Do you think powder blue’s should be “expert only”

[Miami Reef]

Do you think powder blues should have the “expert only” or at least “difficult” title in their care level?

An Achilles tang has the care level requirement because they come from surge zones which means they need high flow and high oxygen. Not only that, but they also need a parasite free tank as they will 99% die within a few months with ich/velvet.

A powder blue is pretty much the same. I’m not sure if the stats of longevity with powder blues are higher, but powder blues are just as aggressive and just as prone to parasitic deaths from unquarantined tanks.

It boggles my mind that the care level of a yellow tang is the same as a powder blue - moderate.

 

[blaxsun]

I think the level of care recommended can vary from store to store (at least insofar as LFSs are concerned).

 

[GHOSTLY]

When I had A 150g FOWLR (With the exception of me having GSP) As its just does good everywhere the tangs were ok. I had a yellow and a powder tang of some sort and they did fine.

 

[Floyd-]

Ive had 5 tangs now and my powder blue did die along with a sailfin months ago.

 

[cocoReefer]

Cleaner shrimp and cleaner gobi love my powder blue.
I got it most recently, out of 5 tangs now. It was qt by the lfs and then sold to someone who also did qt. But it fought with their fish, so back to the store...
I got it and plopped it into my tank. Took a couple days for the old tangs to figure him/her out. They are all super happy model citizens now.
I have seen some white spots on the fins, but it gets “serviced” at the cleaning station daily.... so all is good.
I would have to say that they are harder to care for than a yellow tang though. But still moderate compared to other fish

 

[Brymac1]

I don’t know about “expert only”, but maybe difficult. When I worked at an lfs, the powder blues would always come in sick and very thin. However, 9 times out of 10, I was able to get them fat and healthy within a few weeks.