Atlantic Blue Tang

[Quinn]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/18897tang1.jpg

Came from Seacare, looked pretty stressed during acclimatization but is doing well now. Has a minor case of ich, I am currently developing a battle strategy for this. Colour is like purple tang, but bluer, body shape is also less elongated. This individual is somewhere in the process of changing to adult colouring.

[Canadian Man]

Very Cool looking Quinn!

[spikehs]

nice, how big is he?

[Quinn]

About 3" long. They grow to a rather large adult size, but what tang doesn't.

[DJ88]

Just curious how big your tank is?

I had one that was 4-5" long and it PACED constantly.

I have talked to a few guys who see these in the wild and when they go for a swim. they go. and I mean miles. you'll see a school coming at you and then zoooom they go by and fade into the distance.

As well there is another name I have heard given to them.

Cows of the ocean. they will eat and eat and eat. and then it all comes out. and a LOT comes out.

Keep some Nori in the tank as much as you can. It will devour it.

[Quinn]

Tank is 150 gal, 4'x2'x30". Nori will be available to him daily as of tomorrow, when I get some fishing line to hang my feeder from. This guy hasn't been pacing so far, just wandering around nibbling at rocks.

[smokinreefer]

well i aint no tang police, cuz god knows i like tangs, but these guys are one of the larger tang sp. available.

keep us updated on how it behaves, and pics of it maturing would be great.

these guys are on my list of tangs to consider as they are simply stunning as adults.

[Quinn]

I have to say, it's interesting how many different opinions on this animal are out there. Some sources say it's difficult to obtain and expensive, others say it's easy and cheap, some say it stays small, others say it stays small for an Acanthrus sp., still others say it gets huge for any tang. Some say it's ugly, and some say it's stunning. I've also found a few sites that say it's more difficult to keep than popular tangs, such as the regal or the yellow. I'd like to know how often these guys actually are kept, as it seems to be a lot less than many other tangs. Regardless, I will continue to less you folks know how it goes.

[smokinreefer]

personally i feel these guys arent kept as often because of their (larger compared to alot of other tangs) adult size. i am not positive on this, but i believe these guys to be one of the larger tangs, similar to an orange shoulder or lieutenant (tennati sp??) in size.

but a mature atlantic blue, is in my opinion a very sharp looking tang.

keep in mind though, i have no experience as to their hardiness, temperment or ease/difficulty of care.

[smokinreefer]

hmmm...
maybe i have mistaken this tang for something else....
when i picture an adult atlantic blue, i see a very dark blue sharp looking tang, but when i searched it all the pics i saw were a lighter blue fish than i imagined, as well it has fine lines going through its body pattern.

maybe i have a case of mistaken identity or perhaps all the photos i caome up with are with a flash and show the fish' colors/patterns differently.

kind of like when you take a photo of a purple tang, it shows up lighter and you can see the lines on its body pattern.

i'll try looking for another photo of what i believe the blue tang to be.

[Quinn]

I am running into the same problem as you. So far I haven't really found an image on the web that really looks like my fish. I based my purchase on http://www.themarinecenter.com/tangatlanticblue.htm. I am fairly confident that what I have is in fact simply an animal halfway between being a juvenile and an adult. He reminds me of a cross between a purple tang and a sailfin tang. He has fine horizontal stripes, and depending on his mood, large vertical stripes. The edges of his fins are a really bright blue, while the rest of his body is almost a light indigo. His eyes are yellow. He has a shorter snout than a Zebrasoma sp. and of course not as much of a sailfin.

I do expect him to outgrow the tank, but then again, almost any tang would. When that time comes, I'll take him out.

[DJ88]

Shao,

Full grown these guys get to 40cm in length.

Mine grew to almost 5" long in less than a year. By the time it was that size it was flying around my tank at high speed. Yes it would graze but it still spent most of it's time moving. It would reach the glass and literally vibrate as if it still needed to go further.

GregT on RC that sent me a phenomenal pic of a school of blue tangs in the wild. Take a look at the size of the full grown angel mixed in with the Tangs. That will give you an indication of how big these fish are full grown.

http://members.shaw.ca/rcsmilies/pix/blue.jpg


IME a 4' tank won't be enough for this fish. These are one of the tangs that need at least an 8' tank. And even then. I won't do it.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Acanthurus&speciesname=coeruleus

[Quinn]

Maybe when he gets big enough I can have a barbeque... but seriously, it will be interesting to see how quickly he grows. It's unfortunate that tangs do get so large, at this point in time I feel that the only alternative is to simply swap them out when they get too large. Of course, this means you have to find someone with a large enough aquarium to take the adult tang.

[Van down by the river]

I'd agree with DJ88 as I've already mentioned to teevee.
Exerpt from PM:

You will soon have a very large dull, blueish gray brown fish that will be a problem in a reef. I know Scott Michaels book says 9" but I can assure you this is incorrect. In addition to other authors stating a size of 15", I myself had one for about 8 years in a 400 gallon. It was easily 12"-13" and attained this size quickly. It would whip around that tank in less than a second and it's fecal waste would easily cause water quality issues in a reef.

I just reposted for general knowledge. I did him to be hardy, I don't think they are rare, I just think that the demand for them is low. Another factor is they are Atlantic species, and 90% of shipments are Indo Pacific in origin.

[smokinreefer]

excellent pic darren!
thats why i think they are stunning.
that deep solid coloring is just so sharp looking!

[kari]

WOOOW, nice tank Darren :exclaim:
I going to start building one in my basement tomorrow.

[sumpfinfishe]

I have dived and snorkeled off Cozumel and Playa del Carmen for years now and the reefs there are full of Alantic Blue Tangs. I have witnessed these fish graze for hours on end-I really have! ABT are just the same as a lot of angels and the rest of the tangs-they simply eat all day long-hence the name grazers :biggrin:
I see no problems keeping a small fish of this species in a 150gl except for one reason-they might just eat everything in your tank :exclaim: I think most tangs will however outgrow most systems. So when I keep another tang, I will do what I did with my last Regal, and give it to someone with a larger setup as it outgrows mine.
I have asked many a local fishermen and dive instructors in Mexico why this type of fish along with a few angels to name a few, grow larger than others in there family's. Most replies were that they simply eat anything-even beans and salsa said one fishermen :mrgreen:
I too have some great shots of these beautiful fish swimming in huge schools. I will try to post a few-that is if I can get my scanner up and running, as all those pics are 35mm formatt in albums.

cheers, Rich