Powder Blue Tang
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| Common name | Powder Blue Tang |
| Size | The aquarium where you keep your Powder blue tang must be large, because this fish can exceed 50 cm / 20 in and is a vigorous swimmer. A fairly small specimen can be kept in a 100 gallon / 375 gallon aquarium, but bigger is always better. Generally speaking, the aquarium should be six times as long as the fish. This means that a 50 cm / 20 in specimen should be provided with a 300 cm / 120 in long aquarium. |
| Origin | The Powder blue tang is found in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. Its range proceeds from eastern Africa to the Andaman Sea, the Christmas Island, and Bali in Indonesia. It is found from 11°N to 30°S, and from 0°e to 101°e. |
| Compatibility | The Powder blue tang is a fairly peaceful species but it will be aggressive toward its own species and similarly looking fish. Avoid housing your Powder blue tang with fishes that look similar to it and fishes that have the same feeding niche. It is safest to refrain from all sorts of tangs and algal grazers. |
| Maintenance | The Powder blue tang is very sensitive to organic waste and the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate must therefore be kept extremely low. Ammonia and nitrite should be kept at non-detectable levels and the amount of nitrate must never exceed 10 ppm. Do not crowd the aquarium. Efficient filtration and aeration are imperative. |
| Temperature | The water must be warm, ideally around 80-84 degrees F / 27-29 degrees C. An increased water temperature can sometimes trigger eating in anorectic specimens. Keep the pH-value in the 8.2-8.4 range. Unlike most other surgeons, the Powder blue tang will not cope well with a pH-value below 8.2. The recommended specific gravity is 1.020-1.025. |
| Water chemistry / movement | The aquarium must be well established and stable before you add a Powder blue tang. Wait until you have an aged aquarium with plenty of filamentous algae for the fish to graze. The aquarium should contain a lot of live rock. Reef aquariums are generally best, since they resemble the natural environment of this fish. |
| Feeding | The Powder blue tang is a continuous feeder and should have constant access to suitable food in the aquarium. Natural algae growth should be encouraged and it is prudent to feed the fish many small servings of food throughout the day instead of just one or two big meals. |
| Sexing | |
| Breeding | We do not have any information about breeding Powder blue tangs in aquariums. |
| Comments | Avoid purchasing specimens with visible signs of serious shipping stress or injury, because nursing them back to health is very difficult. Examples of such signs are torn fins, laboured breathing, excessive scratching, and emaciation. Even if your specimen seems healthy, it is always advisable to quarantine it before you add it to an aquarium with other fish because newly shipped Powder blue tangs are very susceptible to disease, especially ich. |
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