Seriously,has anyone actually successfully keeped a PBT?

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dkexplorer1

I purchased a Powder Blue Tang yesterday. He is about 3.5". He is the only fish in my 125g reef.My tank is mature (2 years). I just moved all my fishes to another setup last week. I dripped him for two hours before putting him into the tank. I even tested the water at the LFS where he is from to make sure my water matches. The only difference seems to be PH of 8.4 (my tank) vs 8.25 (LFS).

Today he is covered with white spot. I am so puzzled what might have caused it. My temp has always been very stable at 77.7 using a combination of fans and heathers.There is no other living things that can possibly harass him.

Since he is the only fish in the tank, I think I will just hope he can rid it out. If he can't make it, I will just go fishless for eight weeks and enjoy my corals.

If anyone has any success in keeping a powder blue or brown, please share your experience. I am very interested in hearing your experience. Besides having cooper or low salinity as some LFS does, is there really a way to keep these fishes in a home aquarium? I know you may say I should do a QT for at least 4 weeks.But since he is the only fish, what difference does it make?
 
well i had one for a few years he would get ich or at least white spots from time to time
it didnt seem to bother him to much so i didnt worry about it
he turned out to be a fan of eating lps corals so i gave him away to someone from the club
i dont remember who but perhaps he can speak up and say how the pbt is doing
 
My friend has one he has kept for over a year now that will be selling soon.
 
I kept a PBT for well over a year, but ultimately lost him due to a dinoflagellate/chrysophyte infestation in my tank (I think the fella finally ate too much of it). I bought a beautiful clown tang earlier this year that taught me a lesson..always quarantine and medicate (if needed) new additions. That clown tang came with an infection which I have yet to identify that killed him and about 6 other fish in my tank (including my girlfriend's favorite filefish). [smilie=crying.gif]

In your case, if you are going to leave the fish in your tank, feed lots of garlic-enhanced foods and try some Marine Max. I've had pretty good luck with that stuff in these situations. As Matt indicated, it's not likely to eradicate the parasites completely, but may save the fish.
 
I have a PBT in my tank as well, but I do see ick from time to time. I have already put the all of fish through TWO hypo-salinity cycles in a QT tank at 8 weeks each, but I must be doing something incorrectly with the 1.009 measurement (I have a refactor meter). When we move, all of the fish will go through coper treatment, in QT, to get rid of ick. At least that is my hope. Good luck keeping your fish. PBT is so susceptible to ick that just makes it hard to keep.
 
I have a Purple Tang and looked good for about the first month. Then it started getting white patches on him. With what I read I don't think it was ich but just an infection caused by stress and possibly not a good enough diet. Talked with an LFS store owner and told me to feed it garlic and vitamins. Used Kents Garlic Xtrem and VitaChem on frozen mysis shrimp. I used 2 drops each with a cube of mysis. It was about the only thing the tang would eat at the time. I probably overfed but it made the fella happy. Within a week, most of its color came back along with vitality. It came out from hiding and also started back to eating nori. I guess what I'm saying is be sure you're feeding it quality stuff in plentiful quantities.

Good Luck!
 
From my experience with these tangs, they will show some sort of ich from time to time...but it doesn't seem to bother them if they are healthy. Outside of flukes, I wouldn't worry about a little ich showing up here and there. I have been able to keep them with succuss. I do however treat all TANGS before adding them to the aquarium.
 
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