Powder blue tang compatibility

[lance1337]

My reef is a 265 (85x25x30).

Current livestock is:

1. Hippo tang.
2. Royal gramma.
3. (2) Clownfish black & white female, orange & white male.
4. Skunk cleaner shrimp.

The 2 Clownfish and the hippo are always together.

Will the powder blue work in my system?

[Taahirs]

I would say yes

However making sure your tank is ws free will greatly increase your odds of keeping it successfully.

[Genera]

Might quarrel with the P. hepatus

[BigBlueTang]

Might quarrel with the P. hepatus

This. Powder Blues are an extremely aggressive fish.
Also please QT this fish! I hope that you have QT'ed all of your fish as PBT's are very susceptible to crypto.

[CHSUB]

imo, yes; however, you will most likely be unable to add other tangs in the future.

[lance1337]

I would say yes

However making sure your tank is ws free will greatly increase your odds of keeping it successfully.

"ws"?

[Taahirs]

Ws and cripto both mean marine ich

[lance1337]

Ws and cripto both mean marine ich

Ah, okay.

[lance1337]

Guess I'm giving it a go. This powder blue has already been quarantined from a trusted lfs where I get most of my fish. It's a little smaller than the hippo tang. Decently priced as well at $59, most stores in this area want $90+.

[Bogue Chitto]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[ilikefish34]

I think that should work just fine... my Hippo and PBT, along with a Yellow, Purple and Kole together in a 6' 180 gallon aquarium for several years without any problems. The PBT was the last of the bunch to be added and was the smallest and I wonder how much of his aggression was quelled by the ruler of the tank--an Emperor Angel.

The only thing that would change my mind is dependent on what, if any, other future fish you want. While the price sounds great, it may make sense to add the fish at a later time.

And I'll definitely be another vote for the fish going through a QT process regardless of what the LFS has done and would continue for at least another 6 weeks before adding it to the DT. Keep in mind that even if the LFS has done everything to perfection, that the fish needs to be observed for a month to see what, if anything, appears since some disease and parasites can be masked by different QT methods... and that month is on the low end. Personally, I haven't seen any $59 PBT last long enough at the LFS for potential problems to expose themselves.

Good Luck
Mike

[lance1337]

Thanks for all the input.

I acclimated him to the tank and once I put him in the opposite side of the tank as the others, he swam straight into the Lions den with the hippo, black/white & Orange/white clowns. They let him in and didn't seem to bother him too much. Hope it all works out. We shall see. Just can't believe he swam straight there into highly guarded territory when he had numerous other places to go....

[Bogue Chitto]

Sometimes tangs do just that, like they are asking for trouble. Usually they get it, based on how mine did. But after about a week they are good friends.

[ca1ore]

Hah, none of my tangs are 'good friends' ...... more like 'wary indifference'.

Hope it works out for the OP. Skipping QT makes me queasy even for fish sourced from a 'trusted' source. Assuming all prior fish were also so treated makes me think ich may well be present. Hopefully not, but you'll know soon enough with a PB. One of my faves incidentally, but incompatible with my Achilles unfortunately.

[Shivsreef]

A few years ago in my room old tank I had a hippo and powder blue and the powder blue would harass anything new added to the tank however I used the mirror trick and I also stuck pictures of powder blue tangs to the aquarium glass and I could add anything including a harem of Achilles tangs

[lance1337]

A few years ago in my room old tank I had a hippo and powder blue and the powder blue would harass anything new added to the tank however I used the mirror trick and I also stuck pictures of powder blue tangs to the aquarium glass and I could add anything including a harem of Achilles tangs

Lol, nice.

[Bogue Chitto]

Well that's a good way to do it.

[carrots]

Last time I had a Hippo and Powder Blue together my hippo was too aggressive of a eater. Preventing the PB from getting enough to eat. Had to feed at opposite ends of tank. After 2 months gave Hippo away to make mine & the PB lives easier. She quickly fattened up & lived for 13 years. Beautiful fish. Best of luck with yours.

[saltcraig]

Last time I had a Hippo and Powder Blue together my hippo was too aggressive of a eater. Preventing the PB from getting enough to eat. Had to feed at opposite ends of tank. After 2 months gave Hippo away to make mine & the PB lives easier. She quickly fattened up & lived for 13 years. Beautiful fish. Best of luck with yours.

Nice!

[OrionN]

I always have PBT in my tank. I think they are the most beautiful of the tangs. They are aggressive but not much more than Purple or Yellow. With all tangs, I always feed by broadcast food in the current and the food go everywhere. I have two or three feeding station where I feed Nori. When I feed them clam/oyster on the half shells, I always added two at opposite of the tank.
I don't find tangs hard to keep, especially PBT, but then I am a veteran reefkeeper of 30+ years.
Below are pictures and video of my PBT. I got him when he was just about 2-2.5 inches, emaciated and full of Ich. Only slightly larger than a mid size Flame angel. He was in a 65 gal and grew to 5-6 inches in 11 months (actually 10 months and 3 weeks. I moved him to my 320 DT about 3 weeks ago.
You won't have problem adding a PBT in your tank. You can also add another tang in addition to the PBT. I would add the PBT last of the tangs. Keep a mirror handy, it will have the new tangs settle by divert attention of any aggressive fish.



Video of my small PBT
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6b8BvtwiGzs" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="967" height="545" frameborder="0"></iframe>


Picture of my emaciated PBT on 4/22/2018
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=400440&stc=1&d=1552796194

Picture of my PBT now in a 320 DT on 3/15/2019
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=400441&stc=1&d=1552796858

[acesq]

Great job on him Minh. He's beautiful.

[jay2525]

I always have PBT in my tank. I think they are the most beautiful of the tangs. They are aggressive but not much more than Purple or Yellow. With all tangs, I always feed by broadcast food in the current and the food go everywhere. I have two or three feeding station where I feed Nori. When I feed them clam/oyster on the half shells, I always added two at opposite of the tank.
I don't find tangs hard to keep, especially PBT, but then I am a veteran reefkeeper of 30+ years.
Below are pictures and video of my PBT. I got him when he was just about 2-2.5 inches, emaciated and full of Ich. Only slightly larger than a mid size Flame angel. He was in a 65 gal and grew to 5-6 inches in 11 months (actually 10 months and 3 weeks. I moved him to my 320 DT about 3 weeks ago.
You won't have problem adding a PBT in your tank. You can also add another tang in addition to the PBT. I would add the PBT last of the tangs. Keep a mirror handy, it will have the new tangs settle by divert attention of any aggressive fish.



Video of my small PBT
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6b8BvtwiGzs" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="967" height="545" frameborder="0"></iframe>


Picture of my emaciated PBT on 4/22/2018
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=400440&stc=1&d=1552796194

Picture of my PBT now in a 320 DT on 3/15/2019
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=400441&stc=1&d=1552796858
looks incredible.how did you deal with the ich??

[OrionN]

Ich just fizzle out and resolve when I added to my tank. Not a problem. IMO, nothing to back this up scientifically, a diverse healthy live sand bed will consume Ich tomites when they drop off the fish, interrupted Ich cycle. I NEVER have problem with ich in my tank, even when I add a fish full of Ich into it.

[Salty Waffles]

Ich just fizzle out and resolve when I added to my tank. Not a problem. IMO, nothing to back this up scientifically, a diverse healthy live sand bed will consume Ich tomites when they drop off the fish, interrupted Ich cycle. I NEVER have problem with ich in my tank, even when I add a fish full of Ich into it.
Interesting. I've been wondering about this myself.