blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus)

Guest

the regal tang or paracanthurus hepatus is very colorful reef safe fish belonging to the family of acanthuridae, it is the ONLY fish in the species of paracanthurus.

it has many common names in this hobby. palette surgeonfish, blue tang (which is misleading as the actual blue tang is Atlantic acanthurus coeruleus), royal blue tang, hippo tang, flagtail surgeonfish, blue surgeonfish, and more common as of late (since finding nemo came out) DORY

the fish is royal blue in color with a yellow tail and black artist palette design on its body (although there is a color variant native to the west-central Indian ocean which is commonly called a yellow belly blue regal tang)

this tang as with all others can cut humans with its caudal spine having a razor sharp scalpel blade for its defense.

juveniles require a minimum of a 40 gallon tank while adults have been kept in captivity but as they grow in size then need room to swim so a minimum tank size of 100 gallons is preferred for adults of this species while tank of 150+ plus are recommended for keeping multiple tangs.

care level: easy

temp: 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit

dKH (alkalinity): 8 to 12

PH: 8.2 to 8.4

salinity 1.020 to 1.025

temperament: peaceful (can be aggressive with other surgeon fishes and more so with other blue tangs)

minimum tank size: 100 gallons (regal tangs can reach up to 12" in the wild so a large tanks are required. regal tangs are schooling fish in the wild and you COULD keep multiples but a large tank would be a necessity, i would say somewhere in the range of 200 gallons plus for the benefit of the fish)

reef safe: YES

diet: algae grazers (supplement with krill, mysis, brine, brine shrimp, pellets, but mostly algae such as nori NEVER feed them lettuce as it does not really contain enough nutritional value for the fish and IMHO should NEVER be used in the saltwater aquarium hobby)

Subject: Re: blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus) 10/25/2009, 9:12 pm

I want to get a few. Maybe my next salt tank(75 gallon) I'll get 3. Hate that they're so over priced.
I have always bought tangs/surgeonfish in groups of 3.

Guest

nitty wrote:

I want to get a few. Maybe my next salt tank(75 gallon) I'll get 3. Hate that they're so over priced.
I have always bought tangs/surgeonfish in groups of 3.

in a 75 gallon one is all you should keep, if you plan on keeping 3 i suggest a 200 gallon or larger tank at bare minimum.

Subject: Re: blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus) 10/26/2009, 8:26 am

lordraptor1 wrote:

nitty wrote:

I want to get a few. Maybe my next salt tank(75 gallon) I'll get 3. Hate that they're so over priced.
I have always bought tangs/surgeonfish in groups of 3.

in a 75 gallon one is all you should keep, if you plan on keeping 3 i suggest a 200 gallon or larger tank at bare minimum.

Reason I said that is because I have a 75 sitting around. I'm getting 3 Regals, bi-color Blenny, cleaning crew(w/2 cleaner shrimp), 75-100.lbs Tonga LR and 50-75.lbs crushed coral.

Subject: Re: blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus) 10/26/2009, 8:32 am

Aggressive?

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Subject: Re: blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus) 10/26/2009, 8:42 am

KMX wrote:

Aggressive?

I had 2 yellow tangs at 1 time, and they fought until 1 died. Then I was told surgeonfish should be
kept 1 or in groups of 3 or more. I had 3 Regals in a 75 years back and they got alone great with each other, but 1 of them killed my blue throat trigger. After that, it was only the 3 Regals and they did fine with each other for like 3 years.

Guest

nitty wrote:

KMX wrote:

Aggressive?

I had 2 yellow tangs at 1 time, and they fought until 1 died. Then I was told surgeonfish should be
kept 1 or in groups of 3 or more. I had 3 Regals in a 75 years back and they got alone great with each other, but 1 of them killed my blue throat trigger. After that, it was only the 3 Regals and they did fine with each other for like 3 years.

in the wild the regal tangs school. in captivity they could also school but since they can grow large in size i wouldnt keep but one in anything 90 and under. if you plan to keep 2 or more i would suggest 100 gallons +. they are a peaceful fish but in captivity they can show agressivness to their own kind, (size and body shape). i have 1 in a 90 gallon and i would not add another at all, i would add a different tang as lon as it was the same size to slightly larger but it would NOT be a regal.

Subject: Re: blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus) 10/26/2009, 5:02 pm

lordraptor1 wrote:

nitty wrote:

KMX wrote:

Aggressive?

I had 2 yellow tangs at 1 time, and they fought until 1 died. Then I was told surgeonfish should be
kept 1 or in groups of 3 or more. I had 3 Regals in a 75 years back and they got alone great with each other, but 1 of them killed my blue throat trigger. After that, it was only the 3 Regals and they did fine with each other for like 3 years.

in the wild the regal tangs school. in captivity they could also school but since they can grow large in size i wouldnt keep but one in anything 90 and under. if you plan to keep 2 or more i would suggest 100 gallons +. they are a peaceful fish but in captivity they can show agressivness to their own kind, (size and body shape). i have 1 in a 90 gallon and i would not add another at all, i would add a different tang as lon as it was the same size to slightly larger but it would NOT be a regal.

Imma try it again. Hopefully I get the results I'm looking for. The grow so slow. I'll take my chances with the 75gallon. I'll upgrade in a year or to something in the 150 range. Fish Ranch, where I'm getting them from will alllow you to bring back if it doesn't work out.

+ + situation

Guest

nitty wrote:

lordraptor1 wrote:

nitty wrote:

KMX wrote:

Aggressive?

I had 2 yellow tangs at 1 time, and they fought until 1 died. Then I was told surgeonfish should be
kept 1 or in groups of 3 or more. I had 3 Regals in a 75 years back and they got alone great with each other, but 1 of them killed my blue throat trigger. After that, it was only the 3 Regals and they did fine with each other for like 3 years.

in the wild the regal tangs school. in captivity they could also school but since they can grow large in size i wouldnt keep but one in anything 90 and under. if you plan to keep 2 or more i would suggest 100 gallons +. they are a peaceful fish but in captivity they can show agressivness to their own kind, (size and body shape). i have 1 in a 90 gallon and i would not add another at all, i would add a different tang as lon as it was the same size to slightly larger but it would NOT be a regal.

Imma try it again. Hopefully I get the results I'm looking for. The grow so slow. I'll take my chances with the 75gallon. I'll upgrade in a year or to something in the 150 range. Fish Ranch, where I'm getting them from will alllow you to bring back if it doesn't work out.

+ + situation

thats good to know, if you are set on a 75 i would only go with 2 though. my single regal started out @ 3 to 3.5 " in my 55 gallon tank, within 6 months he was to big for it requiring i move him (boy it wasnt fun either, scrambling to find a larger tank but i eventuallly found this 90 for a basic steal and grabbed it (then breaking down the 55 to get him back was an even bigger joy Rolling Eyes

. anyway let us know how everyting works out for you.

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blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus)

blue regal tang (paracanthurus hepatus)

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