Powder Blue Tang : Care And Requirements Of The Powder Blue Tang

Scientific Name : Acanthurus Leucosternon

Origin : Indian Ocean

DIfficulty : Medium

Minimum Size Tank : 100 gallons

Temperature : 72 - 82°F

Reef Safe : Yes

Maximum Size : 8 Inches

Diet : Mainly herbivorous in the wild.

The Powder Blue Tang is another beautiful fish from the surgeonfish family. It has a baby blue body, a yellow dorsal fin and a dark markings on its face. While not quite as popular among hobbyists as the Yellow Tang or Blue Tang, it enjoys some popularity in the marine aquarium trade, especially among those with large fish only aquariums.

The powder blue tang is a bit on the high side price-wise.

Expect to pay within $50-$60 USD for a small specimen while larger ones can are around the low $100's.

Like most tangs, the powder blue tang is susceptible to ich so pay careful attention to the specimen you're considering.

Carefully scan its body for any white dots (large or small) and notice if it scratches against hard surfaces like rock. If it is scratching, stay away.

The powder blue tang is a semi-aggressive fish. Though most fishes outside of the tang family are safe from any bullying most of the time.

It is very aggressive towards any members of the surgeonfish family. Putting two powder blue tangs in the same aquarium is generally a bad idea.

In the wild the powder blue tang is either found living alone of living with a huge school of them where they protect their territory aggressively against other species of tangs. Since they are grazers, territory = food.

If you plan on keeping more than one powder blue tang in a single aquarium it is important to introduce both (or more) of them at the same time. Introducing a powder blue tang to a tank with another established powder blue will mean a lot of fighting and torn fins. This can sometimes lead to the demise of one of them.

The powder blue tang can reach up to 8 inches in the wild, making it a moderately large tang.

At least a 100 gallon marine aquarium is needed for this fish. If you can spring for a larger tank, go for it.

Powder blue tangs only rarely come in sizes below 3 inches. Yet many hobbyists are still fooled into buying a cute small one for their 30 gallon tank only to find the fish quickly outgrowing it at record speed.

They are an outgoing fish that requires ample swimming space in the aquarium.

They also need a spot to put down for the night so ensure there is adequate amount of shelter in the tank.

In the wild powder blue tangs graze on algae for the better part of the day. Algae based foods and spirulina should make up a large percentage of their diets.

Nori sheets are a god way of offering it greens in a marine aquarium. You can either buy seaweed produced and packaged specifically for marine fishes (Julian sprungs sea veggies) or you can go to your local supermarket and buy some nori sheets there. Be sure to get unflavoured nori. It is normally put into a clip and stuck onto the aquarium glass, making it easy for all your fish t feed.

While they are mostly vegetarians in the wild, they will normally consume anything that is offered in a saltwater aquarium. Meaty foods like mysis shrimp, formula one and two cubes should make up a small percentage of their daily diet.

High quality food mixes like formula one and formula two should be offered as well as mysis shrimp and a good pellet food. New Life Spectrum produces some excellent pellets for all marine fishes.

Many fish store like to feed their tangs lettuce (clipped) and such practises are generally frowned upon in the aquarium community as lettuce (romaine or iceberg, doesn't matter) offers very little nutritionally.