and Die!:squigglemouth: Every other fish in are 240Gallon are fine and don't get it. Water levels are great. We do have a mixture of fish and a lot of different tangs, but they don't fight. I think im giving up on trying to keep one alive!

 

[Z06-Hec]

I've had mine for about 2 months... it was beat up when i got it, was getting picked on in previous tank by a yellow tang, fins were are chopped up.
In my tank its looks great all healed, fattened up and is a small bully herself.
She has come out with Ich but like i said she is a little fat sucker and she eats all day long. Picking at rocks, glass and food when its feeding time.
She is good and got over it.

 

[Kworker]

I brought mine home when he was floating at the top of the holding tank at a LFS. I got him into QT and treated him and got him eating well. Now he resides in my 48"x24" frag tank and is fat and happy. He's in there with only 3 chromis so he rules the tank.

There is the possibility that he died due to the stress of other tangs. Just because you don't see fighting going on does not mean its not happening. Tangs will always have little skirmishes now and than. Its possible they were not able to secure a suitable cave at night and became extremely stressed because of it and wasted. Acanthurus tangs really need to be the boss of the tank, they have extremely bold personalities.

What is your entire stock list?

EDIT: I have had mine so far for 5-6 months.

 

[Z06-Hec]

Boss ?
Mine may THINK she is the Vice Boss but she knows she isnt the boss... The 5" Purple is the boss.
My powder picks on my blenny all the time she can... they fight for algae sheets whenever i put them in and she will also nip and the blenny when he is resting..
The blenny doesnt care, he lets her and just stays there...
If that satisfies her "Boss" thinking then ok...
My 2 Angels dont accept bullying either... They stay where they are and the Tangs, well the purple, just swims by them very fast as to try to intimidate but the Angels do not flinch...
Blue face adult
Majestic adult

 

[Fish76]

I had a powder blue for about 1.5yrs until it died when my tank leaked and didn't find out till the next morning. I know powder blue's are somewhat harder to keep but I think I got lucky with mine. When I bought him he broke out with ich but I tried to keep him eating, removed a bully fish and tried to keep water parameters pristine and he made it thru. He was one of the fish that I got soo bummed losing cause he was soo healthy and had a great personality

 

[Kworker]

Boss ?
Mine may THINK she is the Vice Boss but she knows she isnt the boss... The 5" Purple is the boss.
My powder picks on my blenny all the time she can... they fight for algae sheets whenever i put them in and she will also nip and the blenny when he is resting..
The blenny doesnt care, he lets her and just stays there...
If that satisfies her "Boss" thinking then ok...
My 2 Angels dont accept bullying either... They stay where they are and the Tangs, well the purple, just swims by them very fast as to try to intimidate but the Angels do not flinch...
Blue face adult
Majestic adult

Yes, boss..

That doesn't necessarily mean with aggression. That could also mean territory without dispute.. my Achilles had issues with a Yellow half its size. Doesn't always mean the fish has to be the boss, its just my general experience with the Genus.

Hard for a little Powder blue to go against a decent sized Purple especially if the purple was there to begin with.. Obviously size of the tank, rockwork and feeding play a factor as well.

 

[MIKE NY]

I have mine over 15 years now...they are very active high strees fish...just need to aquire a healthy specimen and meets it's needs which are mutilple feedings a day with a varied diet including plenty of greens...lots of swimming room with rcokwork to make it feel secure...Mine also enjoys the water current and actually will swim in and out of powerheads being blown around. they are very aggressive and territorial once established, some more so than others...mine is and with some new fish I have to remove it until the newbie is acclimented and then the PBT is re introduced a few days to a week later...

 

[Z06-Hec]

Yes, boss..

That doesn't necessarily mean with aggression. That could also mean territory without dispute.. my Achilles had issues with a Yellow half its size. Doesn't always mean the fish has to be the boss, its just my general experience with the Genus.

Hard for a little Powder blue to go against a decent sized Purple especially if the purple was there to begin with.. Obviously size of the tank, rockwork and feeding play a factor as well.

Calm down there buddy, you sound all defensive...

In my experience/opinion my Powder is boss of nothing.... my tank is 72" long and the powder was there before the purple...
In fact before the Tangs the Majestic angel was most definitely the boss and would chase the blue face all over and pin it in a corner.

Then i got the powder blue in bad shape.
then the Purple tang

The purple swims the entire length all day long and she tried to be the boss of everyone and the angels were not having it...
She has ONLY established her dominance on the Powder blue...
It looks like an older brother little brother scenario... The Purple bosses the Powder and the Powder has no one to boss but the blenny...

Both Tangs will try to chase and or push the angels here and there and the Angels both will quickly turn and face off with them and the tangs back off....

Stock
5" Purple Tang
3.25" Powder blue
3.5" Blue face angel adult
3.75" Majestic Angel adult
1.5" Hippo tang - she hides alot but when she is out, she holds her own as well, doesnt run from no one.
Paired Wyoming white clowns
Paired Nearly naked clowns
small yellow watchman
3.5" Lawnmower Blenny

 

[Kworker]

Calm down there buddy, you sound all defensive...

In my experience/opinion my Powder is boss of nothing.... my tank is 72" long and the powder was there before the purple...
In fact before the Tangs the Majestic angel was most definitely the boss and would chase the blue face all over and pin it in a corner.

Then i got the powder blue in bad shape.
then the Purple tang

The purple swims the entire length all day long and she tried to be the boss of everyone and the angels were not having it...
She has ONLY established her dominance on the Powder blue...
It looks like an older brother little brother scenario... The Purple bosses the Powder and the Powder has no one to boss but the blenny...

Both Tangs will try to chase and or push the angels here and there and the Angels both will quickly turn and face off with them and the tangs back off....

Stock
5" Purple Tang
3.25" Powder blue
3.5" Blue face angel adult
3.75" Majestic Angel adult
1.5" Hippo tang - she hides alot but when she is out, she holds her own as well, doesnt run from no one.
Paired Wyoming white clowns
Paired Nearly naked clowns
small yellow watchman
3.5" Lawnmower Blenny

Net getting defensive, you read into my reply wrong. Unfortunately thats common for us to do in our area due to the way people act on our local forum..
I was standing by what I said and explaining it further, nothing more. We have two different experiences with the same fish.

Both our experiences certainly prove Zebrasoma's are definitely mean.

 

[Z06-Hec]

LOL i agree with you... Local experiences... LOL

 

[Trex]

To the OP...

Are you QTing the tang before putting it in your tank? Did you do that with your existing fish?

Either the fish already has ick, or it is present in your main tank.

 

[TJ's Reef]

+1 to ^above^ post by Trex, You will need to go 'Fallow' for appropriate time period of 8-10 weeks in Display or ride it out without adding any additional livestock to the Display for 12-14 months to eliminate the parasite from your system. And of course proper QT of any additions there after.

I have had my Powder Blue for just over 5 years and is a SURVIVOR of two major ICH outbreaks, initial introduction to my system in 2009 and addition of my Hawaiian collected fish in 2012. Mine is a 5" adult male and though once was the largest and most dominant of my Tangs now sits in #3 position behind the 7"+ Blochii and 6"+ Naso. He does have superiority over the smaller Yellow and Kole Tangs..... for now. Pic below from 7/24/14

​Cheers, Todd

 

[bamareef]

What are you guys feeding your PBT and how often? I have had mine for almost three weeks. Ate the first day only. Havent ate anything I throw at it. Now it appears to have ICH. I have it QT and starting HYPO and dosing some vitamins. Just curious on diet, but so far I have thrown a lot of things at him and wont eat.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Red and or Brown Nori would be the first on my list, 2nd would be Hikari ' Seaweed Extreme' pellets in small or medium.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Z06-Hec]

Mine eats Formula one and Formula two pellets. Once in a week i stick a long sheet of Nori on a clip an it goes to town on it.
In fact my PBT does not stop eating ever... she is always pecking rocks, pecking the sand all day long.

I've tried seaweed pellets and no one in my tank likes them...

 

[Badfish83]

I've had mine for 15 months, and was acquired from petco

 

[shells4]

I had mine over 5 years. My tank had sat fallow for 12 weeks. I also used hyposalinity or copper on all new additions (inverts, corals, and rock alone in a tank for 12 weeks). I have had fish look perfectly heatlhy in a QT for 8 weeks and as soon as you put them in a stocked tank they are stressed and then the ick shows up. I treat everything like they have an illness even if they look fine. Not worth the risk to the rest of your tank. Mine was in with a large sailfin and a yellow tang. I had the powder blue tang and yellow tang in QT at the same time, they were about the same size. No problems with them together at all, they always stayed together in the display also. Loved that fish!!

 

[sawdonkey]

I've had this guy for 6 years. Got Ich after initial introduction, treated with copper on qt, and he's been fine since.

 

[3dees]

beautiful fish. absolutely need treatment in a qt. like many tangs, they are Ich magnets. also very aggressive when adults, especially in a tank that is too small.

 

[sawdonkey]

Mine is a model citizen, although his tankmates are two triggers, a big naso, and an adult emperor.