PBTBehFAQs

FAQs on the Powder Blue Tang Behavior

Related Articles: Powder Blue Tangs, Acanthurus Tangs,

Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine
Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
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by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Powder Blue tang 8/19/15
Hi Gang. Hope all is well. Love the sight and all of the usual information.
I've got a small, I believe anyway, issue with a powder blue tang I've had for a few years now. Visually the fish is very healthy and happy. It is active all day picking at algae as you would expect, it's color is very sharp and vivid and its body is nice and thick. I feed a regular variety of quality marine food, both frozen and flake, as well as Nori to supplement.
My setup is a 150 gallon tank with liverock and your standard sump wet dry/protein skimmer combination. My "issue" is that for the last 12 months or so it will swim alongside something and scratch itself.
<Natural... behavior... do in the wild.... not necessarily indicative of ext. parasite, water quality, other issue/s>
Having been in the hobby for about 20 years now I'm well aware of the diseases associated with this type of behavior and keep a close eye watching for evidence of such. Having said that after very close examination on multiple occasions I can not spot anything from a parasitic standpoint. No bumps, lesions, spots or otherwise. It's coloration is very uniform and bright and, again, it is very active all day and eats constantly. Since this has been going on for some time I'm almost at the
point of it likes to scratch itself, but the 20 years of experience tells me something must be causing this. I have 4 or 5 other fish in the tank as well and none of them exhibit any issues health wise either, difference being that they don't scratch themselves. My water parameters are exactly where you'd like to see them and I have tested them many times for accuracy. Basically I'm stumped. Any thoughts on what the issue might be?
<A non-issue... given their propensity for being "first to break out", Acanthurus leucosternon, the aquatic canary in a cave.... yours otherwise looking good.... >
Could it be something internal and, if so, any recommendation treatment/medication wise? Thanks!
Jamie
<Nothing to treat; would NOT medicate. Bob Fenner>

Dear Bob

I really love Tangs; my Powder Blue is my favourite fish and is certainly doing well in my tank. He's always on the go and will eat almost constantly. He gets dried seaweed (Nori) every day and occasional frozen Mysis Shrimp and some flake foods occasionally. I worry though that the dried food isn't good enough for him -- does it have enough nutrients? Would i be better giving him some fresh spinach or lettuce as some books suggest?

Of late he's developed an annoying habit of chasing one of the wrasses, at first I thought it was bullying, but i realised he was chasing the wrasse so he could eat its faeces -- is this normal behaviour or does it suggest some sort of nutritional deficiency in m y feeding regime?

Sorry to have to ask such an embarrassing question

Peter, London

Well Peter, you're to be commended in keeping an Acanthurus leucosternon so happy and healthy. Most specimens dwindle in captivity, suffering greatly from capture, holding, shipping and overall processing from the Indian Ocean tropics whence all are wild-collected.

Dried foods of quality are fine for this species and all others, though as you state, this Tang has a high caloric intake need. In addition to the dried algae, Mysis and 'some flake food', I strongly encourage your adding a good staple pellet food on a daily basis. My fave is Spectrum pelleted by NLS; a proven winner in terms of palatability and high food value.

As regards terrestrial greens as marine fare; I'm not a fan'¦ most are of little real nutrition, and some can result in actual internal disease. I would eschew the use of spinach and lettuce (the last almost entirely a water and cellulose placebo as food).

And yes re the coprophagous nature of this and quite a few other fish groups. There is nothing to worry about here.

Powder Blue Tang is "chattering" Hello, <Hi there> We have a healthy Powder Blue Tang which exhibits an odd characteristic of seemingly "chattering" his mouth from time to time. It is always looking out of the front of the tank and very often at us. It seems to do this for no apparent reason, but also it seems when something is wrong in the tank, like when our Yellow Tang was getting harassed (to death recently by a 5 Stripe Wrasse we traded in today). Is this chattering behavior common for Powder Blue's or do you think it is its way of telling us something is wrong with the water? Everything seems to be healthy and only our Nitrates are on the high side. Kim and Paul <Good observations and descriptions. I actually believe your Tang IS trying to "say" something... It is seeing its own reflection in your aquarium surface and "communicating" with it... Should be fine, and this behavior will likely cease in a few months. Bob Fenner>

I bet you've never seen this before! Acanthurus leucosternon beh./comp. aggr. 7/12/07 Hey Bob, <Jim> Some time ago you helped me out with a powder blue tang that had crypt (after a 2 month quarantine). He was attacking his own reflection in the glass which was stressing him out. The ich wasn't terrible so I took a wait and see approach and it has now been about six months since any sign of it. He is fat and doing great. <Ah, good> I got him at about 3'' and he is a bit over 4'' now. The only other occupants of the reef are a 3 1/2'' emperor angel and 2 percula clowns. I have attempted to add several others but the PBT kicks the crap out of them immediately upon arrival so it looks like he has made himself the final addition to the tank. The tank is an SPS dominated reef with a few LPS in the sand, some star polyps, and some xenia. You would think I should be concerned about the angel, but I have yet to see him pay any attention to the corals. On the other hand the PBT thinks the xenia and star polyps taste wonderful. None of this is truly that out of the ordinary. what is out of the ordinary though is what happened today. After a 2 month quarantine I decided to attempt to add a sunburst Anthias. I figured I would remove the PBT( named Jack - the ripper) for a week and let the anthias get situated in his new home. I also have a 180 gal species tank that houses a 8" clown trigger. So I got the Idea that maybe If Jack spends the next week getting chased around by that monster it might knock him down a peg or two. Normally I would not recommend this but there are a lot of places to hide and I am on vacation for the next week so I would keep a close eye on them. This is where it gets interesting. I added Jack to the tank with the trigger and immediately the trigger went after Jack. I ran in the other room to grab the net and when I got back I was amazed to see a little PBT Kicking the crap out of a huge Clown Trigger. He was swimming circles around the trigger like a tornado. By the time I got him out the triggers fins were frayed in a bunch of spots. Jack is now in quarantine and the only question I've got is have you ever heard of this and can I return him to his original tank or will he decide to attack his old roommates! Thanks, Jim <Good name, story... And yes, have known some tang terrors... Many have a "tude" and a switchblade to go with it! Cheers! BobF>

Powder Blue Tang...Disappearing Fish 1/19/07 <Hi Pasty, Mich with you today.> We bought a Powder Blue Tang (about 3 inches long) on Saturday afternoon. He looked healthy, no white spots, at least. He looked fine on Sunday, but never really seemed interested in eating. <Mmm, never a good sign.> When I got home from work on Monday, he was lying on his side on the bottom of the tank. <Also not a good sign.> His color still looked good to me, and he seemed to be breathing normally. I ran to the other end of the house to get my husband, but by the time we got back, he was gone, and we haven't seen him since. <That's a pretty big fish to lose, though it does happen.> All the tank metrics were fine and still are. <If he died you may see an ammonia spike.> It is a 55 gallon established tank, and it holds 2 green chromis, 1 maroon clown and companion anemone, 3 corals, a ruby shrimp and a coral band shrimp. We keep the lights on 8 hours per day. I called the owner of the fish store, who happens to be a friend, and she said that sometimes powder blues sleep on their side. Is this true? <Is possible, but were the lights still on?> Even if is it, is there a reasonable chance that the fish could still be alive and just hiding in the rocks? <Again is possible, but the not eating is not a good sign. Tangs are constant grazers.> We have looked everywhere for him and can't find any sign of him. <Time may reveal the answer.> Patsy <Hope you find him alive and well! -Mich>

Re: Powder Blue Tang is "chattering" Bob, <Paul> Thanks ! It seems to "chatter" regardless of the lighting outside the tank though, so I'm not sure about the reflection theory. <Hard to imagine perhaps... but having been inside very large aquariums... there is reflection from the inside!> It makes the most sense since it does seem healthy. Thanks for the quick response and your knowledge. I've gained insight in the past from reading other postings you've had. Paul <Ahh, glad to render assistance. Bob Fenner>

Surgeonfishes: Tangs for Marine
Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
New eBook on Amazon: Available here
New Print Book on Create Space: Available here

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

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