Powder blue tang primer

[emilio c]

Ick has never really been an issue with any of my tangs. I will say they may have 1 or 2 specks from time to time, I leave them alone! I do not add, take out or add meds to my tank. My approach is if I mess with them I will just add to the stress more. I simply keep them feed,water quality up and high water flow is what works for me.

 

[THP]

Ick has never really been an issue with any of my tangs. I will say they may have 1 or 2 specks from time to time, I leave them alone! I do not add, take out or add meds to my tank. My approach is if I mess with them I will just add to the stress more. I simply keep them feed,water quality up and high water flow is what works for me.

First off, fantastic looking tank you have!!! Love it and love all those tangs - awesome!!!!!!

Interesting what you've said about ick. I just recently purchased a PBT which appears very alert, "healthy" and is eating well however, he does suddenly have ick. Yes, yes, I should have quarantined and I'm kicking myself now for not doing so but, with the holidays coming up and me being away for a week, quarantining now is not going to be possible.

I have very high flow and excellent water parameters so I hope he fights the ick off. He appeared better yesterday (much less white spots) but he is still scratching. I suppose this is just the stage where the parasite falls off and reproduces (argh).

Anyway, hope my tang survives christmas. If he still shows severe signs then I'll move him into a quarantine tank in the new year.

 

[ccampbell57]

well moving him to a QT after the ich is in the tank is a good idea, but the rest of your fish are soon to show signs of ich once it goes through the reproduction stage.

It is like the old saying, the calm before the storm.

You need to remove the rest of the fish and treat them as well.

 

[OSTguy]

Ich does not show up on all fish just because one got it. Is it in the tank? Yes. But it doesn't have to show up on all the other fish. I would not rush the others into a different tank if not needed....over reaction is sometimes worse than no reaction at all.

 

[emilio c]

Ich does not show up on all fish just because one got it. Is it in the tank? Yes. But it doesn't have to show up on all the other fish. I would not rush the others into a different tank if not needed....over reaction is sometimes worse than no reaction at all.

THP, I have to agree 100% with this! Again I am only giving my opinion and experiences. Others may agree or disagree but in the end think of this, if you pay attention to your animals and the quality of there habitat and diet are excellent and your PB gets a spot here or there mabe even a couple, If the fish is eating well and has no pinched in head (Thin behind the eyes) he/she? should be able to shake it off. My PH and ALK droped very low one year when I added a new return pump, the tank was off for about 6hrs while the plumbing cured. All my tangs looked like salted fish, this was my fault I did not panic and net everyone out for treatment I left them alone, fixed the problem and in 3 days everyone was back to normal. THP, I hope you have great sucess with you PB!

 

[salty joe]

Both PB apear to be mated they share a hole at night, swim close to eachother and if one loses sight of the other one the PB will swim all over the place to find the missing buddy. I took the larger one out to see what would happen and the smaller one would pace all over the tank and then lay on its side as if it was dead. I placed the PB back in the tank they circled eachother for atleast 5 min and all was normal. I have had them for sometime with no agression with the other tangs at all, but I do feel that the diet, tank size have a part in that. My tank is a 300gal marineland DD, http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1749739 and this spring I will be upgrading to a 1000gal tank for my tangs.

Did you get your PBs at the same time? How big were they & how big are they now?

 

[emilio c]

Did you get your PBs at the same time? How big were they & how big are they now?

No I got them seperate the larger one in the pic was first. The littler on was next, They were about 2-3" and the lager one is 5-6" and small one is aprx 4-5".

 

[Magga Pie]

I have had a powder blue tank for 2 weeks now and although he is eating he shows signs of ick.I didnt think much of it but within 4 days of adding him my clowns started showing little signs i just took them out of my displayand qt them because they where almost coveredwith ick....they are still eating but i really dont want to wait and see because it is getting worse. I will be taking all my fish out of my tank including the powder blue and treating them with copper. He is a beautiful fish though.

If I treat him with copper then introduce him back to the display will be get ick again?

 

[jjstecchino]

I have had a powder blue tank for 2 weeks now and although he is eating he shows signs of ick.I didnt think much of it but within 4 days of adding him my clowns started showing little signs i just took them out of my displayand qt them because they where almost coveredwith ick....they are still eating but i really dont want to wait and see because it is getting worse. I will be taking all my fish out of my tank including the powder blue and treating them with copper. He is a beautiful fish though.

If I treat him with copper then introduce him back to the display will be get ick again?

Most likely, unless you leave the display tank completely without any fish for at least 6 weeks. 10 would be better.

 

[Amoore311]

Just wanted to drop in here and post a picture of my Powder Blue. I've had him for 2 years now.

I get many comments and questions about my Powder Blue b/c he is so docile. Aside from occasional spats with my yellow tang, always around lights out time, he is completely oblivious to any of his tank inhabitants.

Many just default to the old, "Well different fish have different personalities." I agree with this 100%... to a point. I do think there are certain things we can do to "curb a fishes personality" so to speak.

The #1 thing would obviously be to keep the fish in a proper sized tank. We all now a cramped tang is an angry tang.

#2 I would say.... KEEP THE FISH FAT. As you will noticed in the following photo, my Powder Blue is quite obese. I believe the reason he is so mellow, is because he is always fat and happy. He has no reason to be aggressive, because ample food is always available to him.

Again, this is just my observation. But I believe keeping these fragile fish fed, is a very important step in keeping them happy and healthy.

Anyways here is my pride and joy:

Fat Boy

 

[WuHT]

For those "duller" looking powder blue/brown tangs.. how many of them brightened up in your aquariums (and how long did it take)?

It seems like they'll be pale when they first arrive @ the LFS, but they still sell then, so im' never around to observe

 

[jjstecchino]

For those "duller" looking powder blue/brown tangs.. how many of them brightened up in your aquariums (and how long did it take)?

It seems like they'll be pale when they first arrive @ the LFS, but they still sell then, so im' never around to observe

I have noticed the color of PBT changing to some extent depending on the circumstance.
My PBT seems to be paler in the morning as the lights come on and he get out of his favourite hide out. He darkens within about 30 minutes. His color becomes very dark if he is upset, like when he is chasing other fish.

An update on my PBT adventure: I tried to reintroduce the Scott's Fairy Wrasse and the PBT almost killed him again, so I decided to remove the PBT. I got an acrylic trap from Here and I was able to bait the fish with nori and finally catch him.
He is now in the refugium andhe is having a feast eating chaetomorpha. I really did not think this was going to be a suitable vegetable for tangs but.... I was wrong since he is iting it.
The scott's is enjoying the big tank and seems happy. I do not know what triggers this passionate aggression on the PBT and specifically against the scott's wrasse.

The trapping process was a game of patience. The PBT is very intelligent. The yellow and the naso very carelessly went straight into the trap and were scarfing on nori. The PBT instead was extremely circumspect like he knew it was a trap. It took at least 2 hours and a lot of nori eaten by the other two tangs before he adventured into the acylic box.

Now I have to decide what to do. I really like this fish and would like to keep him but he is definitely a terror toward the other fish.

I wish I could have something like what Emilio showed us possible with so many tanks coexisting together. My tank is 6x2x2, with plenty of flow. I run a closed loop flowing 3600 gallons per hour with alternating flow from front to back and back to front in addition to approximately 2000 gal. per hour through the sump. Fish are fed heavily 2 times per day. I do not know if I got a particularly mean specimen but I dont know what else I can do to lower aggression.

I may finish stocking the tank then add him last but I am afraid that if I put him back in and he turns mean again I will not be able to catch him again.

I am inclined at this point to ask the LFS to get him back and exchange him for other fish.

What would you guys do if you were in my shoes?

 

[salty joe]

emilio c, your outstanding tank is close to what I want to achieve.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard that it is not possible to keep more than one PBT and here you are with two that are paired.
My tank will be about 460 g with good water movement, plenty of swimming space, hiding spots and assuming everything else is right.....do you think that if I were lucky enough to get a pair of PBTs they would co-exist with a bunch of peaceful smaller fish like firefish, fairy or flasher wrasses etc? What I want for my tank is one pair of a stunning larger fish like PBT and then several groups or pairs of smaller fish. I wonder if having a pair of PBTs instead of just one would lessen their aggression towards other small fish?

Anyway, yours is a really nice tank and absolutely lovely fish.

 

[emilio c]

Well........I would be the first to say that what works for others may not work at all. With that said, I would love to say yes but tangs to me are a lot like people. They come from other regions, fight over territory, fight over resources (food), and only seem to coexist when all of these are meet. Okay sounds weird but over the past 15years of keeping almost every tang out there I have always got them to get along and with minor agression. The tank size, aquascaping and enough room for them to explore the habitat; you may have a shot. My suggestion is to put them in last and have a lot of other busy fish in there. Do you have a good LFS that may help you to aquire what may be a pair. My LFS helped me by getting my Sohals paired up. Everyone has that fish that will never work out mine happens to be the Clown Tang!!! That has to be the most prized fish to me but over 15 years and 9 attempts I gave up. Good Luck and thank you for the nice comments!

 

[Triggerfish]

very nice fish
current tank mates:
koran angel
yellow tang
chromis
percs
yellow wrasse
firefish - (doesnt get along with if see out will chase back into rocks)
- have had mine for 1.5 yrs
- 125 g FOWL currently
- needs constant algea to graze on
- is by far the dominant fish in tank
- harrassed the new koran when first arrived only a day or so
- slow grower think needs more algae
- very active fish constantly on the move
- endured a heavy ich infestation when i first got it.. amazing it survived..

pros:
beautiful
easily fed
active

cons:
little to dominant perhaps a larger tank would be more suitable 180 or so.

pic to come.

 

[davez104]

Here is a picture of mine, just because everyone likes pics, right? Had him about 2 weeks, so still settling in to the tank.

Dave.

 

[emilio c]

Dave, PB he looks great!

 

[WuHT]

yikes.. these picture are really making it harder for me to choose between a powder blue and a powder brown.

 

[theisdept]

I've tried twice. No luck.

 

[Finsky]

Will the real boss please swim forward!

Will the real boss please swim forward!

I will have had my 4 1/2" PBT for three years as of February 2010.

My PBT thinks it is the "official" initiator of all new tank members. It came after my breeding pair of Cinnmon clowns which host in a 15 month old red rose bubble tip anemone at the right end of the tank. Mrs. Cinnmon does not take any guff from anybody and I think the PBT senses this.

I watched a television program which showed a one pair of PBT's desperately trying to defend their reef territory and accompanying algae against a large school, 50 to 100, convict tangs. The PBT's did not give up trying to harrass the convicts until the convicts left due to having eaten all the algae or who knows why.

That program told me alot about the PBT's innate personality and I think of the pair fighting the convict tangs when I see my PBT chase somebody although the last fish in was a 2 1/2" Lamark's Angel which is a smart fish. It will move in and out of the live rock like the pair of six line wrasses and damsels. It does not let the PBT keep it from food and seems to have acclimated pretty well over the last month. I think the PBT has grown up with most of the fish in my tank and I think this helps with it not being overly aggressive.