Atlantic Blue Tang

[captainzoom]

Reading conflicting reports online about the care and hardiness of the Atlantic Blue Tang (Acanthurus Coeruleus). Has anyone had experience with these? Any information appreciated.

 

[revaltion131]

I've found crazy amounts of conflicting reports as well. Some websites even contradicted themselves. My experience is unfortunately limited. I tried to save a quarter-sized one that the LFS didn't even know they had. The issues this little guy had is what any teeny tiny tang would have I believe, so it's not that helpful.

The comments I've seen around here lean more towards the difficult side of care requirements.

 

[TampaReefer79]

Is this for your 75 gallon tank? What happened with the naso tang you had in there? The AB I had was not aggressive at all, but got biiiiiiiiig.

 

[kilmca]

I have an AB and I got it when it was a little larger than a quarter. I've had it for about 6 months and it's doing great. It's at least doubled in size and not aggressive. It was eating and doing well at the LFS before I bought it so obviously that helped.

 

[captainzoom]

made the mistake of adding a non-QT fish 3 months ago and lost all fish. Left fallow for 8 weeks and am in the process of adding fish again. currently have no fish in the tank.

 

[richkor]

They can get big...personally, I wouldn't recommend one in a 75g if you intend to keep long term as they require a lot of space to swim. I also would make sure it is the only tang in the tank. Tey can be difficult to keep so make sure it has been the LFS for a while and is eating, otherwise healthy before buying it. Sorry about the wipe...That sucks.

 

[cccapt]

I got a small yellow juv about 1 1/2 yrs ago. It's about 5" now and almost completely turned to it's blue adult colors. It's in the tank with a 6" Lamarck angel and a 4" striped bristletooth tang and shows no aggression towards either. I wouldn't suggest 1 for a tank less than 6'. It's a very active swimmer.

 

[elegance coral]

Anyone with pictures of their Atlantic Blue Tang?

 

[cccapt]

Here's mine about 1 1/2 yrs ago with it's all yellow juv colors.

1 year ago, still with the yellow juv colors, but starting to turn.

Here it is now, almost turned into the adult colors.

 

[elegance coral]

That is awesome! One more pic and you should have the whole transition. Very cool!

 

[Psionicdragon]

They get large and will become aggressive when room is limited. The care is no different than any other tang. However, must have a lot of aerated water, feed a lot of nori, and have length vs width.

They can get to 10 inches or more iirc.

i had a few, but full blown ick wiped my tank.

 

[rodcpierce]

I had one, I rescued it from petco. it was completely white when I got it, so stressed out that it was just laying on its side in the bag when i got home. I figured he was a goner for sure. Slowly acclimated him, and he started to come alive. Showed great interest in the rest of the tank. let him go, the next day he was completely blue again, and swimming around like he owned the place! I used to feed him broccoli on a vegi clip, and he would just devour it like no tomorrow. Very very friendly fish, only one he ever picked on was the damsel, but only after the damsel would chase the other fish around . Unfortunately he came down with a bad ich outbreak about 6 months into having him. One of the power heads fell off on night, and blew all the sand around and caused a serious parameter spike. I just couldnt get him to come out of it.