Powder Blue Tang

Care at a glance

Overview

One of the harder tangs to keep alive: it is highly susceptible to ich, ships poorly, needs pristine oxygen-rich water and a mature tank thick with algae, and does best quarantined before introduction. Reef safe with corals and inverts, but very aggressive toward other tangs and surgeonfish, far more so than most, so it wants to be the only tang in the tank unless the system is huge. Feed dried marine algae heavily plus varied meaty and prepared foods.

In the wild

Ranges across the Indian Ocean on clear, high-energy reef flats and upper slopes, where it grazes filamentous algae in bright, well-oxygenated, surging water, sometimes in large feeding aggregations. It is built for constant swimming in strong flow, so it needs a long tank with vigorous water movement, high oxygen and lots of algae-covered rock.

Good to know

Acanthurus leucosternon is instantly recognizable for its powder-blue body, bright yellow dorsal fin, black face and white throat (leucosternon means white chest). It carries the surgeonfish's paired caudal scalpels and is notoriously prone to marine ich and other skin parasites, which is a major part of why it is a difficult fish to keep.

Did you know

On wild Indian Ocean reefs it sometimes gathers in dense grazing schools of dozens of fish, yet in the closed world of an aquarium the same species turns fiercely territorial and will not tolerate another tang.

Related species

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  Achilles Tang

  Acanthurus achilles

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• 

  Clown Tang

  Acanthurus lineatus

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• 

  Sohal Tang

  Acanthurus sohal

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• 

  Powder Brown Tang

  Acanthurus japonicus

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• 

  Convict Tang

  Acanthurus triostegus

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• 

  Mimic Tang

  Acanthurus pyroferus

  11.4 in (29 cm)129 gal (490 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)