Flow rate for Paracanthurus hepatus

[BradB]

I wanted to share an observation. I've seen these fish on several dives, once in the Philippines and a few times in the Maldives. Every time I saw them, they were in strong current. Stronger than it is comfortable to observe a fish and far stronger than anything we could possibly recreate in a home aquarium. Everyone says tangs need lots of flow, but usually I hear it with Powder Blues - I've seen them in very mild current (for a coral reef).
Reef2reef even says "While they like a moderate amount of flow, they can become stressed and uneasy if placed in a high flow environment, like those often seen in SPS dominated reef tanks." At least in the wild, this is far from true. I did have a P. hepatus close to 10 years in very little flow, and it did fine, so maybe this isn't necessary. But I wanted to ask how many people have had better luck with them in super-high current SPS systems?

 

[Euphyllia97]

I have only had 2 different blue tangs over the course of my hobby-years, but my first tang was in an SPS tank whilst the second one is in a fowlr with less flow. Both tangs like to swim up to the higher flow parts of the tank and like to “play” in the current. They then retreat to low flow spots or caves. For me the most important part with tangs is to provide all types of current (from ultra high to almost no flow) and caves to allow them to have all sort of conditions. I guess this is what they encounter in the ocean aswell as they swim long distances

 

[BradB]

'Long distances' is also something I question, as the same dive site seemed to have the same tangs in the same place every time. Of course, I don't know if it is the same tangs, it could just be something about the site that attracts blue tangs. There could always 3-4 different blue tangs in the same place. I think it is the same tangs and they don't venture more than 10 meters from their home.