My friend who has a 75 gallon tank wants one. What is the main cause of death for the blue tang? He wants a MAC approved tang so does this mean it is probably more healthy than most. (he reallly wants one that will last for a long time) Any advice or precautions before getting one? How long have your blue tangs lived? His tank has been running for 4 months. Thanks!
How long did your blue tang live?
- Thread starter bigj11
- Start date
Guygettnby
Well-known member
mine has lived for going on 3 years now. i do recomend you wait awhile longer before you start buying expensive fish or atleast fish that are alittle less dificult to keep. 4 months is not long enough IMO...
MattL
New member
Re: How long did your blue tang live?
In my opinion, this is a poor choice for a 75gal tank. There are tangs that will live, and live long-term in a 75, but this is not one of them.
From my experience, this tang will quickly outgrow such confines. However, if he is prepared to find a new home for it when it becomes too large, then by all means he can try assuming he has the experience and a healthy tank.
Matt
Does he mean hepatus paracanthus?
In my opinion, this is a poor choice for a 75gal tank. There are tangs that will live, and live long-term in a 75, but this is not one of them.
From my experience, this tang will quickly outgrow such confines. However, if he is prepared to find a new home for it when it becomes too large, then by all means he can try assuming he has the experience and a healthy tank.
Matt
ccampbell57
Premium Member
4 years 9.5" and counting
Assuming you mean Paracanthurus hepatus, (not hepatus paracanthus as written by a previous poster) the main cause of death in these fish for hobbyists would probably be not properly quarantining them - they are prone to developing Cryptocaryon, saltwater ick. Chronic HLLE, as Paul mentioned, can disfigure many of them as well.
Rather than looking for a MAC certified one (spotty availability right now) you might look for one from the Eastern Africa or PNG.
There is certainly NO problem space-wise adding one to a 75 gallon aquarium as long as the tank isn't packed with live rock, and there are no incompatible species present. This species would take years before it reaches a size where it would need to be moved out of a tank like that. People don't understand that this species has a natural history different than other tangs - they hover above coral heads and don't swim across whole reefs like many other tangs do.
I agree with Guygettnby, and would not, however, suggest this fish for that new of an aquarium - especially since I imagine that the existing fish have not been quarantined.
In regards to longevity, a public aquarium has a group of them that have reached 10" in the 15 years they have been in captivity. These fish still look very good, so they will likely live much longer than that.
Jay
Rather than looking for a MAC certified one (spotty availability right now) you might look for one from the Eastern Africa or PNG.
There is certainly NO problem space-wise adding one to a 75 gallon aquarium as long as the tank isn't packed with live rock, and there are no incompatible species present. This species would take years before it reaches a size where it would need to be moved out of a tank like that. People don't understand that this species has a natural history different than other tangs - they hover above coral heads and don't swim across whole reefs like many other tangs do.
I agree with Guygettnby, and would not, however, suggest this fish for that new of an aquarium - especially since I imagine that the existing fish have not been quarantined.
In regards to longevity, a public aquarium has a group of them that have reached 10" in the 15 years they have been in captivity. These fish still look very good, so they will likely live much longer than that.
Jay
Zaita
50% Fish : 50% Human
Saltwater ick is seldom fatal. And is typically only present in fish that are stressed. Throwing an active fish like a blue tang into a small aquarium is a sure way to stress it out.
HLLE is more of a long term thing bought on by malnutrition.
I must personally disagree with this. I put mine into a 125g at 4cm long and in less than 12mnths it had reached 17cm in size. It's a very active fish and will swim the entire tank quite happily. Anything smaller than 125g I would feel would cramp this fish considerably.
Compared to my Zebrasoma tangs, the Blue is exponentially more active in swimming space requirements. Once this tang hits >20cm I feel that a 125g may even be too small and start adding extra stress to the animal.
A good friend has a 10yr+ old one that is about 30cm and lives in a 400g tank. This fish will swim around the entire tank quite happily, and is definitely the boss.
Actually, this tang can hit >6" (15cm) in less than 12mnths in an ideal environment with a healthy diet. These fish have an extremely fast growth rate. A healthy blue tang should swim and be quite active. If your fish aren't swimming much or generally sticking to a single area then perhaps they aren't entirely healthy.
As juveniles, for protection from larger predators. This behavior changes as they grow and reach sexual maturity.
And yet, a friend of mine has a 10yr old one that has been full grown (approx 12") for at least the last couple of years.
On a side note. WetWebMedia recommend you do not QT your blue tang. Because this will cause the fish unnecessary stress.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/paracant.htm
Paul B
Premium Member
I don't know, I have kept over 2 dozen of these fish in a hundred gallon tank (not at the same time) In my 100 gallon tank they reach 5". I have seen them in the sea where they will get to about 10" but they are stunted in a smaller tank. I also had a few for many years in a 40 gallon tank (when that size tank was considered huge) and they reached about 4".
As for ich not being fatal, I disagree with that. Ich is never fatal in the sea but in an enclosed tank with a schooling fish which will always be stressed it is many times fatal, I will even say, most times. If you have a tank that is prone to ich, this fish will get it first. On a scale of 1-10 I would give this fish a 5 as to resistance to succomb to ich or a variety of other maladys. This in my opinion
is because it is a schooling fish and never seen alone. You can view a school of tangs as one individual due to the fact that they all eat, swim and hide at the same time. They are lost in a tank and you can even see it if you look close at the fish, they are always looking for a place to hide as they are always looking for their school mates. They will live over ten years in a smaller tank as I have kept a few of them longer than that but they do suffer from HLLE most, but not all of the time. It may be caused by diet, stray currents, or a host of other things but in reality, no one knows. A lot of people have theories but none proved.
It may be a combination of diet, currents and stress as it does not occur in the sea.
I have stopped the disease a few times by feeding vitamin A or Cod Liver Oil but the fish many times remains scarred.
I feed this regularly to all my fish as fish were designed to eat whole fish which are loaded with vitamin A. Tangs, eat, along with algae, baby fish as baby fish are a staple diet on a reef.
These fish when captive never look anywhere near as beautiful as they appear in the sea. When they are in a school you rarely see a scale out of place, their eyes are clear and they don't hide nearly as quickly. They eat all day and they eat algae. Algae grows on all rocks on all healthy reefs, you don't see it because of these and other creatures that trim it very short.
As for quarintine, If you quarantine your fish as a rule, then you should quarantine this fish but not in a 10 gallon tank. They need a much longer tank with many hiding places.
They will almost always carry paracites.
And Jay, glad to meet you. I am happy you are here.
Have a great day.
Paul
As for ich not being fatal, I disagree with that. Ich is never fatal in the sea but in an enclosed tank with a schooling fish which will always be stressed it is many times fatal, I will even say, most times. If you have a tank that is prone to ich, this fish will get it first. On a scale of 1-10 I would give this fish a 5 as to resistance to succomb to ich or a variety of other maladys. This in my opinion
is because it is a schooling fish and never seen alone. You can view a school of tangs as one individual due to the fact that they all eat, swim and hide at the same time. They are lost in a tank and you can even see it if you look close at the fish, they are always looking for a place to hide as they are always looking for their school mates. They will live over ten years in a smaller tank as I have kept a few of them longer than that but they do suffer from HLLE most, but not all of the time. It may be caused by diet, stray currents, or a host of other things but in reality, no one knows. A lot of people have theories but none proved.
It may be a combination of diet, currents and stress as it does not occur in the sea.
I have stopped the disease a few times by feeding vitamin A or Cod Liver Oil but the fish many times remains scarred.
I feed this regularly to all my fish as fish were designed to eat whole fish which are loaded with vitamin A. Tangs, eat, along with algae, baby fish as baby fish are a staple diet on a reef.
These fish when captive never look anywhere near as beautiful as they appear in the sea. When they are in a school you rarely see a scale out of place, their eyes are clear and they don't hide nearly as quickly. They eat all day and they eat algae. Algae grows on all rocks on all healthy reefs, you don't see it because of these and other creatures that trim it very short.
As for quarintine, If you quarantine your fish as a rule, then you should quarantine this fish but not in a 10 gallon tank. They need a much longer tank with many hiding places.
They will almost always carry paracites.
And Jay, glad to meet you. I am happy you are here.
Have a great day.
Paul
Madfronter
New member
I had a blue hippo tang in my 75 gallon tank for 9 years. He dies about a year and a half ago. He was about 9 inches and is still frozen in a bag in my freezer. I had forgotten about that until I saw this thread today. He had HLLE when I bought him, he was about an inch and a half and obviously wild caught. I was able to minimize the HLLE to the point you could barely notice it and then never got any worse. He was my buddy. I named him Gonzo because of his behavior. I remember once I had been feeding him some pellet food and he ate over 50 pellets in one sitting. I had to stop because he didn't seem to want to stop eating. He seemed to like to watch TV too. I miss him.
MattL
New member
I never answered the other part of your question. I kept one in a 55 for two years. During that time, he grew from 3" to 6".
He really looked like he needed more swimming space, and so he went to a new home. He started to display pacing and other signs of stress.
He is still alive and at 8+"! Considering I bought him when he obviously had some age to him in 2002, that would make him 6+ years old.
Matt
He really looked like he needed more swimming space, and so he went to a new home. He started to display pacing and other signs of stress.
He is still alive and at 8+"! Considering I bought him when he obviously had some age to him in 2002, that would make him 6+ years old.
To clarify this partially incorrect statement, as Zaita pointed out, this behavior changes as they grow, and adults do need swimming space in captivity. The famous Bob Fenner explains more, and also details space requirements. Be sure to check out the related FAQs at the top for more information.
Matt
ccampbell57
Premium Member
Yes I have a very expensive freezer.
Madfronter
New member
Well it was too big to flush down the toilet and it was winter when he died so the ground was swollen. I plan on burying him next to his tank mate, a yellow tang who died a month before him and was 8" and also 9 years old. I told my niece I would bury it with her since she helped me bury the yellow tang. I just forgot, so its been sitting in my freezer in a bag. Hes pretty heavy. I should weigh him.
Madfronter
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14006700#post14006700 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MattL
Snack for later? I guess to each their own.
Personally, I bury my deceased tankmates.
I hope that some future archaeological expedition will be confounded by fossils of Indo-Pacific marine species in inland Massachusetts.
Matt
lol I never thought about it that way. That's a funny way of looking at it. Talking about Indo Pacific...I just got back from Maui and Honolulu on the 16th. That was an amazing trip.
