Are powder blue tangs MEAN?

[ralphie16]

Those of you with powder blue tangs, do find they pick on fish? I want to add one to my tank but I have an established butterflyfish that I want to make sure will not get harrassed.

I read that these tangs are very aggressive towards other tangs but I only have puffers and a butterfly in the 125 gallon tank.

Would a powder blue be less aggressive then a larger angelfish? specifically the personifier angelfish.

This will be the last fish introduced to the tank.

 

[SDguy]

They are aggressive. Mine doesn't bother my other fish, not even the smaller tomini. The PBT was added long after the tomini. However, the tomini is the ONLY other rock picking fish, so I don't think the PBT views ANY of my other fish as competition...

 

[ralphie16]

What is PBT behavior? They are rock scroungers/pickers? or open water swimmers? I mean, what is their behavior like in the tank..are they swimming all over, are they stopping all the time to eat off the rock?

 

[Doni]

They are very aggressive to new additions.

 

[ralphie16]

the PBT will be my final addition. but if in the futre one of my fish dies, then i wont be able to add another fish because of the pbt?

 

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9296776#post9296776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
What is PBT behavior? They are rock scroungers/pickers? or open water swimmers? I mean, what is their behavior like in the tank..are they swimming all over, are they stopping all the time to eat off the rock?

Yes, they swim everywhere...between, above, around rocks, and everywhere else. And they stop to graze on rocks, pipes, lockline fittings...

Oh, and the occasional cartwheel when he checks out his reflection in the glass

 

[corals b 4 bills]

I recently picked up a powder blue and he was my last fish, I could tell he wasn't to happy to find other fish in his house but so far he's not picked on anyone, he just shakes his head at other fish. big time swimmer too!

 

[ralphie16]

since they are susceptable to ich, if i do a proper quanrantine then there would be no chance of him getting ick right?

 

[MrPike]

since they are susceptable to ich, if i do a proper quanrantine then there would be no chance of him getting ick right?

Supposidly.

They seem to break out in ich no matter what you do, just keep them well fed and healthy and they can fight it off pretty easily.

 

[d4a2n0k]

That depends on if you also quarantined every other fish in your tank. Ich can travel on rock or corals as well. If not, theres a good chance your tank already has ich. Most fish can live with it and never get it but all it takes is some sort of stress like bad water quality to lower their immune system.

Powder Blues are VERY prone to getting ick even if you get a healthy one.

I suggest you do some reading on ich and its life cycle to better understand what it does.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=282934

 

[ralphie16]

My tank was fishless for about 2 months while curing rocks.

Freshwater dip and 6 week QT for each fish that went to tank.

I am 99.9% sure I have no ich in my tank.

So with that said, if I properly dip and QT the PBT, then it can't get ich, right?

 

[d4a2n0k]

Cant say for sure, but as long as theres no ich already in the tank it cant catch it out of thin air. It has to be introduced.

 

[ralphie16]

so how are PBT's aggressiveness towards other fish as compared to large angels?

 

[scumonkey]

so how are PBT's aggressiveness towards other fish as compared to large angels?

Not nearly as bad.....but each fish is different.

 

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9299089#post9299089 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scumonkey
Not nearly as bad.....but each fish is different.

Just depends. Far more aggressive than a navarchus, for example, but probably as aggressive as a passer, IME. No idea where personifer (or meridithi) fall in that range...

 

[ralphie16]

scott michaels writes in his butterfly and angel book that the Meridithi is less aggressive then the large Pomacanthus and MUCH less aggressive then large Holacanthus, but he goes on to write that with these angels its very individualistic and that he's seen Meridithi be very aggressive towards some fish. damn its so hard choosing fish once you have a couple of fish already in the tank!

 

[drstupid]

mine's aggressive, but seems to be content beating the &*$@#% out of my maroon clown and leaving everyone else alone. which is fine, i'd probably beat up on the maroon clown too if i lived in a 4' x 2' glass box with it.

she moves around constantly and picks on a lot of rock and one piece of staghorn ( i have no idea what it did to her). she was a late addition and actually served to get all the other fish out and swimming around a lot more too. she's never had ick.

 

[salt-lik]

With all the cautions about powder blues in mind, I'd get one if I were you. You won't regret it. The colour on them is so magnificent. My PB was in the tank well before most of my other fish. Mine didn't bother my green or sixline wrasse but was really aggressive toward both of my mated true percula clowns. This lasted for only a few days and then everything was fine. I had a yellow eye kole tang in with it as well and they were best buds. The kole died after about 2 years though...not sure why....

 

[xenon]

My 1st fish was a PBT and I recently added two true percs and he knows they are there but could care less about them.

Not even the least bit curious.

 

[jlo0218]

my PBT was also my first fish.

i had the wrong impression that they were peaceful like the regal tangs... oh well


i then added a school of green chromis and some flasher wrasses.

i was careful in acclimation. turned the lights off and slowly introduced them. my PBT likes to hang out and graze on rocks on the right side of the tank, and i put the new stuff in the left side first. they went in their little rocks for awhile and when they came out swimming and cross paths with the PBT, nothing happened.

there has been zero aggression in my tank.