Powder Brown tang

[travis32]

I know Tangs are considered "athletic" fish.

However, my new powder brown is in my 125g display now after hypo treatment. And I notice in the evenings, my Powder brown goes nuts...

He paces the full length of the tank seeing how fast he can get going then turns around and swims as fast he can back and forth. He'll do this for a solid half to an hour..

I almost get motion sickness just watching him swim back and forth. Is this typical of tangs? My bristletooth tang will play with the powder brown or more like the PBT plays with the bristletooth, they don't fight, just follow each other around and then dart into different places and come out together.

However, my bristletooth just hangs out pecs at the rocks, pics at algae, and acts like what I consider a normal tang. It doesn't rapidly swim back and forth like the powder brown.

I think it's neat, but, seems weird to me to see a fish pacing back and forth, unless it's heavily constipated.

 

[gravattj]

My Powder Brown does the same thing...

 

[travis32]

o.k. cool. must just be the species.....

 

[ssavader]

"Pacing" back and forth in all animal species is usually a sign of bordem or confinement in too small a space. I'm not trying to be critical because I have Powder Blue Tang in a 125g and he does well. But this is probably due to his "personality". Your PBrT just may be too "charged" for your 125g. You might consider "complicating" the rock work so he has more places to explore.

 

[sanchoy]

most people will say your tank is too small for a tang based on his behavior. Just constructive criticism.

 

[travis32]

I wondered that too.. But, he went through 6 week hypo in a 29g. I'm just wondering if it's leftover energy from being in a too small a tank. He was a great trooper in a 29. According to the Tang directory on this forum, which is what I used to go by in determining what tang I want. The powder brown was one of the few that had a minimum of 90 or 100g I'd have to look it up again. And I felt I was providing an adequate home based on research I found.

I guess I'll see how it does going forward. Maybe it's just used to bigger spaces until I got him from the LFS.

 

[jcw]

My dwarf angel did this when I put him in the DT, too.

Sometimes, I think it's the increased flow that spooks them out. Or the increased light.

I don't know. Just thinking out loud.

 

[geaux xman]

i wouldnt worry about it. every fish behaves differently. i just added a 4" powder brown into my DT this morning. it was in hypo for ~6weeks in a 29g too.

mine use to devour pellets, flakes, and frozens. it would even eat flakes out of my hand. but for the last 10 days or so, it would only eat nori. not sure why the sudden change in food preference. everything looks fine visibly.