Has anyone kept a Powder Blue Tang successfully?

[Len]

The key question is how you got it to eat prepared foods. Mine is still very fat from all the algae in the tank, but sooner or later, that algae will run out.

 

[jandree22]

Just have your Nemo-fish swim up the riser tube and spit a piece of gravel in the filter impeller :lol:

 

[fyrefysh]

Don't they eat nori?

 

[jandree22]

Don't they eat nori?

Don’t they, like Kole tangs, have a dendancy to go after film rather than sheet or hair algae? I know my Yellow tang bites and jerks off pieces of Nori I offer him, but I can’t picture a tang with a Powder Blue/Kole mouth feeding the same way. Thats with a big 'ol grain of salt, however, as I’ve never owned either.

 

[Len]

I'll try Nori when the food supply runs out. My PBT likes hair algae and doesn't bother with film-like stuff. It will probably take Nori since it loves to tear hair algae off the rocks.

 

[Anonymous]

I had one for 8 years. I fed Laver wrapped around a small rock and minced Scallops/Squid mixed with a small amount of Cod Liver Oil.

My mistake was keeping it in too small of a tank. I didn't know any better at the time.

 

[Len]

Hey Guy, did yours get along with any other tang? I'd still like to add a Black Tang but I know PBTs can get aggressive.

 

[Anonymous]

I'll try Nori when the food supply runs out. My PBT likes hair algae and doesn't bother with film-like stuff. It will probably take Nori since it loves to tear hair algae off the rocks.

Nori, and Formula 2. It'll eat eventually.

 

[jandree22]

I'll try Nori when the food supply runs out. My PBT likes hair algae and doesn't bother with film-like stuff. It will probably take Nori since it loves to tear hair algae off the rocks.

Alrighty then... so much for my advice! :lol:

Seriously though, when I first offered Nori, I couldnt believe how quickly my Yellow Tang got all excited over it and devoured it... literally within 10 seconds he knew what it was and was goin nutz. Hope the same works out for you!

 

[Len]

When I add mysis or other foods, the tang smells it and goes on a frenzy, but it never eats anything

 

[Anonymous]

When I add mysis or other foods, the tang smells it and goes on a frenzy, but it never eats anything

Give him time... how long have you had it?

 

[Anonymous]

My experience with tangs has been pretty weird. I'm not a big tang fan, so I've only kept a few. I've had a Lineatus for 2 years and a PBT for 4, in separate tanks. These are both fish that are considered 'expert' level. Hard to acclimate, get to feed, susceptible to disease, etc. Both of these guys have been the most reliably hardy fish in the tank for me. Sometimes when water quality will slip a bit if I'm being lazy the tangs are the last fish to show it. No HLLE, great color, nice and fat. I should point out that both are the only Acanthurids in the tank. I should also point out that out of 5 people I know that got a Lineatus from the same shipment as mine, only one lived longer than 3 months.

If I had to guess, the reason they're considered so difficult is that they don't handle those first 2-3 months very well. Housing one with another Acanthurid in a small tank during that time is an all too common mistake, IMO. They may not kill each other outright but the constant stress is a factor to consider. Once you've got it feeding and it's immune system back to normal I think you're golden. But that's just my experience, and it could be atypical.

 

[Len]

I've only had it for 10 days or so. It's getting very fat off the algae.

I'll probably look to add a black tang in the summer. Hopefully they get along.

 

[Anonymous]

I've only had it for 10 days or so. It's getting very fat off the algae.

I'll probably look to add a black tang in the summer. Hopefully they get along.

Relax! You've got plenty of time...mine took about 2 weeks to get in the swing of things... and now they are hogs! 8) Mysis, nori, formula 1 and 2.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Guy, did yours get along with any other tang? I'd still like to add a Black Tang but I know PBTs can get aggressive.

I never added another Tang to the tank.

 

[Rob Top]

Here is an off the wall thought. Set up a seperate tank with a handful of rocks to grow algae on. Once it's there put a rock in the tank and pull one out to the algae tank. Then keep rotating the rocks so you have 3 or 4 growing algae and 1 in the tank for the tang to eat off of. Like I said off the wall, but it might work. Ya think?

 

[Len]

If I do run out of algae growth in the display tank, I'd need a lot of algae on the replacement rocks to keep up with his diet. He goes through a lot of algae a day. And I don't like the idea of saving a section of my tank as an algae station

 

[Anonymous]

Righty's got one in his tank, ask him

 

[AF Founder]

The key question is how you got it to eat prepared foods. Mine is still very fat from all the algae in the tank, but sooner or later, that algae will run out.

I have one for about 15 years, and have had others for many years. They will learn to eat Nori, but I have found that they and Achilles can't resist OSI spirulina flakes -- I have found that OSI flake foods have a strong smell which probably induces feeding. This assumes that yours has not been messed up during capture and or transit. Keep in mind that once established that they will attack any newcomer.

Terry

 

[Anonymous]

Mine was eating frozen food in the store before I bought it, so I wouldn't be too much help on that score.

I have toyed with the idea of adding another tang, but can't bring myself to do it. I tried a foxface once, and that ended in disaster. I was recently thinking about perhaps a shoal but I would want to remove the PBT first and then add them back together. I don't think I have the guts to try it.