PB Tang - 1 month later

[DennisL]

Some of you might remember that I purchased a Powder Blue Tang one month ago. For a week, he wouldn't eat a thing. I tried 4 kinds of spirulina, fresh caulerpa and other macroalgae, red algae, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, Plankton gold flake, ocean plankton, my own frozen marine mush, and many other things. I received many excellent suggestions here, along with a few people indicating PB Tangs can't be kept in aquariums. The thread:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... 758#120758

Update: On Day 9 he started eating red macroalgae. Gradually, over the next several days, he became more relaxed in the tank and started eating lots of things. Including a sinularia, a sarcophyton and a turbinaria. Not just little nibbles. Chunks. The 3 corals were closed tight all day To add insult to injury, he taught the Blue Tang to eat those three corals....

Fortunately, these days, the tangs rarely nip at the corals, and the corals are making strong comebacks.

The Powder Blue is now a very aggressive eater of everything: spirulina flake, regular flake, mysis shrimp, etc. Whatever I'm feeding, he's eating. He seems very healthy, and I'm very glad to have him.

 

[naesco]

I am happy to see that your powder blue tang is now eating. However one month does not determine its suitability in our aquariums.
I hope that you are lucky enough to have purchased that rare powder blue tang which will survive, however if you take the time to search threads on this board the vast majority of powder blues deteriorate and die often taking their tankmates with them.

 

[Mad Tart]

Congrats. I'm glad to hear that your fish survived and that your corals arent being destroyed in the process.. Was there one particular thing that seemed to encourage the PB to eat?

Mad Tart

 

[Cory]

Similar experience with my PBT. I added a young PBT, about 3 inches, to a 60 gall about 9 months ago and about 2 months ago moved him to my new 130 gal. Although he ate small amounts of nori in the begining his diet consisted only of live brine for the first month, he would not touch anything else offered. After a good month he really became a pig, he now eats just about anything I put in the tank. I have had him for about 9 months now and all is going very well at this point, he seems very healty and happy with great coloring, especially since the move to a bigger home.

 

[wade1]

I have a PB thats now about 6 months in the tank, only I made certain it was eating before I brought it home. Its never had issues, made friends with my cleaner shrimp immediately and has been a great occupant ever since. I will say that its rather aggressive towards things that don't stand up for themselves (mainly my lawnmower blenny), but ignores the yellow tang and the copperband (he got a stab or two from the CBB when introduced... they are good at using thsoe dorsal spines).

No issues at all.

 

[reefland]

Glad to see the PB finially decided to eat. It is typical for tangs to go a week or three without feeding when you first get them.

 

[DennisL]

I just did a page with the PB Tang:
http://quikstor.com/reef/PB Tang.htm
The picture is a thumbnail linked to a larger version. The movie is cute, with the PB showing up doing loops. Worth watching if you have DSL or Cable Modem
Dennis

 

[Cresta]

My experience with PB is that even if they are eating in the store, it doesn't mean they will eat when you introduce them into your tank. Most of the time, LFS just feed them live brine to "show you" it is indeed eating. Live brine doesn't have enough nutrients to sustain a healthy fish. Once the new PB is introduce into your tank, all the old fishes will consume the live brine before this new PB have a chance to eat. I ask the LFS to feed the fish (any new fish) flakes instead. Not 100% guarantee this will get you a perfect PB, but it should be a better bet than just brine.

Aside from it actually eating, be it brine, flake, frozen, etc., the best indication that the fish is healthy and alert is it coloration. Try to find one that is "darker" in its purple color. Some stores keep them in tiny cubicles. When you see PB together, the darker one will stand out. This indicate the PB is not scared. Since it is not even scared in this "6" x 6" all clear acrylic solitary cell, with no where to hide", it is more likely the fish will make it in your tank. Out of about 200 PBs I have seen through my limited experience of 4 years in this hobby, I think there are only about a dozen or so of them with this "darker" color. No white strips, light purple, just an even dark purple tint across the body.

There are other factors contributing to a new fish's dismis, ie. PB possibility of cynaide capture (this cannot be detect at all). There is no 100% sure way to find the "perfect" fish. Like I said, I'm just sharing my humble experience.