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Powder brown tangs

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
Has anyone besides me had success with these?
I just realized mine is about 1 year old sometime this month,it seems every time I read about them it's bad news.Are the ones that are being collected now substandard or something?
 
What kind of bad news?


The only thing I know, negative, about Powder Browns is that they are agressive.... but so are

Achilles Tangs
SailfinTangs
Sohal Tangs
Powder Blue Tangs
Dussumieri Tangs
Yellow tangs
Purple Tangs
Whiteface Tangs
Clown Tangs


etc... etc...
 
I cant remember but i have had Powder Brown Tang for either one year this April or two years in April. I have had much success with it.
 

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
Mike
Negitive news is they always seem to not eat and die off,super small mouths like the idols and the biggest magnet for ick,ever worse than the achillies.They also don't acclimate to well from what I've seen and heard.
I have the powder brown(japonicas) not the gold rim(nigricans).They are very similar that the goldrim doesn't have the red strip on the fin.
 
I think people label fish as difficult to keep or hard to keep so they can feel better about themselves after the fish dies. People need to take that extra step at the LFS and make sure the fish is healthy and eating, make sure the fish has been in the store for more than a couple days, and sometimes check to see if they're eating more than one type of food. After that's done then there is no reason you shouldn't be able to keep him.

That being said the powder brown tangs are from the western pacific, which in some countries they still use cyanide. Not sure how true it is but I've heard people say that cyanide can kill a fish months after it being exposed. It definitely shortens the life of the fish.
 

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
Hey Mike
Yes cyanide will for sure mess up a fish in a short amount of time.
The powder browns I've been seeing lately are labeled Hawaiian,is this true no-one knows
for sure but it seems to be the same addiage for the browns as the idols hawaiian specimens are much better.I agree some people label fish to feel better but I had great luck with a pinnatus bat in my first reef over 20 years ago kept him for over 3 years till a power outage when I was on vacation hit.Unfortunatly back then there wasn't battery back up systems like today or if there was I'm sure they were outragous in price.If I recall I think I read something about a club member losing a powder brown but I don't remember who it was.
 

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
We had a PB for about 6 months and it was doing really well. Unfortunately, when we upgraded from the 120 to the 180 it (and our Sohal) developed a nasty case of ich and both died in the same weekend. I'm assuming it was the stress induced by the move that made them more susceptible to it.

FWIW, the Powder Brown (japonicus) is supposedly much more hardy than the Gold Rim/White Cheek.
 
Robert Fenner says that also but I've heard from other sources the other way around. things change I guess the way they are captured and the better set ups that are around now.
 
John I was gonna break my tank down and rework the rock soon. I was gonna keep all my fish in a Oceanic 58 gallon 3'x18"x20 while I moved the rock and removed the sand. I have an Achilles tang and what you just said about the ich is making me think twice.

I would be crushed if I lost my Achilles Tang.
 

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
reeferwanabe said:
does anyone have a powder blue that they have had for a while
From my experience powder blues are hardy but super aggressive,to me they're like the maroon clown in the tang family.I haven't owned one for many many years but I never had a problem with feeding or disease.
MikeNapoli said:
John I was gonna break my tank down and rework the rock soon. I was gonna keep all my fish in a Oceanic 58 gallon 3'x18"x20 while I moved the rock and removed the sand. I have an Achilles tang and what you just said about the ich is making me think twice.

I would be crushed if I lost my Achilles Tang.
Mike you should be ok just make sure your tank is totally settled before putting him back in I swap my tangs between tanks all the time to change thigs around and never had a problem.Is the achilles the only tang?
 
reefsandrotts said:
MikeNapoli said:
John I was gonna break my tank down and rework the rock soon. I was gonna keep all my fish in a Oceanic 58 gallon 3'x18"x20 while I moved the rock and removed the sand. I have an Achilles tang and what you just said about the ich is making me think twice.

I would be crushed if I lost my Achilles Tang.
Mike you should be ok just make sure your tank is totally settled before putting him back in I swap my tangs between tanks all the time to change thigs around and never had a problem.Is the achilles the only tang?



I have a Desarjini and a Hippo also. The Achilles was the biggest but the Desarjini is passing him quickly ... they are fine now but, when the Desarjini passes him, I can tell there will be problems with the two of them.
 
Not overly agressive but a bit agressive.

Probably the best way to relate both the blue and brown powders is between a Yellow and a Purple from my own personal observation.

Carlo
 
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