Powdered Blue Tangs

[mike007]

Why are these Tangs so hard to keep. The last one i bought had been a the lfs for three weeks and looked healthy and was eating. After three days in my tank it died. The fish was eating and seemed perfectly fine. All my other fish are doing great. Has anyone else had experience with these?

 

[o2manyfish]

They are delicate fish that don't respond well to stress. Once established in an aquarium they can thrive (and usually dominate).

But the moment they are stressed they are very susceptible to any kind of infection.

I had one in my fish only tank years ago. I had the fish for 6-7 years and the fish was constantly covered with something. Lots of other fish in the tank who were all clean but the Powder blue, who was over an inch thick, could go from perfectly clean to ich covered, to slime covered, to clean, to black ich, to whatever kinds of things you can imagine. I ran ozone on the tank, and tried all kinds of medications, but nothing worked and the fish just kept swimming and eating like a horse.

Dave B

 

[bct15]

Powder blue isn't difficult if properly introduced and tank is proper size. I've had mine for three years and he is a brute. Very aggressive, beautiful but aggressive.

They don't handle stress very well, so of anything is off like tank size, bullying tank mates, poor water quality, poor acclimation technique, etc the fish will show signs and quickly diminish.

 

[kv2wr1]

The key is to get a healthy one from the start from a reputable source. Most fish stores run copper in their fish only tanks at low levels so it masks the problem and not really cures it. I got mine from Diver's Den. It still needed to be quarantined as it developed ich in about a week. I treated it with cupramine for 4 weeks at 0.35-0.40 ppm. Technically 5 weeks since the first week I ramped up the cupramine very slowly at about 1 drop per gallon every other day until it reached about 0.35-0.40 ppm. Then after the cupramine treatment I did large water changes and ran carbon (Rox 0.8 carbon). When I got no readings of copper, I did 2 treatments of prazipro after that. The fish was quarantined for about 8-12 if I remember correctly. Most of that for observation. As soon as I put him in the display, a day later I noticed 1 spot, but it was not ich. It was lymph. These fish have to have very good water quality, high flow, a decent amount of swimming space (atleast 6 linear feet) and lots of food to thrive. They can get small skin imperfections that can be mistaken for ich with less than perfect water quality. I have had mine for a little over a year. He was 4.5 inches when I got him and now is close to 6 inches if not over. He never is still enough to take a picture. He's always on te go and contantly grazing. I feed him some sort of meaty foods (mysis, rod's reef or krill) in the morning soaked in selcon & vita-chem. Then I put enough nori for him to graze throughout the day.

Hope this helps a little and that you can try another one in the future. They are very entertaining fish and like to show off.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Why are these Tangs so hard to keep. The last one i bought had been a the lfs for three weeks and looked healthy and was eating. After three days in my tank it died. The fish was eating and seemed perfectly fine. All my other fish are doing great. Has anyone else had experience with these?

Yup, been there done that. Adding the fish to my 240g 8' long tank. Just didn't acclimate. 3-4 days and he was gone, no signs of disease or stress. Got me what happens to them. I tried twice, with the same results. So, no one can say its my tank size that did it, or someone picking on him. Just don't know.

 

[pam0630]

I have tried 2 powder blue tangs and like you they both died... Instead went to the blonde naso tang. Much happier she's a big beautiful fish. Healthy

 

[kv2wr1]

Get the ones from the Maldives. They are hardier and the collection point is not far from land which makes it easier. Diver's Den gets them from the Maldives plus they do most of the treating for the common problems. They can still show up with ich, but if you quarantine and treat, you should end up with a healthy and rewarding fish. I don't consider myself an experienced reefer, but I was able to get mine to do very well in my 180g. He grew from 4.5 to 6-6.5 in a little over a year. He is still doing very well. You just need to quarantine and treat if necessary. Feed them often and keep up on your water changes.