Powder Blue?

[Scudd]

I've been having really bad luck with scopus tangs in my reef tank. I've had two in the past year...the second one died this week. I really liked them because of there algae eating, but after such poor luck I'm over them. I'd really like to get a powder blue, but have heard they are difficult to keep and dont last long in aquariums. Does anyone have any feed back on this? How reef safe are they? Do they eat algae like other tangs? Thanks

 

[sparks56]

powder blues are by far the best looking tang out there! but they are hit or miss. some have good luck with them some don't . i've not had good luck with them

 

[Scudd]

ttt

 

[yoboyjdizz]

There are very delicate but a healthy can and will last long in an aquarium.. Though they need large tanks 6ft atleast should be one of the last fish introduced.

 

[KDodds]

As mentioned above, I think your problems may have something to do with the tank these Tangs are going into. Scopas are probably the hardiest of the Zebrasoma and it would be extraordinarily irresponsible to recommend a much more difficult fish as a replacement. I'd nix the idea of a PBT, IOW. Kole's Tangs are gorgeous in their own right and much more efficient algae consumers than the Zebrasoma sp. (Yellow, Purple, Scopas). As an added benefit, they're generally hardier and tend to require less space. I think you'd probably do well with one barring any problems with the system itself.

 

[Tabeaubi]

I have a Powder Blue tang. He was around 4.5" from nose to tail when I got him. So I guess he would be teenage.
For the first couple days everything was fine health wise. Other than my B%stard yellow tang harassing the crap out of him. I believe that the yellow harrassed and speared him with his barb enough to severely stress him out. Ick came shortly after. It got real bad for a couple of weeks. Then it started to get better once the yellow started to leave him alone. A couple more weeks passed and the ick came back worse than ever. It got to the point where I was convinced that he was going to die. All the beautiful blue on his body practically bleached out to white and the Ick was everywhere. I kept feeding very heavily, nori, mysid, cyclopeez and garlic I believe was the key. Not to mention 300 gallons of space for him to move around in.
Today he is the king of my reef, all of his color returned, he's fat and a model citizen. The yellow tang and him are now swimming partners.


Hope this helps.
Tom

 

[jeffbrig]

I'm on my second PBT. I QT all my fish purchases, and the first one expired literally overnight about a week into QT, with no visible symptoms. The LFS wasn't forthcoming with any information about the fish's origin, so I picked another LFS.

PBT 2.0 is doing great. He spent a few months in QT, where I ran a preventative hyposalinity treatment, and treated for intestinal parasites (really for one of his QT-mates, but he got it too).

Getting a healthy specimen is key, as is quarantining (I have yet to lose a fish post-QT). Having a large tank and maintaining excellent water quality is also required. When I added my PBT to the main display, there was some initial squabbling with my achilles (nothing violent, just some chasing/hiding) but that tapered off after the first week.

 

[Asuran]

as long as you find a healthy specimen then you should be fine. but also if you have purchased the same two scopas tangs from the same store... you might want to try another store for livestock