Blue Tang : Care And Requirements Of The Popular Blue Tang

Scientific Name : Paracanthurus Hepatus
Origin : Indo-Pacific
Difficulty : Medium
Minimum Size Tank : 100 gallons
Temperature : 72 - 82°F
Reef Safe : Yes
Maximum Size : 12 Inches
Diet : Mainly herbivorous in the wild

The Blue Tang. Poster child for the surgeonfish family, along with the Yellow Tang of course. These two tangs are one of five very popular fish in the saltwater aquarium hobby. The other three are the Flame Angel, the Royal Gramma and the most popular one, the Ocellaris Clownfish.

It is the sole member of the genus Paracanthurus. Brilliantly colored, its entire body is a rich royal blue while black markings stretch from its eyes to its tail. Its pectoral and caudal fins are both yellow.

Along with the percula clownfish, it gained recognition as one of the stars of the hit animated film, Finding Nemo (Dory). The blue tang has a number of common names. They are the blue hippo tang, regal tang, royal blue tang and the palette surgeonfish. Together with the yellow tang, they make up two of the most popular surgeonfish in the hobby.

There is also a rarely collected variant of the blue tang. These fish have yellow chests and bellies. These colors are only apparent in larger adults as it is very faint on juveniles. Heavily collected from throughout the Indo-Pacific, they are a very affordable fish. Expect to pay about $25 for smaller specimens. Adults usually priced from $70 to $80 per fish. All tangs tend to be susceptible to marine parasites (ich) and lateral line erosion. Choose your specimens with care.

The blue tang is not known to be overly aggressive. This quality makes it a great choice for community tanks. They normally get along with a wide variety of fish except for other members of the surgeonfish family. Can be very hostile towards other blue tangs so expect some fighting to take place.

As shoaling fish in the wild, such behavior can be seen in large aquariums. Should you decide to have multiple blue tangs then you need a large enough tank for them all. Always introduce multiple blue tangs at the same time. This limits aggression as none of them have an established territories in the tank and most fights stem from territory.

Reaching up to 12 inches in the wild, they are among the larger fishes available for sale on the market. Nothing smaller than a 100 gallon should be used to keep the blue tang. Bigger aquariums are always better so a 200 gallon would be ideal.

Ensure they are given enough swimming space in the tank as they're an "open" swimmer. The tank scape should reflect this. Due to the blue tang being heavily collected from the wild, you are bound to come across very small 1 inch (yes, an inch) specimens. These juveniles quickly outgrow smaller tanks within months.

The blue tang is a schooling fish. They form large schools in the wild as they scan the reef for algae to graze. These fishes are completely reef safe.

Once acclimated, they accept a variety of foods other than algae. Krill, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, they're not picky. Since they are grazers, blue tangs eat A LOT.

We should ensure that a large part of their diet is algae based, since they eat so much of it in the wild.

Nori is a good form of algae to feed tangs. Price will vary depending on the brand you choose. Some people may find Julian Sprungs Sea Veggies to cost a little too much. They produce good algae sheets though. They're also available as flakes, which is very convenient since there's very little work involved during feeding.

Thankfully there are many other brands that produce nori primarily for human consumption. Prices vary here as well, some are cheap, some are expensive depending on quality.

You will need a clip of some sort to secure the nori sheet. You can buy a commercial type of fashion one up yourself. The sheets are sometimes rolled up and cut beforehand, most however, feed it as is. Once the nori is secured, stick the clip to the side of the tank, sit back, and enjoy the show.

Formula Two is a good quality algae based mix for herbivores. It has an extra amount of algae in it along with a good mix of seafood, trace minerals, vitamins and more. It is available as a flake food, pellet or frozen cube.

The best flake food for the yellow tang would be Sea Veggie mixed flakes followed by formula two flakes. It you're looking a great all rounder with balanced ingredients then you can't go wrong with New Life Spectrum pellets.

Never feed your tangs lettuce. I see this happening mainly in pet stores, probably trying to save a buck or two. Nutritionally, lettuce offers very little and should not have a place in this hobby.

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