Buyer's Remorse

[asylumdown]

You know those really spectacular Powder Blue tangs? Jet black faces, bright white ring around the lips, deep blue bodies, snow white tails with a dark black frame... Amazing.

Then there's the less aesthetically fortunate members of the species, with dusky, almost grey faces that barely provide any contrast to their more washed out blue bodies, with barely a hint of the black on their tail.

Yah, well I bought the latter. It was an impulse purchase and there were no other fish in the store to compare it to. I was wondering why mine didn't look so "ooooooh" to me until I saw some of the really amazingly coloured ones in Ocean Creation the other day. I'm secretly hoping that as it gains weight it will magically transform in to cinderalla at the ball, but I've had it on good authority that it will more than likely always be an ugly stepsister.

Does it make me a bad person that I want to fish mine out and get a nicer looking one? I feel like that's as bad as dumping someone for their cankles.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I would:wink:

Reefers are constantly changing their minds & their tanks because they want something special (as opposed to the "ugly stepsisters":wink:) so I don't think its strange or wrong for you to feel this way. We have limited space & bioload and always feeling regret when you look at your tank is unnecessary.

[Coral Hoarder]

i would find it a new home first i dont think giving some someting a false sence of security is right so i dont think you should take it back to the pet store but mabie yuor friend has an emptie tank and they want it

if it doesnt feel right dont do it

personaly i can only but the fish that arnt in good shape or are kinda ugley
thats the only kind of fish that i can have in my tank lol

[asylumdown]

this one has improved drastically since I got it, still on the skinny side but it's probably gained 25% of it's original body mass since I've had it. Any chance it will suddenly transform? Am I right in thinking that the colours it has now are the colours it will stick with?

[Coral Hoarder]

A pic would help

[Proteus]

Just keep it. Get itfat and healthy. Then decide it its what you want. At least then you can sell a healthy ugly fish ;)

[mrhasan]

Adam. You worry too much with the tank! That's the best advice anyone can give to you :razz:

[toytech]

Could it just be stress coloration? Apparantly they pale when water conditions are less than ideal . Id say fatten him up and wait to see what happens with the color , it might brighten up.

[BlueTang<3]

Feed it a good quality food, lots of vitamins or the colour enhancing stuff, typically as the fish ages the colours come in better as well but diet plays a large roll on looks.

[Reef_Geek]

the secret ingredient for colouring up fish is astaxanthin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaxanthin).

actually, it's not really a secret.

Flamingos get their colour from krill, many fish foods contain Spirulina, aquaculture uses salmon skin in formulated foods etc etc... I've seen FW swordtails fed so much of this stuff, you cut the fish and the flesh is bright red inside.

Try prolonged feeding using fresh macro-algae and/or make your own foods (search threads such as this one (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=92438)) and add lots of salmon skin.

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

Feed it a good quality food, lots of vitamins or the colour enhancing stuff, typically as the fish ages the colours come in better as well but diet plays a large roll on looks.

:thumb:
there is a lot of vitamins and minerals for a better color and health on fish as they get it from the wild witch we do not have in our systems...best bet is mix your own food or find a good quality food.

[Reef_Geek]

the secret ingredient for colouring up fish is astaxanthin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaxanthin).

actually, it's not really a secret.

Flamingos get their colour from krill, many fish foods contain Spirulina, aquaculture uses salmon skin in formulated foods etc etc... I've seen FW swordtails fed so much of this stuff, you cut the fish and the flesh is bright red inside.

Try prolonged feeding using fresh macro-algae and/or make your own foods (search threads such as this one (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=92438)) and add lots of salmon skin.

maybe it's not clear... but all those foods I mentioned, Spirulina, krill, salmon skin... all have high levels of natural astaxanthin, so long as they are fresh & raw.

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

maybe it's not clear... but all those foods I mentioned, Spirulina, krill, salmon skin... all have high levels of natural astaxanthin, so long as they are fresh & raw.

Actually I mix all you mentioned above and few other ingredients as some are fresh and some freeze dried to all my fish and a slight different recipe for my corals for few years now,some of the best coloration and health I seen :biggrin:

[asylumdown]

It was next to impossible to get a good picture of him with my fangled lights, but you can see how his face isn't jet black like some PBTs, the black on his tail is really washed out, and he's got practically no white framing his face. In fact it might not be that his face is any less black, it might just be the absence of bright white around it that makes it look that way.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g411/asylumdown/IMG_6435_zps3c9161f1.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/asylumdown/media/IMG_6435_zps3c9161f1.jpg.html)

Say compared to this photo I stole off the internet, which is what all the PBTs I saw in Ocean Creation recently looked like. I'm also now just noticing that my guy's fins on the bottom part of his body are the same colours as the fins on the top, whereas in other PBTs they're snow white.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g411/asylumdown/powderblue_tang_zpsa0d19ab1.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/asylumdown/media/powderblue_tang_zpsa0d19ab1.jpg.html)

Are those things that can change, or even affected by diet?

ETA: you can see my very preggers daddy Bangai cardinal in the background of the first pic!

[Reef_Geek]

Actually I mix all you mentioned above and few other ingredients as some are fresh and some freeze dried to all my fish and a slight different recipe for my corals for few years now,some of the best coloration and health I seen :biggrin:

I don't have enough fish to justify making my own batches. Yet, I'm like many others, miss the Ocean Nutrition formulated gelatin foods. I wonder if there's any 'appetite' (get it? ha... ha... ) for LFS to make house blends for sale...

[asylumdown]

I don't have enough fish to justify making my own batches. Yet, I'm like many others, miss the Ocean Nutrition formulated gelatin foods. I wonder if there's any 'appetite' (get it? ha... ha... ) for LFS to make house blends for sale...

Miss Ocean Nutrition gelatine food? Did they stop selling it? I just picked some up a couple of weeks ago. Out of 21 fish, though, only 1 will eat it, my tang won't touch the stuff. I also picked up some of that reppashy stuff that allows you to make your own gel foods, but again, out of 21 fish, only 1 will eat it (but he eats everything, including plastic and sometimes coral).

[Reef_Geek]

Miss Ocean Nutrition gelatine food? Did they stop selling it? I just picked some up a couple of weeks ago. Out of 21 fish, though, only 1 will eat it, my tang won't touch the stuff. I also picked up some of that reppashy stuff that allows you to make your own gel foods, but again, out of 21 fish, only 1 will eat it (but he eats everything, including plastic and sometimes coral).

I ran a whole broodstock operation with 500 tanks and over 100 species (clowns, gobies, dottybacks, blennies, angels, etc etc) using lots of formula one (and later, in-house blends). I even had anthias and lion fish trained on eating Formula 1. (Got them to spawn on it, but could not raise larvae).
http://www.oceannutrition.com/?page_id=58

it takes some time for the fish to get familiar with it. If given a choice, fish will take Artemia over everything else.

Where in Calgary did you find it? Ocean Nutrition ran into Canadian import issues for a while (as I believed).

[asylumdown]

I got it at Wai's, I seem to remember him having quote a bit of it. It couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 weeks ago, I got formula one but he also had the other kinds as well

[Reef_Geek]

I got it at Wai's, I seem to remember him having quote a bit of it. It couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 weeks ago, I got formula one but he also had the other kinds as well

cool. Thanks! I'll go pick some up.

I hope you can get your fish onto it. It's good stuff second only to making your own, b/c it is actually a mix of seafoods and not just artemia/mysis. There's some good blends with high HUFAs. It may require your starving your fish a little bit and offering nothing but this food to wean them onto it.

They used to offer it in a flat pack of extruded crumble. The photos look like frozen cubes. You may find it helpful to thaw it, and press it through a garlic press to extrude it into smaller crumbles, and use a spoon to break into bite size.

[TimT]

Hi,
From my experience importing fish there are several factors that affect a fishes colouration.
1. Sex
2. Dominance
3. Health
4. Size
5. Geographic region
6. Food

When it comes to food the best source for aquarium fish is a frozen marine one. When I wholesaled fish I used to feed the Pacifica Plankton. I found that the vast majority of fishes readily took to it. Even just after being unpacked from the bag. I jokingly call this food "Fish and Coral crack" because they do get addicted to it. When I feed the fishes in my coral tanks the corals all put out their feeding tentacles... like they are begging for it. For more info on the food you can check it on my website at:
http://www.oceanfreshaquarium.com/pacifica-plankton/

Cheers,
Tim

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

If your PBT is missing the white "striping" then it won't ever grow that in, IMO. Yoiu can brighten colours that are already there, but it may be a colour morph or a regional morph without the white markings.

Its like some Regal tangs have the yellow belly and most do not.

[Gooly001]

It may be a hybrid and if so, I've had them in the past and they are spectacular once they get bit larger. Their colours aren't as definitive as the regular PBT but the slight golden coloration of the powder brown tang makes them glow and unique. From my experience hybrids do look drabby and washed out but it will be magnificent for you. Consider yourself lucky if you got it for the price of a regular PBT
Cheers
Paul

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

From the pic, it does look like a beautiful specimen.:wink:

[michika]

From the pic, it does look like a beautiful specimen.:wink:

I agree.

If your remorse is still bad send me a PM with your asking price. I'd be happy to rehome it for you. :biggrin:

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

That's a beauty and I will be looking for one shortly...put me inline after Catherine if you decide to remove...

[asylumdown]

Honestly if I thought I could get him out, he'd be all yours! I'm still trying to get a blue throat trigger out, if I can figure a way to catch them both I will.