powder blue tangs?

[tigerarmy40]

I am considering a powder blue for my new 150g as a center peice fish and i know that there has been all kinds of problems with tangs in the past. I had a freind form my local reef site get rid of his sohal for aggression and zoa nipping. I also had a sailfin that had a taste for xenia and lps...... and have heard many many horror stories about tangs, so my question is what are your experiences with powder blues? fish aggression? coral nipping? are they ultra sensitive to ich or stress? I need to know! I have read up but I have found that books can be missleading and the best info comes from other hobbyiest! so please help me out!!!

[Steven Pro]

Mine came in with both Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium (which I believe is the case with many Acanthurus species). It required being treated with copper, but it is healthy how and has not nipped at anything in my display (mostly LPS, some SPS, a couple of anemones, a crocea, and some Xenia). It and my yellow seem to have come to a truce, but they also and basically the only fish in there (I also have a pair of Banggai's which neither seem to notice).

[Broodingwolf]

PBT can be aggro to other fish I have heard from other hobbiest. They are also very sensitive. I think melev had a problem with his PBT eating zoos. My PBT had 0 aggression issues thus far, but there are only 2 fish in the tank. I hear the best way to deal with aggression issues for new arrivals is to put a mirror on the tank sides so the fish is preoccupied there. HTH!

[tigerarmy40]

broodingwolf Ithanks for the info! I think I am going to try to run about 5 fish total in my 150g. I dont think there will be any reason for aggression, the fish wont exactly be on top of eachother so Ill keep my fingers crossed! hopefuly melev can chime in and give me an ear full! I want to here of any nipping issues!

Stevenpro thanks for the info, tangs are definitely prone to disease and stress but I was wondering if the powder blue is more suseptable then lets say a naso or something. I have never had a problem with disease i my system so I hope it doesnt start with my favorite fish!! lol, so far I have aggro and possible nipping and disease......anyone else have any horror stories about pbt's?

[Steven Pro]

In my experience, the Acanthurus species tangs (which the Powder Blue is one of) are much more likely to be infested with parasites than any of the Zebrasoma, Naso, or Ctenochaetus. I am a strict advocate of quarantine, even more so with these specimens.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

[tigerarmy40]

thanks for the link, I will no dought be doing a good length quarentine when the time comes! I think its the only way to go....

[Asuran]

i have one in QT right now... its a bit on the thin side but only goes nuts for flake food and will only pick at nori on a clip when it thinks no one is watching....

two days after QT there are two minor white spots and i will be slowly bringing down the salinity but then i also have a neon goby in there as well for QT (both are new) but the goby seems to be fine for now

[peecook]

mine was very aggressive, but he was the biggest and fastest fish in the tank. it was nice to see him whip my yellow tail damsel into shape the first day in the tank. mine at frozen, flake, pellet and nori.

[Rook]

I recently purchased a PBT that is currently in QT. My only advice thus far is to go to your LFS and watch them or help them test their copper several times. It is a PITA to read those copper kits and to maintain the right levels of copper in the QT. Copper dissapates very quickly.

[fppf]

"Copper dissapates very quickly."

Only if you give it somewhere to go.
Make sure to have only plastic and glass stuff in the tank. No carbon, rock, or anything else pourse. My copper levels hold for a few days straight.

[deepblue68]

great fish to have and a lot of fun to watch once quarantined.http://http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/35119my_powder_blue_tang.JPG

[tigerarmy40]

peecook when you say aggressive do you mean like chasing other fish or dismantling them?

[MIKE NY]

Mine like most tangs is aggressive and was one of the last fish to be put in. It is a very strong active swimmer that needs places in the rockwork to feel secure because it stresses out very easily and is an ick magnet when it does. I feed mine a varied diet with lots of greens. It took me a long time to get mine to look like this.............
http://images.snapfish.com/3453434323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3A%3A%3C%3D%3B96%3D3232%3A%3A%3C%3A%3A5794nu0mrj

[Shawnts106]

If you get a PB, I would recommend QT the fish before adding him to your Ich Free display...

PB would be ok, in a 150 gallon, however I would recommend that you have some serious flow for him... and make sure hes getting a 90% diet of seaweed....

Copper is NOT a good thing to dose with fish, I dont really like it AT ALL!!! its very dangerous, too much and you poison your fish, to little and it doesnt do a thing...

plus its hard to keep constand in the water..

I would recommend a Hyposalinity treatment in the a BB QT tank for him...
You can read all about it on the Disease Forum... its not hard to do just make sure you are keeping a constand pH and get a Refractometer because Hydrometers dont work in such low salinitys...


the PB tang is about the MOST PRONE TANG to Ich.. it is EXTREMELY exaggerated in this species for some odd reason or another.... I would definatly recommend a QT before adding to the main display... and durring the QT be sure to suppliment his diet with Nori Soaked in Garlic Gaurd or Garlic XTreme from Kent.... it will help with his immune system and get him back in shape to fight off some nastys!


good luck!

[Rook]

Originally posted by fppf
"Copper dissapates very quickly."

Only if you give it somewhere to go.
Make sure to have only plastic and glass stuff in the tank. No carbon, rock, or anything else pourse. My copper levels hold for a few days straight.


Just PVC, a clay pot, and a spong filter. I know the filter does absorbe some, but I need filtration, especially with a poo machine like that.

[mortenN]

The best way to QT a PBT is in a fragtank if you have one. (or in your sump if the sump is big) If you have a separatly QT you will probably have a new infection with ich when you put him in your displaytank. The PBT will have ich 3 minutes after you show him a fishing el. :)

IMO, high water quality and turnover, no stress from another fish, a variety of food with garlic is mutch better than Copper.

Tangpolice.:eek1: ..at this moment I have my 5" PBT in a fragtank on 30g, I use a Tunzestream 6000 to give him high turnover. I got this PBT for 14 months ago, but I must have him in my fragtank when I change my displaytank to a new one....from 75g to 250g.
My PBT have no ich and is very healty, he eat very well and I can don't see any stress on the fish at this time. (but I don't hope I must have him in my 30g for a long time.) :) My PBT and I am waiting for a new tank :D

[Rook]

I'm not sure I agree from what I have read. First, if you put a tang that may have ick, or worse amylodinium (sp?) then you just put that/those disease into your display tank. Disease could easily travel up a return line. Also, while stress will bring out a disease in a diseased fish, if you can get your fish cured of a disease I did not think they could get the disease again unless you reintoduce it to the tank??

Thus, if you have not ick, you have no ick and no amount of stress will bring on a case of ick, which you do not have?? Could be wrong though.

Next, while I know copper is not often reccomended, my PBT was in copper for a week at the collectors, then a week and a half at the LFS, so I am not hurting it any worst by placing it in copper now. Any good bacteria inside its belly is already effected, and many people much wiser than myself do not agree copper is as bad for tangs as it is made out.

So, I'd rather avoid adding so disease to kill the rest of my prised fish.

BTW, after a week and a half at the LFS, and three days in my QT, no signs of ICK or any other disease (knock on wood).

[fppf]

Humm, I would try taking the clay pot out.
Put another piece of 4" or 6" of PVC in there.

Here is the bigger pic of my Powder Blue and Regal
http://members.aol.com/fppf/fish/tangs.jpg

[tigerarmy40]

awesome looking fish guys and great advice, however doing a qt in your sump is def a bad idea for one you just introduced anything on the fish to your entire systema and you have to handle the fish more then needed just to end up in the same water so I would say thats not a good idea and as far as copper goes, I dont touch the stuff, i would rather take my chances at the natural way and leave the fish in the dark with some good food and lots of garlic-x and low, low salinity. for you guys that have a qt with no rock because you are using copper what do you use for bio load? I would think no mattter what you are going to need something for your biological and whatever you use is going to suck that copper right up! right?

[opihi]

Rook:
While there certainly is the possibility that a system is ich-free, i believe it's more likely that our systems have some level of ich in it. However, our fish are healthy enough to keep them from growing to plague proportions. see this link (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm). it basically states that while in the protomont stage, Ich can be spread by any wet object. as careful as we try to be, there's always some transfer of water from fish bags to our systems, buying or trading coral, etc.

Mine came in with both Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium (which I believe is the case with many Acanthurus species).

Hey Steven, i hope you're well. i'm am concerned about velvet, especially since you say that Acanthurus species are susceptible... how do i spot it? is it difficult to diagnose on PBTs?

i'm keeping my 4" PBT in a 20g right now, with minimal LR (not using copper), a skimmer, and PVC fittings of various diameter. so far, he's looking healthy, and i'm feeding him Gracillaria while i'm trying to ween him onto pellets, flake, etc. i feel quite guilty for leaving him in such a small tank even for a month. being that the cyst form of ich lives for 3 to 30 days, would you transfer the fish to your system should he be free and clear of Ich or velvet for 3 weeks?

thanks,
Jeff

[Steven Pro]

While Ich looks like grains of salt, Velvet looks like a fine dusting of powder. Once you have seen both, it is very easy to distinguish between them. Cryptocaryon has been proven to be cured by hyposalinity, copper, and tank transfer. Amyloodinium can be cured with copper and chloroquine diphosphate. The obvious overlap in the treatments is copper. Hence, I treated my own 4" PBT in a bare bottom 29 gallon tank with copper. It also remained there for 2 and 1/2 months to be sure the treatment was effective.

Quarantine, when done properly, does not kill fish even when done for extended periods of time. But, infectious disease kills a lot of fish unnecessarily when well intention fish keepers rush or skip quarantine altogether.

Here is some related reading on the topics brought up here for those interested:

Quarantine (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php)

Marine Ich Part 1 (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php)

Marine Ich Part 2 (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php)

Marine Velvet (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/index.php)

[Asuran]

i noticed that my PBT in QT has been twitching every once in a while... something doesnt feel right.... but there are no more visible signs of ich. it isnt flashing against anything either...

MIKE NY thats a beautiful looking PBT! mine is a light blue and when scarred you can see some white vertical lines kinda like a tiger but hasnt but on much weight though...

[tigerarmy40]

the twitching cant be good! how are your water perameters? and is there anything that could be stressin him out?

[Triggerfish]

Originally posted by opihi
as careful as we try to be, there's always some transfer of water from fish bags to our systems, buying or trading coral, etc.


transfer of water from fish bags to what system?
the QT system? if you're using a QT there should be no need for you to dump LFS water into your main system.

[Asuran]

nothing in the qt tank except for the PBT and a neon goby and a piece of rainbow rock. i will retest the water again tonight but as of Sat they were amm 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 and ph 8.0

[opihi]

Triggerfish: true, i'm just stating the obvious that not everyone QTs everything, including snails, LR etc. i know that i did not QT my LR, snails, corals etc. i did not need to wait 4 weeks before my latest tank cycled either, so it's possible that my display has some level of ich in it.


the statement that i was addressing was this:

Also, while stress will bring out a disease in a diseased fish, if you can get your fish cured of a disease I did not think they could get the disease again unless you reintoduce it to the tank??

ich is a parasite and not a disease. so fish can't be "cured" of it. there are occurances when a fish gets ich although no new fishes had been added to the system for years.

that there tells me that there are some levels of ich living in that system and that some stress on the infected fish lowered their resistance to it, letting the ich run wild.

again, the article i linked above states that ich can be transferred on any wet object. that includes your LR, snails, bought or traded corals, etc. so unless you fully QT every single wet thing that went into your display system, then it's quite possible that a fish can get ich again, regardless of its source.

[Triggerfish]

Originally posted by opihi

ich is a parasite and not a disease. so fish can't be "cured" of it.

the parasite can be eradicated , cured or whatever you want to call it by a couple of proven procedures.

Originally posted by opihi

there are occurances when a fish gets ich although no new fishes had been added to the system for years.

i am very interested in any documented occurances that you have referenced regarding that.


for your reference:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

[opihi]

i think we're talking about 2 different things here. i'm talking about a fish's ability to get ich again once it's "cured".

the article you linked is interesting in that it suggests that some fish may be able to acquire immunity to ich. IMO, the evidence does not appear strong enough to say that a fish can definitely grow immune.

you can eradicate it, sure. although probably not in a display tank. (the proven methods are not reef-safe) but whether you can prevent the fish from ever getting it again (if exposed), i don't know.

i don't have any of those ich outbreak storys bookmarked. i'm pretty sure i've seen them either on WWM or here. if i come across any i'll let you know.

[bvoss]

If I can get back to the aggressive issue. . .

I have a powder blue in my 180 gal. I just spent a small fortune on a school of Bartlett anthias. I put them in two hours ago. The PBT has killed two and the rest don't have a chance.

Another important lesson. PBTs REALLY have to be the last fish in the tank.

[JENnKerry]

I've had my PBT for almost six months and he is definately one of my favorite fish. He has never shown any aggression. But thats probably because he's still maturing. He came in healthy and fat. He also did come down with ick for about a month but went away and never came back. I would notice him beating himself up when he would see his reflection on the side of the tank. Too funny.
It took him about two weeks to really start eating though (I got him from LiveAquaria). But once he started, he turned into an all out eating machine, eating everything I put in there. Here's a pic:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/JennKerry/pbt.jpg

[opihi]

ouch. that's terrible. may i ask how big your PBT is and how long it was in the tank?

also, was the PBT the last fish you added prior to the bartletts?

[tigerarmy40]

Originally posted by bvoss
If I can get back to the aggressive issue. . .

I have a powder blue in my 180 gal. I just spent a small fortune on a school of Bartlett anthias. I put them in two hours ago. The PBT has killed two and the rest don't have a chance.

Another important lesson. PBTs REALLY have to be the last fish in the tank.

wow! that sucks!!! I cant beleive that he did that, how many fish do you have in there total with the anthias?

oh and jenn that is a beautiful specimen!!!

[fppf]

Yeah, if I put anything in the tank that is over an inch or so it will be crab food by morning.

I leave the lights on in the room when it gets dark or he spends all night attacking himself in the glass.

[Shawnts106]

IMO, high water quality and turnover, no stress from another fish, a variety of food with garlic is mutch better than Copper.

Completly agreed!

[bvoss]

I have 5 fish in the 180 gal tank. He was the fourth fish in the tank. He allowed a Clarki clown in the tank that was hosting in an anenome, but other than that he has killed anything I have tried to put in. He is about 5 inches.


This last mistake was very expensive and really frustrating.

[tigerarmy40]

wow thats too bad! what are you going to do about him?

[opihi]

maybe you should try to remove the PBT to give the remaining bartlett's a chance to survive. then when the bartlett's become more established, you can try reintroducing the PBT again.

[bvoss]

That was the plan but he is just about impossible to catch. If I catch him, he will get about a month in my 90 gal fuge.

[JENnKerry]

oh and jenn that is a beautiful specimen!!!

Thanks :)

[Zoom]

I have a five years old PBT not as aggressive as my first one this is my second PBT the first one when to a FO tank. This five year old is a of ick carrier he have partial immunity to the CI. Always come down with some spots here and then but the last time about a month a go my large RBTA spawn in my tank it was hell to try to save my reef tank well i did everything is ok now but the PBT is now loaded with ick more than ever in five years it is no way to get him out off my 200G reef tank full of SPS so now i just feed him some garlic with his food and i hope no other fish get ick .
It is a very beautiful fish and hope he make it.
Here is a picture of him with my ten+ years old yellow tang.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1251010-07-03.JPG

[deepblue68]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/35119my_powder_blue_tang.JPG
here's my pbt. great fish. its going on two years since i first got him. he's the boss of the tank. i also have yellow tang and a purple tang.

[tigerarmy40]

awesome guys! keep it comin....so zoom your first pbt was too aggressive to keep in a reef or community?

[Zoom]

Originally posted by tigerarmy40
awesome guys! keep it comin....so zoom your first pbt was too aggressive to keep in a reef or community?
Yes cold killer , kill five fish in one year. It was in a community FOWLR tank.

[mortenN]

Originally posted by bvoss
That was the plan but he is just about impossible to catch. If I catch him, he will get about a month in my 90 gal fuge.

If you will catch your PBT, use a strong Mag Light at the middle of the night and your PBT will be paralysed of the light. You can take him with your hands and put him in your fuge. Maybe you can save life of your Bartlett anthias.

I use this procedure when I catch my PBT and put him in my frag tank. I used about 2 minutes,

This is my PBT for a few months ago.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/69021IMG_1606_ny2_web-med.jpg

[extinguishfire]

This is my favorite fish out of the whole hobby. Luckily I got one from a fellow reefer that was breaking down his tank due to a move. He got a little ick upon entry into my tank but with garlic soaked food he cleared right up in a few weeks and has now been 2 months with no prob. Here is his pic with a little bit of my regal tang.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/extinguishfire2149/DSC01466.jpg

[Rook]

ich is a parasite and not a disease. so fish can't be "cured" of it.

Not to argue semantics, but :)

Disease: a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms. Websters new collegiate dictionary.

A parasite is in fact a disease. And yes, ich can in fact be cured or eradicated. Ich must have a host to live off, just like every other parasite. Without a host, it cannot live, hence the method used by some of constantly transfering fish to new clean tanks to rid them of ich. Therefore, you can in fact have a tank without ich if you properly QT and ensure nothing you add has ich.

Remember also, if liverock or livesand is sitting at a vendor in a tub for long enough, guess what, no ich. Of course if they add new rock every day they could be adding ich to it. If you are careful though, it is possible to have an ich free tank forever.


there are occurances when a fish gets ich although no new fishes had been added to the system for years.

that there tells me that there are some levels of ich living in that system and that some stress on the infected fish lowered their resistance to it, letting the ich run wild.

No, that tells you that:

ich can be transferred on any wet object. that includes your LR, snails, bought or traded corals, etc. so unless you fully QT every single wet thing that went into your display system

Ich does not magically reappear due to stress. Sure, it may be in your tank because you did not follow proper QT guidlines, but you can rid the tank of ich and the only way you can get ich again is if you reintroduce it to the tank. No amount of stress will create ich where before it did not exists.


you can eradicate it, sure. although probably not in a display tank. (the proven methods are not reef-safe)

It sure is, QT, let the tank site without fish, i.e. without any host for the parasite until you are sure its life cycle is complete and therefore the ich is gone, add fish back to display after proper QT. Poof, no ich and 100% reef safe. Major PITA, but no more so than losing fish to ich.

[opihi]

:rolleye1:

good lord. where did i say that ich would magically appear? i have a feeling that we could go on forever here, so let's just get back to PBTs.

my apologies for my part in jacking your thread tigerarmy.

[deepblue68]

more pictures pbt keepers.!!!!!!!!
extinguishfire
any pictures of your regal tang?

[extinguishfire]

Actually just the one pic you see of the tail. It is an ok fish but I feel that the PBT is so much more picture worthy. I will take a pic of both in the same pic tomorrow when I get home from shift.

[deepblue68]

thanks.

[tigerarmy40]

so any other crazy stories about pbt's? I need to here them all so I know what I am getting into here! I have a pretty good idea on the disease deal but want to know more about there aggression! I think the two fish that are set in stone for me are a leopard wrasse and a powder blue......the rest is in the air!

[raddogz]

I really like the pbt too, but I'm not so sure about the aggression. I will be upgrading to a larger tank (120g) and I really want either an Emperor and/or a PBT but I'm having second thoughts too.

[jda]

Get a captive trade in. They are avail often because people get sick of their agression. Captive trade ins are less prone to disease and eat well. You are baiscally getting a fish that somebody else has worked the kinks out of. If it costs a little more, then it is worth it. Make friends with a good LFS and make them aware of your desire.

I don't have a problem with agression with mine, or disease. ...but he is small, has plenty of room, plenty to eat and nobody bothers him. This could change in an instant, and I have a plan for if it does.

If you get them a good amount of protein, then they are less prone to disease IMO (hardly scientific, just an observation). I try and feed Formula II pellets as much as possible for both veggie and meat.

[Shawnts106]

OK, im just going to but in for a second, hate to get into the middle of this Disease/Parasite argument... but

I would say IMO that a parasite can be a disease... but thats just my 2 cents


Also, Im not really into PBs, they are nice, but not one of my favorites...

But these PBTs pictured here are GEORGOUS!....

I felt so sorry the other day for one... I walked into a nearby neighboring LFS to the one I work at, the people there arent too friendly and its sort of like shopping at walmart for the most part....

anyway, their tanks , for whatever reason where FILTHY, looked like someone poured a 5 gallon bucket of house poo in each tank... anyway... and there in one tank, 70gallon looked to be, was a lone PB tang, swimming in what was the ONLY peice of current in the tank, they outflow tube.... he was less than 2 inches away from the head of it swimming and swimming going from side to side, just trying to get some current... I felt so sorry for the thing... I wanted to buy it to save it.... Then I relized after seeing the pricetag I didnt have nearly 200 dollars to spend on it!Much less a place to put it!

it was about 5 inches .... and didnt have a spot of ich on him, but was faded in overall body color a bit...


I didnt also relize that PBTs were so expensive... 200 for a 5 inch! thats insain!


they also had a 2 foot Vlamingi in a 155 bowfront with a .. some type of shark... I would thing PJ or WBG, Im not sure.... and a 8 or 10 inch Purple tang, some species of snapper, and a few other large fish...... I felt sorry for this Vlamingi ... he could BARELY turn around in their...

and they were feeding these fish SILVERSIDES!!! ... geeze!

anyway.. back off my ranting...

good luck to all!

[JENnKerry]

Did I miss something? Who said $200 for a PBT?

[fppf]

I paid $100 for a show quality PBT.

[Shawnts106]

yeah... but 200$ for a PBT!!! and it wasnt show quality... like I said, no Ich, yet... but it was faded... and really was in need of some serious flow!



I WOULD PAY 100$ for a show quality no PROBLEM! but 200 for half quality! HAHA... YEAH RIGHT!

[JW Jersey]

I've always wanted a PBT, Then came the day I found this healthy PBT. He was about 3.5 inches, very fat, eating nori,frozen brine, and no sign af any ick or any other disease or parasites. So i got him and five months later eats anything i put in the tank and almost out of my hand. He never had ick as long as i had him in my tank. he was the last fish that i added to the tank, he would chase my green chromis around alot so i removed them.now there is only 4 fish in my system, a six line wrasse, lawnmower blenny a 3'' kole tang and a 4'' PBT all get along great.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/87843fish_tank_053__Custom_.jpg

Best friends eating:beer:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/87843fish_tank_014__Small_.jpg

[JW Jersey]

oops didn't mean to make the second picture a link.

[tigerarmy40]

good lookin fish! it sounds like I just have to add him to my system last! I will def be gettin a pbt either way just cause there hasnt been too many horror stories in comparison to what I have heard about other tangs!

[curthendrix]

I'll play......my 6" Powder Blue. The one fish in my tank that gets the "Wow" from visitors!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/curthendrix/10-22-05001.jpg

[tigerarmy40]

thats gorgeus!!! do yu have anymore pics?

[deepblue68]

tigerarmy go for it .just find a healthy one.look around and dont rush.

[Asuran]

mine finally started eating frozen mysid! before it was only eating flakes (still on the thin side but i will give him time)

[curthendrix]

Mine only eats nori and red graceleria. Do PBs eat meaty foods in the wild?

[Asuran]

they should be eating more veggies... but i like to feed them some protien once in a while.

[tigerarmy40]

how much feeding does it take to keep them plump looking!? nothing looks worse then a fish with pinched flanks and when you get into the larger speices it really shows if they are under fed!

curthendrix how much and how often are you feeding you tang?

[coolkidtr]

I love PBT's as well. I have a question. I presently have a 1 year old very fat and healthy powder brown tang in my 90 gallon and I am looking to upgrade to a 375 gallon (96*30*30). I was wondering if a powder blue tang and powder brown tang would get along in my new large tank. I would probably add the blue last.
Cool

[tigerarmy40]

I dont know If I would risk it!? if you do have problems you could def have some trouble getting either out of a tank that size! i would think that a tankgs territory in the wild would excede that of a 375 so you could run into some territorial problems! but thats just my guess and I dont think I would chance it....

[curthendrix]

I would add both tangs at the same time to the new tank....no established territories that way.

I try to keep a supply of nori or red gracerleria in the tank at all times when the lights are on for the PB to graze on. As tangs are grazers and my tank has very little natrural algae, I find a constant supply of food for grazing purposes makes for less stress and territorial disputes among the fish.

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Curt

Very nice fish. Very few fish can match the color of a healthy pbt. Is it getting along well with your regal angels?

[curthendrix]

The regals both died after about two weeks in the tank. They never were timid like many regals I've read about. They were both vigorously eating and appeared very healthy....only to stop eating 12 days after introduction. I suspect, like so many regals, they died of a parasite infection. I absolutely loved those fish....but I am now reluctant to buy another as I couldn't have done anything better in their care or provided them with a better captive home. It is very frustrating to do your research, provide the fish with the best care and diet possible..only to sit by and see it stop eating and die.

[JENnKerry]

They are definately WOW fish. Mine gets the same response from visitors. Very beautiful. Great pics everyone.

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Curt

That stinks. I was convinced that your regals would do well.

I agree with you that you couldnt really provide a better system for those regals.

[JW Jersey]

Nice fish everyone. I feed my tank a 3''x3'' inch piece of nori before i leave for work then when i get home i feed them frozen mysis and prime reef mixed together soaked in garlic and selcon then formula two pellets the next day. my nitrates are 10ppm with biweekly waterchanges(need to get them lower).

[extinguishfire]

Originally posted by deepblue68
more pictures pbt keepers.!!!!!!!!
extinguishfire
any pictures of your regal tang?

Took awhile to get time to take the pic but here are the two together.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/extinguishfire2149/DSC01535.jpg

[deepblue68]

very nice .cool picture!!

[copps]

What a beautiful fish! As hobbyists our eyes are sometimes biased, but when someone is awestruck from outside the hobby you know it's nice!

Here are some photos of my powder blue hybrid, a naturally occuring rare cross between Acanthurus leucosternon and the whitecheek tang Acanthurus nigricans. Little information is known on these, yet the Marine Center claims that "Like most hybrids it fares better than either of its parents."

The beauty of the standard powder blue is nearly unbeatable, but this guy has his own beauty in his uniqueness... I've seen a few of these hybrids and no two are the same... Comparing to the PBT, he's a more steel blue and has a yellow tail and anal fin compared with that of the standard PBT. By comparing pictures of the two species you could see his attributes from both. FYI I found him locally and did not pay the Marine Center markup on him... he dukes it out in my system with many other fish and has become quite bold...

I'll shutup and post what we want to see... some pictures snapped at feeding time... Here he is nailing mysis from the turket baster...
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard11.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard12.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard13.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard14.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard15.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs53.xs.to/pics/05442/Clipboard16.jpg (http://xs.to)

[curthendrix]

John,

Everytime I see your posts I'm awestruck by both your fish and your photographic abilities...truly among the best on this site!! I'm sure you've posted your livestock list before...but could you point us to that thread or quickly list what fish you currently have in your main system? I hope people understand the skill and knowledge (and maybe a little luck :D ) it takes to successfully keep these fish together in the same tank.....having unsuccessfully tried a few myself...I know!

[deepblue68]

that is awesome. great looking fish.

[Zoom]

Can you please give me some information about your tank .
I been in the hobby for many many years this is the best fish reef combo i ever saw.
Great job :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[deepblue68]

anymore pictures of the pbt hybrid? what camera are you using?

[extinguishfire]

Wow Copps those fish in the pics are awesome. Alot of my favorites.

[Dag]

Copps, I too say Wow!