Paracanthurus hepatus (blue tang) also known as Dory fish, regal or royal blue tang fish or in binomial language.
Do you already own one or are you planning to set up a marine aquarium and looking for perfect fish species to be kept in? Read this article and check if a Pacific blue tang is the right candidate for your reef aquarium.
Table of Contents
Pacific blue tang characteristics
- Maximum fish size: 31 cm (12,2″)
- Temperature tolerance range: 23°C – 28°C
- Minimum reef aquarium volume: ~ 700 l (185 gal)
- Advancement level: moderate
- Nutrition: algae, plant foods, frozen foods (artemia, krill, others)
- Aggression: aggressive towards other Acanthuridae
- Reef safety: reef safe
- Occurrence: Indo-Pacific and Western Pacific
What is a blue hippo tang?
Blue tangs are also known under multiple common names: regal tang, palette surgeonfish, royal blue tang, hippo tang, blue hippo tang, flagtail surgeonfish, Pacific regal blue tang, and blue surgeonfish, or vibrant electric blue body tang, or bright yellow tail. Blue tang is a small species found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Regal tang seems to be the second, after Zebrasoma flavences, most favorite tangs in marine aquaristics. Blue tangs are beautifully coloured and quite skittish. Also, they’re moderately difficult to keep.
Diseases and aggressive behaviour of a blue tang
Among less experienced reef aquarists, it happens that adult blue tangs gets smallpox due to the stress of living in an unstable reef aquarium.
Blue tang can be aggressive towards other fish from the same family. If there are more than one tang in the reef aquarium, they will establish a hierarchy. It’s worth letting in the generations in order from the least to the most aggressive.
What do blue tangs eat?
Like other Acanthuridae, a blue tang likes plant food. If we don’t have algae on the rock in our reef tank, then, in addition to frozen foods such as mysis or artemia, we should provide it with an algae clip, which the fish will nibble on.
About the author
Marek Protasewicz
Reefkeeping has been my passion for over 10 years now. I love learning. The hobby has taught me many valuable lessons, patience being the best example. Combining work and passion is my path. I run Crazy Coral, a marine aquarium shop, for a number of years. Building this business from the scratch I learnt from my own mistakes at a heavy cost.
Later I managed a project aimed at development of methods for quick growth of Corals in non-natural conditions. The project was carried out by Get Sales, Poland. Presently, I am responsible for distribution strategy at Reef Factory, of which I am a co-founder. The company produces smart devices for marine aquaristics. The last projects I have been involved in are Social Reef and ReefPedia.
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