info on powder brown tang

[krishj39]

I'm looking into the powder brown tang for sale here. Anyone have any info on this fish? Is it basically the same as a powder blue, only brown in color? Anyone have or had one of these? Are they a pretty fish? I can only find 2 pictures of them, and the fish looked really different in each, so I don't even know what to expect one to look like. Is it known by any other names? Anyone have a pic (of theirs, or one they found online, etc)? What is their general care? ANY info appreciated. Thank guys.

 

[civickid]

i have had one for 4 weeks now in my show tank. they move around alot and eat lots of different foods(brine, mysis, krill, spirilina flakes tropical flakes. they are a great addition to any tank.

 

[krishj39]

thanks, any words on it's looks?

 

[bigred]

Here's a pic of the one I had until my power outage and the temp dropped to 65'.

 

[aquarius 1]

I bought a Powder Brown from SWF.com about 2 months ago and he's doing great. The fish was in excellent condition when he arrived and his colors are unbelievable. He also eats like horse! What kind of tank are you looking to put him into?

 

[stacyt]

Personally I'd pass on the powder brown. They are not a very hardy fish, and needs plenty of swimming room. They don't make a great addition to any tank. They need a large tank. I'll attach a pic of my whitecheek that is similar, and a more hardy speciman. Also the whitecheek's are considerably less $$.

 

[aquarius 1]

I've heard just the opposite - that White Cheek Tangs are much more difficult than Powder Browns. I'm not 100% sure but let me check my resources...

 

[aquarius 1]

Well here it is straight from wetwebmedia - "The very similar A. japonicus is a far better aquarium fish; A. nigricans rarely lives for more than a few months in captivity."
A. nigricans = White Cheek
A. japonicus = Powder Brown
Also as far as tank size, every site that I've been to recommends a tank of at the minimum 80 gallons. That's relatively small as compared to other species of tangs.

 

[krishj39]

Well, I ordered one. The little info I could find was positive. I guess it doesn't suprise me that there are mixed opinions on this fish, most fish that aren't super common have very mixed "reviews". It's going in a 90 gallon, which is PROBABLY big enough for it, but if it is getting stressed out by it being too small, I'm sure my friend will take it. This is JUST his kind of fish, and he has a practically empty 125g. I'm more worried about disease than space anyway. We'll see, maybe give you an update after a while to let you know how it's doing.
Bigred, that's a beautiful fish! Sorry you lost it. I hope mine looks that good.

 

[stacyt]

Aquarius 1,
Funny that's what that site says. If you take a look at Scott Michaels Reef Fish it says the opposite. Also when I visit most wholesalers they'll agree that the powder brown is one of the more difficult to keep, as well as the LFS here.

 

[krishj39]

[shrugs] guess we'll find out. SWF says they are moderate care. it rates the powder blue as difficult care. i think there are only 2 trustworthy ways of finding out truth about the fish. one is personal experience with the fish (as I'll soon be doing) and the other is researching the experiences of many many other people. it is frustrating when one site says one thing and another says the opposite. starfish are great examples of this. some rate linkia as "no attention needed" animals, and others rate them as impossible even for experts. I guess this shows that we still don't understand a lot about marine life, and basically still have to resort to an element of luck. For example, some get lucky with anenomes, flowerpots, linkias, etc, while others can't keep them alive no matter what. Personally, I can't keep cardinal fish alive for anything, while more "difficult" animals are thriving. Why? I have no idea, except that I obviously don't understand enough about their environment. Hopefully, we will continue to learn more about the animals needs and so be able to more accurately replicate their environment. I'm excited to see what advances we make in the next 10 years.

 

[karajay]

Good luck with your new fish They are all individuals, so you may have picked a winner. I'm glad to see you have a back-up plan. Good idea!

 

[aggie4681]

I have had both. My tank is very stable, up and running for over 1.5 yrs. I added a PBT, and within a month, he was dead. I think that it was maybe a bad fish. My WhiteCheek has been in there for over 6 months now, and is doing well. Good Luck with your purchase

 

[stacyt]

My whitecheek is a real trooper. I've had him for over a year. He's survived an ich outbreak, an ammonia spike, and even a 30 gallon q-tank in hypo for 2 months.

 

[zafirablanca]

Fenner's "The Concientious Marine Aquarist' states that although these two fish are similar, the white cheeked tang is MUCH hardier than the powder brown tang.
I would think that a 90 gallon tank would be on the small side for a large tang such as these. I would consider it a temporary home. As the fish grows he will need a bigger tank.
Good Luck,
-Christine

 

[gatorcsm]

OLD THREAD, I KNOW... BUT:
I've also heard that the whitecheek or A. nigricans is MUCH more difficult than the A. japonicus...
They are both "Powder Browns", I've also seen many people refer to the whitecheek as the True PB, and the japonicus as the "false" PB.
But I think that almost everywhere on here and the "other board" indicates that the whitecheek is a fairly difficult fish in comparison.
Gator

 

[harlequin]

Do not bother to read the crap this site puts out as info. Its wrong. They get mad when you tell them this too. Listen to people here who have experience in the hobby and more importantly are not trying to sell you anything and make a buck. Do you really think this site cares if you put it in a tank thats too small or dont feed the fish right? Nope because if the fish dies you will spend more money on more fish. Think about it. Generally the books by Scott Michaels and Fenner are much more reliable than any website.

 

[gatorcsm]

???
Harlequin:
That isn't information that this site puts out. That is information/opinions/experience from other sites, recent personal experience and friend's experience.
I would actually take many peoples words over most book information. I have many books that say NEVER let you temp rise above 79/80 degrees and that the correct SG is 1.021-1.022 for a reef tank... Many more things like that, such as alk at 2.1-2.5, when experience has shown that a higher alkalinity can prove good for corals and make up for the small system's lack of buffering power.
I did some further searches and it does appear that the greatest concensus shows the whitecheek or nigricans as the MORE difficult of the two, and the japonicus as the more hardy...
Obviously it could be bad information, or just kind of a hit or miss thing and one has gotten a bad rap.. Kind of hard to prove without needlessly experimenting on possibly un-hardy fish, without the best interest of the fish in mind.