Powder Blue Tang killed damsel maybe?

marinenut

Member
I was wondering if anyone as ever seen a Powder Blue Tang kill another fish. I just picked up a 4" Powder Blue and put him in my 40g QT. It already has a Domino Damsel and a Yellow-Tailed Damsel in there (very small, like an inch each at Max). Yesterday morning I was doing my routine checkup on the QT, and everything was fine. All the fish were swimming around happily. About 5 hours later I went to check up on them again, and the yellow-tailed damsel was belly up on the gravel.
This to me is very strange. I've had a lot of tanks over the years with many yellow-tailed damsels, and they have got to be the hardiest species I've ever seen. They could almost live in mud. Which is why I question this, because the water parameters are near flawless. Maybe slight traces of nitrates, but nothing that is even significant.
Is it possible that the Powder Blue killed him?
I've heard they can be aggressive.
 

fishcrazy2

Member
Me personally your tank is too small for a powder blue so it may feel it doesnt have enough to roam and have killed the damsel. I would reccomend a bigger tank or get rid of him thats my opinion
 

unleashed

Active Member
the damsels are very territorial fish one damsel most likely killed the other dominos are one of the larger growng species of damsels and are very tank agressive.but i do agree with the tank being too small for your powder blue his tank min size is 100 gal.unless hes just in qt for a short time and you have larger acomidations for him you should concider upgrading you tank size or trade in you tang.and its porbly not a good idea to qt agressive fish together in such a confined space especially with no place for them to hide
 

dogstar

Active Member
Damn tang police
Hey nut,, The powder will be OK in the 125g if you dont have alot in there. dont put in the domino, get rid of it, once you put the powder in you probly want be able to put in any more tangs, not because you dont have room but because the powders are the devils of tangs. ( devil in a blue dress, blue dress, blue dress ) Powder Blues do kill. They are surgeonfish because that white bone on their tail is sharp like a knife and they no how to use it. I have a few different tangs myself but although they are on of the most atractive, I will never. You may or not have a book on fish compatibility but for $ 20 its save alot of $ on dead fish. Dont listen to what ppl. tell you, not even me. Read,read,read...D.
 

unleashed

Active Member

Originally posted by Dogstar
Damn tang police
Hey nut,, The powder will be OK in the 125g if you dont have alot in there. dont put in the domino, get rid of it, once you put the powder in you probly want be able to put in any more tangs, not because you dont have room but because the powders are the devils of tangs. ( devil in a blue dress, blue dress, blue dress ) Powder Blues do kill. They are surgeonfish because that white bone on their tail is sharp like a knife and they no how to use it. I have a few different tangs myself but although they are on of the most atractive, I will never. You may or not have a book on fish compatibility but for $ 20 its save alot of $ on dead fish. Dont listen to what ppl. tell you, not even me. Read,read,read...D.

I can agree with one thing ok maybe 2 lol.but the biggest is read read read.I have 2 fish books sitting right next to me.thats where i got my answers for your question i didnt notice her tank sizes though I just caught qt.I have requested that this site add a compatabilty chart for everyone to see.tg i love to read.
 

dogstar

Active Member
Unleashed,
That post was not directed to you
The one who posted this theads name is marinenut, I was useing nut for short, not calling you a nut. In marinenut's bio next to his name said he has a 125gl. and the 40 is a QT.
My tank is a 180gl. I have a thead in photos. Check it out ( im sure Ill be hearing from you there too )
What else did I get wrong?.......damn tang police : )
Still love ya because I know you care.......Dog
 

marinenut

Member
well, thanks for the input. Yes, the 40Gal is a QT, and he will be going in my 125g. I do have a yellow tang in there now and a couple of clowns. We'll see, I guess. The yellow and the powder are about the same size. The powder gets along fine with the domino in the QT right now. Not even any sense of aggression.
I have done a lot of reading, but I've read mixed things about powders. Some say they get along fine with other fish and even certain tangs for that matter, while others say they're really aggressive. I guess I'm just looking for a common consensus.
 

unleashed

Active Member

Originally posted by Dogstar
Unleashed,
That post was not directed to you
The one who posted this theads name is marinenut, I was useing nut for short, not calling you a nut. In marinenut's bio next to his name said he has a 125gl. and the 40 is a QT.
My tank is a 180gl. I have a thead in photos. Check it out ( im sure Ill be hearing from you there too )
What else did I get wrong?.......damn tang police : )
Still love ya because I know you care.......Dog

no worries I didnt take it personaly as an insult I had a chuckle from the tang police comment:D .I love to read and thats my downfall when i see something im not to sure about I pick up my book or do tons of research to get the right answer.question for you though whats the best book .rigth now i have DR Burgess atlas of marine fish mini addition and pocket expert guide by Scott W Micheal which isnt as informative as id like them to be.I paid way to much for both of them but they do come in somewhat handy.oh yeh i didnt notice anything wrong with your answers .it was accually meant as a compliment
 

dogstar

Active Member
I under stand
Theres exceptions to evry rule. and some fish refuse to follow the rules.
You got it and that means you must want it so I say GO FOR IT.
If the yellow and clowns are the main fish you have now then they both will defenitly introduce them selfs to the powder. the tank is big enough and the powder should be able to escape serios damage
. But the long term stress on the powder is not going to be good. they get sick fast from stress. Hopefully it will survive and if it does it will then become the dominent fish. And the domino, dont think you could have read anything good about them anywhere,
But like I said there are exceptions to the rules...Good Luck
 

scubadoo

Active Member

Originally posted by marinenut
well, thanks for the input. Yes, the 40Gal is a QT, and he will be going in my 125g. I do have a yellow tang in there now and a couple of clowns. We'll see, I guess. The yellow and the powder are about the same size. The powder gets along fine with the domino in the QT right now. Not even any sense of aggression.
I have done a lot of reading, but I've read mixed things about powders. Some say they get along fine with other fish and even certain tangs for that matter, while others say they're really aggressive. I guess I'm just looking for a common consensus.

The chance for tangs getting along is increased if their body shapes are different. That being said...no guarantees in this hobby as all animals have their own personalities.
I would remove damsels from the QT tank as they can be aggressive. They could decide to pick on your tang when you are not there....could be too late when you get home. Dominos can be pretty nasty little boggers. A stressful QT period can be counter-productive in my opinion....as many display tanks have parasites due to several possible ways to enter the display tank A stressed out QT fish can get ich shortly after entering the display.
 

dogstar

Active Member
Hey unleased, yuo where typing the same time so just to be sure that last post was to nut ( damn I got to learn how to type faster)
And alls good that why I was trying to be gentle.( ha me gentle) I have the same books and I think Marine Fishes is the best, not to much info but acurate. May be not 100 % but what is? Plus I have tangs as well as lot of other specis. So a lot is just from ex. But like I just told nut theres exceptions to the rules, thats one of the first things I learnd. Hey did you ckeck out my pictures? heres a taste, yummy...
 

marinenut

Member
Well,
Here's the update. I added the Powder Blue to the main tank the other day. Although my Yellow Tang just about bit his head off when I first introduced him to the tank, they are playing fairly nicely now. They do compete a little bit, but the Powder doesn't take any crap from the Yellow Tang, and shoves any attitude right back at him. I think my Yellow Tang was pretty shocked by that, because he's been the "Man" of the tank up until now. It seems like they are getting used to each other more and more each day. They actually seem to follow each other all over the place, like they're schooling or something.
They don't seem to be stressed. All I have in the tank now is the two tangs, my maroon clown, who is about 5 inches and very fat, but extremely docile, a 3-4 Clarkii clown, semi-aggressive and a yellow-tailed damsel.
So far so good!
 

dogstar

Active Member
I thought the yellow tail was dead. Where is the Domino?
And cheers to your sucsess so far.
Just keep a good eye on the powder be cause they tend to get ick easier than ick does...
 

marinenut

Member
No, I had 2 yellow-tailed damsels. I always had one in my main tank. The domino is in the QT still, and probably will stay there.
Well, you hit it right on the head. The Powder has ick and so does everyone else in the tank. ???!!!-@-##?. I started hyposalinity and should be at the target salinity of .009 this weekend. What a pain. I had to remove all my LR and a few inverts. Not fun. But, I gotta get rid of this thing once and for all (yeah right). I'm actually using Kick Ich in conjunction with hypo right now, just to alleviate some of the parasite population, as well as a UV sterilizer. I'm hoping this will work at least until the hypo has a chance to take affect.
Any thoughts?
 

dogstar

Active Member
Hey nut I feel bad. I know I said go for it but I did try to warn you away at first. What you are doing you have done but its just more stress IMO and probly should have just mild treatment with UV in main tank and let run its course. I know powders are $$ so look at it as for exp. and pray to the fish gods....sorry
 

unleashed

Active Member
fisrt look for the symtons of ich excesive scratching up the rocks .mind you some fish just like to scratch.but you will notice small bubbles attaching to your fish almost like grains of salt in more severe cases the ich wil create a slimy appearance with alot of bubbles attached.lokk under fis desieses in this forum I think they have some examply pics posted. in 2 yrs ai have had to treat ich once i used hyposlainaty only in the main tank due to copper sensativity of my of my stock if you keep your fishes imune system up they normally are not effected by it but all tanks have a form of ich at all times from what I have read.fish are effected by ich when they are more stressed and the imune sytems have been lowered by either water quality new acclimation alot of different varients to the cause.keep them well nurished and water parimeters good.this will reduce the risk
 

marinenut

Member
Willie,
I've been in the "business" for a while and have experienced a lot of disease issues. It's definitely ich, no question about it.
The positive side of it is that all fish are actively eating and very interested in they're environment. A good sign.
One more water change to go to reach .009. It's taken a grueling week!
I refuse to lose this Powder Tang.
 
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