Tell me about Powder Browns

[thriceanangel]

What can anyone tell me about them. Are they as difficult as Powder Blues?

 

[thriceanangel]

c'mon I know someone has experience with them...

 

[Triggerfish]

no direct experience,,however i believe michaels rates them as generally easier to keep.

not nearly has appealing looking though...

 

[eclecticvibe]

I've found powder browns to be very similar to powder blues in care and temperament. I think they're gorgeous fish, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

 

[johnnybravo234]

Powder browns are an great fish to have but def. make sure that you quarantine for at least 3 weeks before you add it to your tank. Mine burst out with all sorts of ich when I first go him in my quarantine tank. He also got very used to my presence while he was in there too. The are also voracious eaters like other tangs so they may make feeding more timid residents very difficult. (I have to literally push mine away with the squeeze dropper while I struggle to feed my brown banded goby. I only feed him once a day and give him formula 2 (frozen), then a mixture of spirulina enriched brine shrimp and marine cuisine. During the day I also make sure that he and my hippo tang both have plenty of caulerpa (I grow tons of it in the fuge) to munch on while they are grazing. Every now and then I throw them some formula one marine pellets too. He and the hippo also get along well. Heres a picture of the little sucker Good Luck

 

[thriceanangel]

Did you treat the ich, or are they hardy enough to fight it off? I think that they are every bit as beautiful as the PblT. How are they when compares to a YT or other dissimilar tang. What is michaels?

 

[johnnybravo234]

I had him in a 20g quarantine with a uv sterilizer running 24/7, an emperor 400, and a seaclone 75 protien skimmer. He cleared up within a week and a half. I fed him a ton of formula 2 with the garlic once a day and left a small rock with caulerpa rubber-banded to it in there for him to eat during the day. I believe in feeding until they are satisfied and constanly monitoring the water while quarantining the fish. They need to develop their eating habits if they werent already in captivity before you acquired them and they need to build their strength back up so that they will be able to compete with your current residents. Leave the bottom of the tank bare and give them some pvc or something to hide in so that you can clean up after they are done feeding with a siphon or a small net.. just be careful not to startle them too much. Do water changes as necesary. They are supposedly a bit harder to acclimate than other tangs but if you quarantine it properly you shouldnt have any trouble.. just be patient. Yellow tangs a fairly hardy but they can be very aggressive. PB's are more calm and stupid which kind of works as an advantage for them in fact mine's quite a moron compared to my hippo which is something I never thought id say

 

[bureau13]

First, to be clear, we are talking about Acanthurus japonicus correct? That's what is in johnnybravo's picture. If you go poking around www.wetwebmedia.com you will find an article by Bob Fenner discussing this fish and the "other powder brown," Acanthurus nigricans. The most obvious differences visually are that A. japonicus has the white face while A. nigricans has a much smaller white area under the eye, and A. japonicus has the red streak at the tail end of the dorsal fin.

To give you the Cliff notes...A. japonicus is the one you want. The other one has an extremely poor survival rate.

I currently have A. japonicus in quarantine. I choose to treat my QT with Cupramine, I personally do not trust the fish's ability to "fight it off." Even if there is nothing I can see, I've been told the parasites can be in the gill area out of sight, so..better safe than sorry.

jds

 

[thriceanangel]

How long do you use the cupramine?

 

[jnc914]

I have a powder brown like the fish pictured above, also known as a whitecheek. I had to recently remove it from my 180 after adding a mysteri wrasse. He has been residing in my refuge for the last three weeks. i love the fish, it is gorgeous, but they are ich magnets and can be very aggressive towards other fish, even those not in the same family. I think to ensure their health they should be housed in a large (250+) tank so that they get plenty of swim room. Regretfully I will most likely return my PBT to my LFS.

 

[bureau13]

Treatment period is 14 days, but I will leave him in QT a bit longer while I observe him.

jds

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8152091#post8152091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thriceanangel
How long do you use the cupramine?

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I have one.....He is a PITA!!
It's my fault, really.. Impulse buy.
I have had him since Dec..I got him for myself for my birthday...What a gift 6 MONTHS [yes MONTHS!!] in quarantine..so much work! First ich...now Flukes? Mxyosporia? Chicken pox? Poison Ivy?? I don't know but he is driving me CRAZY!!

Anyway....
These fish are not for beginners. They are not for people who want an easy fish to toss in the main and forget about it. 95% of them WILL have ich. Ancanthurus species are prone to ich [except for maybe the Sohal] They may be hardier than the Powder Blue, BUT they are not an easy fish
They are very pretty and I don't find mine to be aggressive at all